Pages

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

A Sunbird's full wingspread

Not as sharp as I'd like (there's probably a combined dose of camera shake, slight misfocus and subject motion in the shot), but it's not often that I get these little critters in flight. They're too small (about 4-1/2 inches total length), with a very erratic flight pattern, and more often than not stays in the air only for a few seconds. 

I wish evolution has taught this species to fly a straighter trajectory, so it's much easier to acquire and keep in the viewfinder. But then, that would make them easier to catch by airborne predators (e.g. - shrikes) too, and would've threatened their chances of surviving and evolving into such a microscopic thing of beauty.

Hmmm.... I take my wish back, and would just try harder in catching a better BIF shot. 😉

_____

Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis, resident, female)

Habitat - Common lowland sunbird.


Shooting Info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, May 16, 2017, EOS 7D MII + EF 400 DO IS II,
400 mm, f/5.0, 1/2000 sec, ISO 400, manual exposure in available light, hand held, 15.60 m. distance, major crop resized to 800 x 600.

No comments:

Post a Comment