A first for me!

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A first for me!
Photo Information
Copyright: Beverley Robinson (Royaldevon) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 344 W: 50 N: 797] (2665)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-03-13
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D70, NIKKOR 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 G
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/160 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-03-14 15:03
Viewed: 491
Points: 56
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Hello Everyone,

Today I am over-the-moon at having caught this elusive dunnock which has been visiting my garden for a few days.

I have never photographed one before but was thrilled to be able to study its lovely patterns and colour tones.

I thought, at first, that it was a sparrow but as it came closer, I realised that I had quite a different bird here! It didn't move like a sparrow and its markings were different. I consulted my bird book and realised that it was in fact a dunnock.

Here is some surprising information about the dunnock from Wikipedia:
This is a Robin-sized bird, 13.5-14 cm in length, fairly drab in appearance, and somewhat resembling a small House Sparrow with its streaked back and general shape. It is also brownish underneath, and has a fine pointed bill. Adults have a grey head. The sexes are similarly coloured.
This species makes up for its drab appearance with its breeding behaviour. Females are often polyandrous, breeding with two males at once, and thus giving rise to sperm competition. Males compete for mating access to the female, but DNA fingerprinting has shown that chicks within broods often have different fathers, depending on their success at monopolising access to the fertile female. Males try to ensure their paternity during courtship by pecking at the cloacas of the female to stimulate her to eject the sperm of other males with whom the female has recently mated. Males provide parental care in proportion to their mating success, so it is not uncommon to see two males and a female provisioning nestlings at one nest. Polyandry is rare in birds, with only about 2% of species showing such a mating system; the majority are monogamous, where one male and one female breed together.

Many thanks for stopping by.
Please feel free to offer feedback on any aspect of this photograph. :-)


pp cropped, sharpened, adj brightness and contrast, added borders and signed
taba, eqshannon, Jamesp, Luis52, kmr13777, angela926, sandu_andreea, ellis49, LordPotty, Alex99, coasties, Necipp, nglen, lawbert, uleko, hester, Miss_Piggy has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To arfer: A first for me!Royaldevon 1 03-22 02:08
To lawbert: A first for me!Royaldevon 1 03-21 05:31
To eqshannon: A first for me!Royaldevon 1 03-14 16:22
To Jamesp: A first for me!Royaldevon 1 03-14 16:19
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • taba Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 458 W: 126 N: 258] (1438)
  • [2008-03-14 15:12]

Hi Beverley
good capture and nice light.
the colors are great on the bird and the note is awesome..

Taba

How rare and how very lucky you were. Almost a prayer answered somewhere in the world...a star twinkling a life born...something new and wonderful in nature...for me the species for you the capture..Very nicely done Bev. You have a great way of tugging at the heart!
Bob

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1180 W: 0 N: 4310] (12630)
  • [2008-03-14 16:13]
  • [+]

Hi Bev

Good shot of the Dunnock (though I still call them Hedge Sparrows)- excellent POV with outstanding colours and detail. Well observed and captured.

James

  • Great 
  • Luis52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1013 W: 5 N: 2673] (9690)
  • [2008-03-14 16:23]

Hi Beverley.
You have here a very interesting bird. I had never seen before, it looks like a house sprarrow as You mention in Your note.
Clear and sharp image, great pose and well focus.
I like it.
TFS
Your friend
Luis52.

Excellent photo, nice bird TFS
Luis

I'm happy for you capturing a new prize for your gallery. It is a nice image with lovely toning colors. I think you may have lost some sharpness in resizing. You might try resizing in Bicubic Sharper ( at bottom of the Image Size window in Photoshop Elements) or sharpen after resizing.

TFS
Evelynn : )

Bonjour Beverley
Félicitation pour cette premiêreprise de cet oiseau
j'ai apprécié cette superbe prise,La prise de vue sur l'oiseau est parfaite et les détails sont excellents. Bravo pour la qualité d'image.

Merci et au revoir....JP

Hi Beverley
A very beautiful capture against an OOF BG. great details and POV. the bird is almost posing for you.

TFS
Kirti

Hello Beverley,
Fantastic capture of this little bird, beautiful vivid colors and superb details, excellent sharpness and depth of field, lovely light and great pose!
Angela

  • Great 
  • demeve Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 500 W: 8 N: 1003] (3704)
  • [2008-03-14 22:20]

Hello Beverly,

Very nice capture, the framing is also very good, the bird is
very sharp and well composed.. Well done

Everton

Nice composition and good colours.Also I really like the BG.
TFS

Hi Bev,
a nice picture of the dunnock, congrats for your first one.
Up here they are common in the spring/summer but migrate
south for the winter.
Pretty good sharpness, nice details and fine DOF, the bird is well isolated from the BG.
Well done.

Well,whaddya know ... another Dunnock.
I'd never heard of one until I saw Joes photo this evening ... now I've seen two.
It is quite different to a sparrow isn't it ? The first thing I noiticed was a much thinner and smaller beak.
Amazing that I lived in England for so long and never knew of them.
Steve

Hi Bev, great first of a lovely bird with splendid details and excellent sharpness, wonderful colors, very well done, have a great week end, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2900 W: 145 N: 4201] (13581)
  • [2008-03-15 6:41]

Hi Beverley.
Your charming mode; poses you perfectly. Amazing classic subject with "right" POV, framing and composition. Nice delicate lighting and colours. BG is wonderful in its blurriness and natural coloration. Image of the calm bir is reproduced very well. My compliments and kind regards.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1250 W: 103 N: 4154] (18911)
  • [2008-03-15 8:40]

Wow! Berverley, you did great on this shot! Very nice pose, well composed, good light and exposure and good details, congrats and thanks my friend, it's a beautiful bird!

Mario

Hello Bev,
Lovely pose of the Dunnock!
good close up with good sharpness, wonderful colour and details
my congrat on the 1st dunnock!
cheers
Tony

Hi Beverley

Well done! You have captured this little guy well. Light wasn't great for you, but a great pose with good background.

  • Great 
  • Necipp Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1151 W: 15 N: 2083] (12288)
  • [2008-03-16 13:26]

Hello Bev a wonderfull shot the pose is excellent, good colour and nice bkground. tfs rgds Necip.

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1825 W: 2 N: 4688] (17692)
  • [2008-03-17 9:53]

Hi Beverley missed this one have been in london for a few days. well done you as james said they do look like the hedge sparrow same family i think but not to sure. any way you have a fine well detailed close up. with natural looking colours. well done TFS.
Nick..

Hi BR,

Superb image, fine details..
Beautifull..
All the best, dear BR.
Enjoy !!

jp

Wowww,
splendid shot, I like very much the wonderfull background,
perfect focus and lovely colours, this is a very nice composition,
bravo,
friendly,
Pat

Hello Bev
Before I moved back to the country I had never seen (or realised that I had seen a Dunnock).
I get 2 or 3 in my garden now and they are the most shy and retiring bird I have ever seen..they are always on the ground around the borders and occasionally in a tree and as such are so so hard to capture at a close distance.
What you have captured here is just superb..Not just him on a post but still!!
The details are amazing and sharp really displaying the beauty of this shy retiring bird..This is the first time I have really seen thier legs!!
Fantastic work and at such a low shutter speed.
best Regards
paul

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2686 W: 67 N: 9197] (28756)
  • [2008-03-21 22:10]
  • [+]

Hello Beverley

A very good capture of this Dunnock.
A very cute little bird indeed.You have captured the plumage detail well.
Excellent focus and sharpness with lovely eye detail too.
The POV and DOF are well handled,the Dunnock stands out against the OOF BG.
Nicely composed.
TFS

Rob

Hello Beverley!

Great shot of dunnock ( prunella modularis) - I've never saw i in real world up to this time. I think it must be very rare in north Poland. Great sharpness, and quality!

regards
Jacek

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2235 W: 168 N: 6506] (20422)
  • [2008-03-26 10:16]

Hello Beverley,
This is a brilliant capture of the pretty little Dunnock showing excellent sharpness and beautiful colours. I like its pose and plain background! I think its one of your best shots! Congratulations!!
TFS and cheers, Ulla

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1489 W: 18 N: 2961] (10586)
  • [2008-03-26 13:31]

Hi Bev

I saw my first one of these the other day. They look lovely and you have caught a lovely pose here. Nice POV and excellent DOF. This has lovely details and good natural colours

TFS

Karan

Hallo Bev
Lovely close-up with great details and sharpness. It is a genuine beautiful, shy looking bird, and you have captured it in a perfect pose. The colour and the shape of plumage are great and the details of the tiny beak and the small eye are displayed well. The framing and composition are pleasant. Looking at the colours of this bird's feathers reminds me of autumn. I enjoyed looking at this sweet little fellow. Enjoy your day.
Kind regards
Anna

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