Urban Blackbird by phil_howcroft

Urban Blackbird

This morning I planted a few veggie seeds into the garden and re-stocked the bird feeders and scattered some mealworm in strategic placed on our rockery !

A 'blackbird couple' soon swooped so I followed them around the garden, wilth my 60d and sigma 70-300mm attached.

This is a hand held shot of "Mr. Blackbird", resting on the top of our silver birch tree. Pity about the next door neighbours window getting into the frame (no pun intended), but as a hand held bird pic I think this warrants a place at the start of year 5 on 365 ! Nice catchlight in the eye always works too

High ISO, F5.6

A bit of a crop , auto levels and minor sharpening in GIMP
Your settings are very different from mine but my camera was plonked on a surface to get my shot! Your speed was faster ( better camera, of course) but the bird is beautifully clear with that orange eye outline so good!
February 1st, 2015  
Splendid shot Phil, love the sparkle in his eye! What kind of veggie seeds did you plant? I should have got my leek seeds in by now but they will have to be indoors.
February 1st, 2015  
@busylady thanks judith, leeks and parsnips (one outdoor , one indoor)
February 1st, 2015  
@maggiemae thanks maggie , the eye makes the shot :)
February 2nd, 2015  
Beautiful shot and the window frame frames his head!
February 2nd, 2015  
Perfectly beautiful capture Phil. So clear and and sharp. The focus and background is lovely. And great bird shot Phil.
February 2nd, 2015  
Awesome shot
February 2nd, 2015  
You got the shine of his eye perfectly. A lovely capture, Phil.
February 2nd, 2015  
Not an easy bird to capture, and this is a good shot, Phil. You've really caught the yellow/orange eye well. Very neat.
February 2nd, 2015  
Wonderful shot, Phil. Love the dof and the clarity of the shot. the eye is very much in focus.
February 2nd, 2015  
Awesome shot, Phil!
February 2nd, 2015  
He's very handsome - and a relative of my subject I think.
February 2nd, 2015  
Lee
Beautiful shot, My favourite bird. Fav
February 2nd, 2015  
Awesome capture
February 3rd, 2015  
@bizziebeeme many thanks lou :)

@gamelee they are very friendly lee

@he is indeed very handsome judith. I was showing the midday supervisors (dinner ladies) this on my phone at work. We have a blackbird in the quadrangle area at school and they were talking to it !

@timandelke thanks elke, kind of youto say so :)

@sangwann it's a fab eye dione

@sabresun cheers matt for your kind words

@allie912 thank you very much allison, eyes are important in natural history shots

@kerristephens thanks for the awesome comment kerri :)

@eyesmile thanks gena, nearly up to your high standard of recent bird shots :)
February 3rd, 2015  
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