Crossbill

Discussion

19 replies

Posted by Antony on March 25, 2006 at 5:35 PM

Taken today in Thetford Forest area.

Cropped, De-Noised in Neat Image, Levels adjusted, Resized, Highlight adjustment and Sharpened in CS2.

Canon 350D and 400mm L F5.6

Exif data as follows

JPEG Large Fine
Mode SRGB
Shutter 1/500 sec
Aperture f 5.6
ISO 800
Metering Mode Pattern
E.V compensation -0.3

Posted by Graeme Lee on March 25, 2006 at 5:37 PM

Very nice indeed. Never seen one before so thanks for sharing.

Graeme

Posted by Justin on March 25, 2006 at 5:38 PM

Excellent portait.
I don't recall seeing many of these on the forum before.

Posted by Rene de Heer on March 25, 2006 at 5:39 PM

Superb!
Rene de Heer

Posted by John MacTavish on March 25, 2006 at 5:39 PM

A good clean image of a bird I've never seen.
I'm not too sure that the focus has hit the eye, looks to be spot on between the feet with the eye losing a tiny bit.

John

Posted by Malcolm Muir on March 25, 2006 at 6:48 PM

This is very good Antony. I've never managed to get a shot of these - they always seem to be moving rapidly about in the canopy and difficult to see clearly, even with bins. Great to see the colours and detail of this male so clearly - well done.

Malcolm

Posted by Tim Munsey on March 26, 2006 at 2:21 AM

Looks prehistoric, fascinating, really good to see one on this site. The background is complementary as well, great shot.

Tim

Posted by Rob Howard on March 26, 2006 at 4:56 AM

Hi Antony,

I have seen these at Thetford and at Lackford Lakes but they have never come down from the tree tops to get an image. So well done for getting a good image which is nice and clean with a complimentary BG.

Well Done

Regards

Rob

Posted by David Kjaer on March 26, 2006 at 4:59 AM

Hi Anthony

Cracking shot of one of my favourite birds (all my shots of these are on Kodachrome - that's how long it is since I nailed them) I also love the BG colour in this image!

David

Posted by Dave Courtenay on March 26, 2006 at 6:18 AM

Great stuff-never even seen one-very envious

Posted by writepic on March 26, 2006 at 11:07 AM

fantastic stuff. really has something "darwinian" about it. could almost be a drawing from one of the early voyages to some far flung place. aren't we lucky to have such a creature living in the uk.

well done indeed.

mark.

Posted by Clive_S on March 26, 2006 at 12:20 PM

Amazing shot of a bird I've only ever seen at a distance - you must be the Pied Piper for these birds!!!

Posted by Major Gilbert on March 26, 2006 at 2:31 PM

Superb shot of a great looking bird.

Major.

Posted by Vincent Jones on March 26, 2006 at 2:46 PM

I echo the above comments in everyway, outstanding

Posted by PhilH on March 27, 2006 at 2:39 AM

Very nice, never nailed one of these, well done

Posted by Simon Hawtin on March 27, 2006 at 4:10 AM

Great to get one near the ground, excellent shot
Cheers Simon

Posted by Antony on March 27, 2006 at 11:15 AM

Thanks for all the comments.

I have only had my first views of this species around 3 weeks ago - so it was nice to get a good pic' of an adult male so close.

Regards

Posted by David J Slater on March 28, 2006 at 10:24 AM

Dear Antony

I would love to know exactly where this was taken - I've been after these boys for ages. I'm intrigued by the catchlight in the eye - it's one of my bad habits - was it taken in captivity? Sorry for the insinuation but the straight edges suggest it's in a roofless building. Do you see what I mean. Apologies if I'm wrong but I'm an expert at catchlights! I'll be round there like a shot if I can get an easy crossbill.

Dave
Forest of Dean, UK

Posted by Antony on March 28, 2006 at 4:09 PM

Hello Dave

The bird is wild.

It was coming down to drink from a small pond. The straight edges you can make out are fencing.

Regards

Posted by Paula Graham on March 31, 2006 at 12:57 PM

Very good shot of a beautiful and unusual, not often seen bird. Well done