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Blacksmith Plover


Blacksmith Plover
Photo Information
Copyright: Manyee Desandies (manyee) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3067 W: 231 N: 6165] (21068)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-03-18
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon Powershot S1-IS
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2006-03-29 4:38
Viewed: 967
Points: 19
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Blacksmith Plover
Vanellus armatus

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The Blacksmith Plover is a medium sized lapwing bird approximately 12 inches long. It is a strikingly patterned bird with red eyes, and very long legs. The long legs enable it to move very quickly across the open moist landscapes enjoyed by the creature. Both sexes are alike having primarily black and white plumage with a tinge of occasional gray. This bird has a white belly, a white nape patch on the top and side of its head, and white under the wings. The rump and tail of the Blacksmith Plover are white with a bit of black. The rest of the animal is black. The Blacksmith Plover has a spur on both wings buried in it’s plumage which is used for fighting and protection. (Kindersley, 1993).

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:
The Blacksmith Plover is distributed throughout southern and eastern Africa. It has recently extended its range and now breeds south to Cape Town, South Africa. The Plover inhabits the dry ground beside rivers, lakes, dams, ponds, lagoons, waterholes and sewage farms.

BEHAVIOR:
The Blacksmith is an assertive, conspicuous but wary creature. When the Blacksmith Plover is disturbed it makes a very loud metallic sounding "clink, clink" that resembles the sound of someone hammering a piece of metal. These Plovers are usually found alone or in pairs but will occasionally congregate with other plovers and fly in a flock.

DIET:
The Blacksmith Plover spends most of its time during the day at lakes and marshes with muddy banks where it feeds on insects, worms, snails, seeds, small mollusks, and crustaceans. There have been scattered reports over the past 2,500 years of the Blacksmith Plover feeding near and in the mouths of crocodiles. The Blacksmith Plover plucks parasites from the backs of the reptiles as they bask in the sun. The Blacksmith will even enter the mouth of the crocodile to pick remnants of food from between the teeth or leeches from the lining of the mouth (Burton, 1985). The Blacksmith Plover is a monogamous territorial bird.

This picture was taken at the Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose.

Source
scottevers7, Merlin, wallhalla15, liquidsunshine, ALIRIZA, livios, Luc has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Merlin: Thanks : )manyee 2 03-29 11:53
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Critiques [Translate]

interesting plover, manyee! :-)
wanted to be a zebra, didn´t it? *g*
good "colors", details and pov.
thanx for showing us nice bird,
thor.

Hi Manyee,
Well you certainly took on a tough challenge with this shot. (I would take this challenge). Bright contrasty light and dark shadows. A black and white bird. That would give most people a headache thinking about trying to get a decent shot. You pulled it off. There is good colors and detail in the plumage with only slight OE in some of the white plumage. Looks pretty good to me!
Scott

  • Good 
  • viv Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 297 W: 3 N: 653] (3307)
  • [2006-03-29 10:17]

Hi Manyee,
Never seen this bird before, I think that it was difficult to take this shot with the darkbackground.
TFS
Vivian

Hi, Manyee:
This is a tricky one! As posted, the black areas of the bird tend to merge with the very dark background, but in the circumstances the exposure is well balanced. I've done a workshop on it to try to increase the "separation" between the subject and its backgound - I hope you like the result.
Regards, Nigel.

Hello Manyee,
very nice capture with great colours, lighting and sharpness/dof. Very good composition. Thank you for posting.
Gr.
Heinz

Nice shot Manyee,
Good detail, colours and sharpness.
Composition and lighting are excellent. Good POV and framing.
Thanks for posting, enjoy the rest of the week.

  •      
  • ALIRIZA Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 618 W: 91 N: 215] (781)
  • [2006-03-29 16:04]

Hi Manyee,
What an interesting bird! Details, sharpness, POV and composition are perfect. Colors(B/W) are very good. Well done. Congratulations...
Ali Rıza

  • Great 
  • loot Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5452 W: 594 N: 3651] (10033)
  • [2006-03-29 22:02]

Hi ManYee
It looks like the 'Happy Hallow Zoo' is a happy hunting ground for you. By now they should be giving you the freedom of the facility for advertising them so well and for being the most frequent visitor.
A very interesting and nice bird with its little white toupee. The composition is very good. The colours are good, but probably a little subdued which goes with the exposure of this darkish shot. This was a good moment to let that fill-in flash do some work instead of just relying on the soft side light. The DOF is great as you captured very good details on the plumage.
Well done and TFS.
Regards
Loot

PS. Merlin's workshop did your photo some justice.

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2156 W: 322 N: 4258] (16906)
  • [2006-03-29 22:25]

Manyee, getting a nice exposure with black and white feathers is not something easy, but I think you did great.

Besides, I like pose, pov and the catchlighg.

A very pleasing shot.

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1381 W: 126 N: 5246] (23469)
  • [2006-03-29 23:23]

Very dramatic lighting, the feathers are very impressive with the light coming from that angle. Well done Manyee.

Mario

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1873 W: 304 N: 4300] (14729)
  • [2006-04-13 23:18]

Excellent photo.
Complete note as usual.
Thank you Manyee.
I am just refunding my debts.

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