Brown Shrike

Here’s a simple portrait of a Brown Shrike, a common and widespread migrant, showing the delicate feather detail of its back. This one was a male (the female has barring on breast and flank).

It would’ve been more exotic sounding to say that I saw this in a remote location after travelling  and hiking many hours, but I actually captured this photo in my garden.

The bird’s habit of perching at a conspicuous spot  for extended periods was perfect for a fully manual focusing and exposure technique, a necessary workflow when shooting 1120 mm with AF not workable. The subject was in the shade, while the out-of-focus grasses in the background were illuminated by an overcast sky.  With a total length of 7-1/2 inches, the bird is slightly larger than lifesize when viewed with 96 dpi screens. The Sigmonster’s image quality impresses, even with a 1.4x TC!

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Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus, migrant, male)

 Habitat – Common in all habitats at all elevations.

Shooting Info – Paranaque City, Philippines, September 27, 2007, Canon 40D + Sigmonster (Sigma 300-800 DG) + Sigma 1.4x TC, 1120 mm, f/13, 1/50 sec, ISO 640, manual focus via Live View, manual exposure, 475B/3421 support, remote switch.

Some footage of the Brown Shrike.