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My Wagtail Friend


My Wagtail Friend
Photo Information
Copyright: Richard Cridland (rcrick) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 647 W: 42 N: 1198] (3854)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-06-17
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon 5D, Canon EF100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS USM, SanDisk Extr. IV 2Gb, Hoya 77mm Pro1 DMC UV LPF
Exposure: f/11, 1/125 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Map: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Port of Brisbane Wetlands [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-06-18 20:46
Viewed: 618
Points: 36
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
On Tuesday my wife and I popped down to the Port of Brisbane again, it’s becoming quite a favorite place for us with all the bird life, and for the fact it is just a very pleasant place to be sitting near a little beach watching the local fishermen coming and going with there catch, and just relaxing with a cup of tea.

This little Willie Wagtail joined us for a while jumping from post to post its the largest, and most well-known, of the Australian fantails. The plumage is black above with a white belly. The Willie Wagtail can be distinguished from other similar-sized black and white birds by its black throat and white eyebrows and whisker marks. The name wagtail stems from the constant sideways wagging of the tail. Young birds resemble the adults, but have paler, slightly rusty edges to the feathers of the wings.

They are found throughout mainland Australia but is absent from Tasmania. It is also found in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Moluccas.

Willie Wagtails are found in most open habitats, especially open forests and woodlands, tending to be absent from wet sclerophyll forests and rainforests. They are often associated with water-courses and wetlands and are common around human habitation.

Although usually seen singly or in pairs, it may form winter flocks, often mixed with other species.

Willie Wagtails are active feeders. Birds can be seen darting around lawns as they hunt for insects on the ground. As they do so, the tail is wagged from side to side. Insects are also captured in the air, in active chases.

The Willie Wagtail's nest is a neatly woven cup of grasses, covered with spider's web on the outside and lined internally with soft grasses, hair or fur. The soft lining of the nest, if not readily available, is often taken directly from an animal. The nest of the Willie Wagtail may be re-used in successive years, or an old nest is often destroyed and the materials used in the construction of a new nest. Nests are normally placed on a horizontal branch of a tree, or other similar structure. The cream-coloured eggs, speckled with grey and brown are incubated by both sexes. The young birds stay with the parents until the eggs from the next clutch start to hatch. At this point they are driven away. If conditions are favourable, the couple may raise up to four successive clutches in a single season.

Although it is active in defending its territory, the Willie Wagtail is very tolerant and tame around humans, often feeding and nesting in close proximity of houses and human activity.

Link:- http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=19

Details; Shot Raw and converted to Jpeg, reduced in size and sharpened slightly for posting.

Camera Model Canon EOS 5D
Shooting Date/Time 17/06/2008 1:47:31 PM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/125
Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 320
Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM +1.4x
Focal Length 560.0 mm
Image Size 751x800
Image Quality Superfine
Flash Off
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode Manual focusing
Picture Style Neutral
Sharpness 6
Contrast 2
Saturation 2
Color tone 1
Color Space sRGB
Noise Reduction On
File Size 94 KB
Drive Mode Continuous shooting
MartinL, iris, Jamesp, Argus, JPlumb, ramthakur, waminda2020, SelenE, Royaldevon, MMM, writerscrawlz, inked has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi dear Richard ,
It is very nice shot.
Lovely mood.
Great BG and nice light.
Thanks for sharing

Kind regards
Saeed

Rick,

It looks like this one not only joined you but did a little dance :) You've captured this bird very nicely with great eye contact, detail and a very nice background. It looks like its a beautiful bird - I like the subtle white accents in the black plumage. Your picture shows it very nicely. TFS mate.

Best Regards,

Martin

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1296 W: 0 N: 5059] (15080)
  • [2008-06-18 23:11]

Hi Rick

Great shor of this Australian Wagtail - lovely pose and detail. Well seen and captured.

James

Hi Richard
I like these guys...they are sassy swaggering around. Nice capture on the post with good POV and lovely detail on his front feathers.
TFS
Cheers
Sue

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2543 W: 170 N: 7734] (24475)
  • [2008-06-19 1:09]

Hello Rick,
What a superb capture of Willie Wagtail looking straight at you with excellent focus on the eyes. I love its face and the details are very sharp. Fun to see it standing on one leg! :-) Well composed and a beautiful soft background too.
TFS and cheers, Ulla

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2707 W: 139 N: 7809] (24333)
  • [2008-06-19 1:59]

Hello Rick,
We charmed a lot by the Willie Wagtail during our visit, especially when we saw it in Queensland, but difficult to get close to and take a good shot with only a compact digital. This is a great shot from a fine frontal POV withgood exposure to deal with the B&W, the white eyebrows looking great.
Nice sharp action shot too just before take-off against a great neutral BG.
TFS this beauty,
Ivan

Hello Rick
If they move as quick as the pied wagtails we see in the uk then you have done amazing well here..I can see by his leg in mid air he was on the move even on a post...Lovely sharp details and well exposed with the black and whites of this lovely bird.
Tfs and all the best
Paul

Oh wow Rick, I soooo want to get one of these guys, in great detail like this. You shot it at 560mm. Wow. Very nice work, you even got those eyebrows in perfect focus, and him doing a little dance for you. Very excellent job.

Thanks Rick, John

Very handsome black and white bird, Richard.
It has locked eyes with your camera lens and is not fazed by it.
The eyes in particular are the best feature of this otherwise perfect image.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful portrait and all the best.
Ram

richard, nice capture! I am still trying to nail a willy wagtail shot - you've done well here - congrats. mark

  • Great 
  • SelenE Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2396 W: 61 N: 3937] (12658)
  • [2008-06-19 12:24]

Hi Rick,
It looks funny :o) The white eyebrows add so much expression on its face. Very nice portrait with a good frontal POV. TFS
All the best,
Selen

Hello Richard,

What a character!
I like the eye-brows!
He looks to be side-stepping off the post!

Lovely details of the plummage and nice eye contact.

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2008-06-19 21:01]

Hello Rick

Wow,that looks like it wants to jump right out of my monitor.
Excellent dof and pov.
The plumage detail is excellent.
Great eye contact.
The oof bg is lovely.
TFS

Rob

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 784 W: 0 N: 1558] (7176)
  • [2008-06-20 7:27]

Hi Richard
Nice closed image.Sharp image and good POV.I like the eye's contact with your subject.Nice Pose to.
TFS Michel

  • Great 
  • iris Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 409 W: 41 N: 785] (2478)
  • [2008-06-22 6:25]

Hi Rick,
Quite a wonderful capture of the wagtail in motion, i guess it was either perching in....one can notice the movement of the feet...Superb muted Bg in this compositon that uses a fine PoV and great DoF. The catchlight in the bird's eye looks perfect.The bird really reminds of the robins that we see around here with very similar colour combinations.Well done.
TFS & Cheers

Okay, I think he's doing the Rumba or he's starting his own line dancing formation, him first in line, of course...

Birds have a sense of humor, I don't care what folks have to say about that. This one seems to want your attention and is willing to dance in order to get it.

I love his expression, the mood, the BG, and light, but most of all, I love the simple composition - often they are the best.
Kathy

Hi Richards,
absolutely wonderful picture of this little bird. They are not so easy to catch.
regards
Pierre

  • Great 
  • inked Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 134 W: 0 N: 230] (694)
  • [2008-10-16 0:56]

Hi Richard,
great shot of this little guy. I find them so hard to photograph with any kind of decent results, even with how common they are. nice pov and composition too. great work.
Gethin

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