The weather is definitely edging into winter, but I'll be happy if we continue to get days like today. Cold, but beautiful sunshine and blue skies. The chill factor has two main effects. It can reduce battery life (not really a problem) and my hands get cold (definitely a problem). (Makes mental note to dig out a pair of gloves.)
Anyway, the goldfinches don't seem to mind and I spent twenty minutes taking photos of an adult and juvenile at the edge of the woods. They were busy feeding in the tree, and if you look closely (or click the picture to zoom) you can see a bud in the juvenile's beak.
Juvenile goldfinch (left) and adult (right)
After watching these colourful little birds, the jackdaws back by my office were a striking contrast. I'm afraid you're likely to see a fair few of these shots so I'll try to vary the style a bit. This one was taken against a red brick wall. I masked the background and converted that part of the image to black and white, and also used noise reduction to soften it. I left what little colour the jackdaw offers alone.
Jackdaw
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
18 Comments
Beautiful goldfinches, wonderful little red faces! But the jackdaw is so dramatic!
great goldfinch pics. There always a twig in the way or there just that bit too far way when I try and nab a photo. I like what you ve done with the jackdaw
I agree with Lois, the goldfinches are lovely, but the jackdaw's photo is something special !
Nice photos of the goldfinches :up:
By the way, I was wondering how did you get rid of the avatar in the upper left corner? I find it to be kind of ugly on my blog.
I love the way he's just perching on the edge, like he'll fall off the page.
(I find the avatar in the corner weird too)
Neil, I got plenty of shots with twigs in the way as well. The jackdaw shot seemed to lend itself to a bit of treatment.
Thanks Lois. I could watch the goldfinches for ages, but I'm more or less living with jackdaws at the moment.
Thanks, it worked easily.
Eric, thanks. As for the avatar (or lack of), you need to add this to your custom style sheet. Someone posted it on the forums within hours of the updates!
#editme{
display:none!important;
}
San, thanks. I was pleased with how the treatment of the jackdaw shot worked out. See above for how to remove the avatar. It's an odd 'enhancement' because generally I know who I am when I'm browsing.
Orlando thanks!
San, glad it worked. It was a silly bit of over-designing.
Adele, the goldfinches are always a pleasure to see. But I can see an awful lot of jackdaw photos appearing over the coming months if I'm not careful.
Nice to see more finches, and I love the jackdaw's expression.
Lovelly photos, i hope we get more days like these. 😀
Thanks Mark. The weekend forecast isn't looking too good though 🙁
Oh cool, thanks! 🙂
Eric, a pleasure!