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close up kookaburra


close up kookaburra
Photo Information
Copyright: jaap polak (carper) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1973 W: 119 N: 2582] (8439)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-01-03
Categories: Birds
Camera: Fujifilm Finepix S7000
Exposure: f/3.1, 1/320 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): 40 points or more - 40 puntos o más, my best 25 photos [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2005-01-03 5:57
Viewed: 4554
Points: 56
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
The Blue-winged Kookaburra, Dacelo leachi, 42cm, gives more of a bark, cough or maniacal cackle than a laugh. It is less wide-spread, being confined to the coastal 100 k of the Northern half of Australia, whereas the Laughing Kooka is spread throughout the Eastern states & has been introduced into Tasmania & West Australia.

It can be hard to tell from the Laughing Kooka, which in Queensland has a stronger blue in its wings than in the South, but the true Blue-winged also has a blue rump, a white eye [instead of brown] & a finely streaked head & ear. The male has a blue tail.

A Kookaburra family defends a territory of 1 to 4 acres. It may be in open eucalypt forest, on a busy farm or in a garden suburb. In this state the breeding couple come back to NSW about August & start nest hunting, inspecting tree trunk cavities or vigorously stabbing termite nests with their strong bills to make a new hole. However they usually eventually select the old hole from the previous season, & have been known to use the same nest for 15 years.
Kookaburras mate for life.

Often several females are seen in the family group, but these are the daughters from previous seasons. Young males are chased off at the end of their 1st season.
Breeding here usually occurs in September or October [earlier in Queensland]. The mother lays 3 or 4 almost round white eggs & incubates them 50% of the time, while her husband, & daughters from the previous 2-4 years, do 30% of the incubating, which lasts about 25 days. For 20% of the time the eggs are unattended, & may be taken by gliders, possums or occasionally goannas. The chicks are born blind & naked , & for a couple of months the whole family helps feed them. One female has been seen to make 40 feeding trips to the nest in a single day.

The nest stinks with scraps of old meat, but the nestlings have a strong muscular cloaca at their rear end, & are soon able to squirt their liquid waste out the mouth of the nest for a distance or 1 or 2 feet! After they leave the nest at about 35 days, family members continue to feed them for another 6 weeks although they are adult sized. They teach them to bash their catch to death on a branch or rock while holding it in their bill, & they give them laughing lessons which take the juveniles a couple more weeks to master.

This part I have from this very interresting side. http://member.rivernet.com.au/balehirs/Bishyp6Birds.htm

very nice part. This photo is taken yesterday in Rotterdam Zoo. Some technical things. This shot was taken through wire netting fom lets say 1 1/2 cm round. So you must have some luck to get a good photo. But let me tell you this, that when you want you get the good photo. The distance was about 20 cm, I was happy I had that luck. I hope you like the result too.
JeanMichel, Lesley, ellis49, Fisher, Signal-Womb, vesalius, Robbrown, milloup, rlortie, marhowie, red45, Dingo, Callie, jhm, Luc, radz, Alan_Kolnik, coasties, marjan has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To elizemeijer: tried to take the samecarper 1 01-06 12:26
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Critiques [Translate]

A little jewel, Jaap! Really cute pose. You did very well in these conditions, as it comes with a very close-up portrait showing fantastic colors and a beautiful feather texture. Dark background enhances the subject also. Very well done light and shade feeling, like in old Dutch paintings.

You did a super job with this Jaap, and I would never know this beauty wasn't in the wild. Excellent job. Whenever I see images of this bird it reminds me of a school song from my youth...back in the Stone Age..."Kooaburra sits on the old gum tree...merry merry king of the bushes, he...laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra, gay you life must be!"

Great job Jaap,
The colours, composition and details are very good.
And the note is great too as usual.
Very well done.

Good detail and colours, maybe just a touch too dark, though it brings out the electric blue colours really well.

Jaap, so many beautiful colors on the bird. The portrait is well done. I like the details captured.

Mike

Fantastic looking birdie Jaap. Great colour and nice texture in its feathers. Good post.

  • Great 
  • japie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1814 W: 100 N: 1904] (5187)
  • [2005-01-03 16:10]

WOW Jaap- through nets you say. I like this composition a lot. The exposure and sharpness is excellent.

Very well done and thanks for posting

Hi Jaap, what a wonderful photo. It's really well composed, I like the tight shot of this beautiful bird. Thanks, Don.

Nice one Jaap the distance from the netting seems to work well no trace of it unless you cropped it off? as lesley says wouldnt know it was not in the wild which is good.
nice set of notes as well

I wish I'd had a chance to see these while I was in Australia, but, alas, I didn't.. Nice capture with good sharpness. I particularly like how you've managed to capture the shininess of the green on his wing.

That's a pure beauty. Very good handling of lignt, colors and BG.

Jaap, Good to see you back with this excellent close-up profile shot. Great colors & details seen. Happy New Year!

  • Great 
  • optic Gold Star Critiquer [C: 322 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2005-01-03 22:40]

I love really this bird ! The Blue-winged Kookaburra does'nt live into Canada :(
Nice color and great sharpness,
Well done Jaap and welcome on Treknature

Happy new year !

Very nice close up Jaap. Interesting subject. Good work

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2636 W: 74 N: 9091] (31094)
  • [2005-01-04 4:14]

pros: subject, colours, pose, composition, note
cons: none

Very good one Jaap!

  • Great 
  • Dingo (24)
  • [2005-01-04 6:28]

Prachtig, Jaap... Je zou helemaal niet zeggen dat je dit in een zoo hebt gefotografeerd, er zijn geen storende elementen zoals de draad te zien. Deze mooie jongen lijkt helemaal uit de foto te komen door het uitstekende DoF.

Composition: ****
Sharpness: ***
Color: ****
DOF: **
POV: ****

A good shot, one of my favourite bird.
Well done.
TFS.

  • Great 
  • Midi Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 146 W: 24 N: 183] (2418)
  • [2005-01-04 10:13]

Yes another good shot. I think not easy to do because these birds are always moving in their cage. Congratulations.

  • Great 
  • Callie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1101 W: 95 N: 2610] (7555)
  • [2005-01-04 13:21]

Hi Jaap
Ek bly in die skuld, kan net nie opvang met my kommentaar op almal se fotos nie.
This is how a bird should look, plump, fluffy and happy -I love the expression on his face.
As a suggestion, IMO only, not as a nit, I would mirror the picture and add maybe 25 mm of space in front of his bill - my net is SLOW, I cannot do a WS.

  • Great 
  • jhm Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 893 W: 0 N: 507] (1853)
  • [2005-01-05 2:37]

Het bewijs is hier dat uw nieuwe camera het ook opperbest doet om schitterend beelden de maken, de macro's zijn uw groot specialiteit Jaap, hier kan u uw uitleven tussen de andere dieren liefhebbers, met een zeer scherpe foto, perfect van kleuren en goed gesneden.
Groeten John.

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1835 W: 301 N: 4287] (14767)
  • [2005-01-05 8:35]

The problem when I am late in my critics, it is that the others have already written of what I think, Jaap.
A magnificent post: picture and note.
Thanks.

Hi :)

I went to Blijdorp today, and i tried to take the same picture, mine isnt as sharp as yours though, they were also further back in the cage.

Very clear picture, nice details and colours

Elize

  • Great 
  • radz Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 598 W: 11 N: 72] (436)
  • [2005-01-06 23:31]

Beautiful shot,very fine details of Rump&Scapulars.Perfect in all aspects.

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2150 W: 319 N: 4263] (16942)
  • [2005-01-08 19:32]

Jaap, quite a beautiful picture. Excellent sharpness, colors and composition.

I have the feeling the bird is in a very serious mood, as if he were bad-tempered.

You did get a good photo! Actually, the dark background helps make the bird stand out, and complements the colors in its feathers. I like the way we can see each individual blue feather in the wing - normally one would simply see a blue blur when viewed from a distance, I imagine.

I was looking at your photos. All of them very great. I chose this one because it reminds me so much a Kingfisher I saw when I was a teenager. Very good close up with nice details. Reminds me of the song Kookabura Sits In The Old Gum Tree that we sing in Girl Guides.

Hi Jaap

Really nice shot. Good POV. Sharpness, detail and colour are all spot on. Thanks.

Hi Jaap, nice close portret of this interesting bird. Good POV and nice coloures. I like it. Very good notice...
Majran

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