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Brown Honey Eater
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
I was going though some backup and generally cleaning out some old files when I came across this image I took in early February. My wife and I had gone down to the Bird Hide near the Port of Brisbane on the way to a place called Wynnum.
The Brown Honeyeater is a medium-small pale grey-brown honeyeater with a distinctive yellow tuft behind its eye. It also has yellow to olive wing patches and tail panels. It is pale grey below, darker olive brown above and has a long curved black bill. Young birds are paler with more yellow colouring and a yellow gape (open bill). It has a fast, undulating flight and is seen either singly, in pairs or small flocks in flowering trees and shrubs.
This little Honeyeater is widespread in Australia, from south-western Australia across the Top End to Queensland, and through New South Wales. The Brown Honeyeater is also found in Bali and the Lesser Sundas, Indonesia, Aru Island and in parts of Papua New Guinea.
It is found in a wide range of wooded habitats, usually near water. It is often found in mangroves and woodlands or dense forests along waterways. It can also be found in mallee, spinifex woodlands, low dense shrublands, heaths and saltmarshes, as well as in monsoon forests or rainforests in the Top End. It is common in parks, gardens and street trees in urban areas as well as on farms and in remnant vegetation along roadsides.
It is somewhat nomadic or partly nomadic in response to flowering of food plants.
The Brown Honeyeater feeds on nectar and insects, foraging at all heights in trees and shrubs. It may be seen in mixed flocks with other honeyeaters.
During the breeding season, male Brown Honeyeaters defend a nesting territory by singing from tall trees and they stand guard while the female builds the nest and lays the eggs. The small neat cup-nest is made from fine bark, grasses and plant down, bound with spiders web, and is slung by the rim in a shrub, fern or tree at up to 5 m from the ground and is usually very well-hidden by thick foliage. Only the female incubates, but both sexes feed the young.
Land-clearing in the Western Australian wheatbelt has reduced suitable Brown Honeyeater habitat, but they often occur elsewhere in urban and farmland habitats. Around Sydney, populations declined between the 1950s and 1990s, but they appear to be on the increase again.
Details; Shot Raw and converted to Jpeg, cropped slightly and reduced in size, re-sharpened again for posting.
File Name IMG_0187.CR2
Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Shooting Date/Time 8/02/2009 6:32:47 AM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/500
Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0
Metering Mode Partial Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 320
Lens EF400mm f/2.8L IS USM +2.0x
Focal Length 800.0 mm
Image Size 552x800
Image Quality Jpeg
Flash Off
White Balance Mode Daylight
White balance compensation A1 G1
AF Mode One-Shot AF
Picture Style User Defined 1(Neutral)
Sharpness 7
Contrast 2
Saturation 3
Color tone 1
Color Space sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction 2:Enable
High ISO speed noise reduction 1:Enable
Highlight tone priority :Disable
File Size 93KB
Drive Mode High-speed continuous shooting |
eqshannon, jpdenk, ramthakur, smitha, Argus, writerscrawlz has marked this note useful
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I don't think you could have picked a bitter angle for a vertical shot. This just fits teh monitor quite well. And of course beyond that, it works...there is much to the almost wondering face of the aviary which somehow attracts me in...Your EXIF type notes are exceptional!
Bob
- smitha
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 323 W: 75 N: 1002]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(3753) - [2009-03-16 0:22]
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Hello Rick,
Excellent picture of the Brown Honey Eater.Good sharpness and details. Nice pose captured against a bright blue sky.Good catchlight in the eye too.
TFS & Regards,
Smitha
Hi Richard,
Very handsome bird captured with great skill. The blue sky as background makes the bird shine out.
From your POV, the colours and patterns on the plumage of the subject are quite vivid.
The focus is exceptionally sharp.
TFS and regards.
Ram
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- jpdenk
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 478 W: 5 N: 780]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(2053) - [2009-03-17 12:16]
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Hi again Rick,
Excellent bird portrait, nicely composed with good sharpness and detail.
Thanks,
John
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- Argus
(34473)
- [2009-03-18 23:04]
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Hello Rick,
I tried to take a shot of the Brown Honeyeater early in the morning but the light wasn't up to it, so it's great to see this clear and well composed portrait of one taken in excellent lighting.
Thanks and all the best,
Ivan
Beautiful composition, wonderful texture on the feathers, and the lighting is excellent (not to mention your notes!). Love the pose, the contrasting background against the bird...just lovely.
:-)
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 710 W: 36 N: 1542]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}