Lowland White-eyes at La Union

These tiny, feathered dynamos were raiding the fruiting "atis" tree (sugar-apple or sweetsop) at my mother's backyard in my native La Union, northern Philippines. For a couple of weeks now, their high-pitched calls served as my alarm clock in the morning.

With a total length of just 4 inches, these very active birds are normally tough to photograph well. But when they descend and feed at a fruiting tree for days on end, there's a lot of opportunities to shoot and this has resulted into a few decent shots.

I had to use higher ISOs in many shots for the faster shutter speeds necessary to freeze these perpetual motion creatures. My preferred focus mode is AI servo AF so the point of focus can continuously keep up with the flitting subject.

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Lowland White-eye (Zosterops meyeni, a near Philippine endemic)

Habitat - Second growth, scrub and gardens.

Shooting info - Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, July 15, 2012, Canon 7D + 400 2.8 IS + Canon 2x TC II, 800 mm, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 1/250 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light.



Shooting info - Bacnotan, La Union, Philippines, July 22, 2012, Canon 1D MIV + 400 2.8 IS + Canon 2x TC II, 800 mm, f/5.6, ISO 1600, 1/320 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, near full frame.

Footage of a feeding Lowland White-eye.