| Actual Image
Cirl Bunting (52)
Argus
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2707 W: 139 N: 7809]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (24333) | Just at sunrise I walked up the famous Bocquer valley in the NE of Mallorca. It is well known for birds of passage during the spring.
Half an hour later when the sun began to shine on the opposite side of the valley, I heard a Cirl Bunting ( Emberiza cirlus ). The song is nothing remarkable: just a two-tone trill, each phrase lasting little more than a second, but it helped me to locate him.
The WORKSHOP shows him singing in the bush.
There he sat on the top of the bush and I longed to take a decent shot of him. I moved slowly towards him but the nearer I approached him, the more of him became hidden by the leaves. He must have seen me but he was either not afraid or could not make me out so well because of the dawn light and I was able to take this at a distance of about 8,00 meters (26 ft). In previous attempts to photograph this species elsewhere they flew off before I could get close enough.
The Cirl Bunting is resident and sparsely distributed in SW Europe, in countries along the N. Mediterranean and S. England. It occurs mostly in open bushy areas.
This was taken with the camera hand-held. After moderate cropping and size reduction the image was slightly sharpened. |
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