Mockingbirds

[terrib]

Out trying to get that hawk picture, I had to settle for one of these. I thought they turned out pretty good for handheld with the 100-400mm lens in the wind. C&C always welcome.

This is a Mockingbird which is the State Bird of Texas (and a few other states too). They are plentiful around here. If you are not familiar with them, they mimic the sounds of other birds and some other things too. When we had chickens there was a Mockingbird that kept mimicking the sound of a chirping chick in distress. I was fooled several times, running out to see what was wrong with the chicks only to realize the sound was coming from way up in the tree.

#1


#2


#3

[Donald]

Terri - I think the first and third are the strongest images, but wonder about trying to clone out those little bits of branch/twig creeping into the bottom of both images. Your focusing and exposure are excellent. Looking at the EXIF data and seeing your shutter speeds and focal lengths, these images are made from excellent hand-hand shots.

[jprzybyla]

Great shots Terri, excellent detail and color. I agree with Donald's suggestion to clone out the twigs and buds that are not needed.

[terrib]

Thanks Donald and Joe. I agree about the twigs and they are now cloned from the originals. I took care of that cleanup in #2 and then forgot to go back and do that in the others. Thanks for the reminder!

[Bobobird]

Terri did a Terribly good job on these.

Excellent.....

Btw - hawks - you will not get those walking around. Best bet is drive around in flat open country, window open, camera ready. They will likely be on roadside posts or some tree surveying the surrounding. Stop car, turn off engine but do not get out. Shoot from car without excessive movements. Good times would be early morning, lunch time or later in the afternoon when they would be out of their hiding places looking for food. Can still be quite hit and miss.

[jeeperman]

Nice job Terri, you are certainly making some good progress. I am right with the guys on the suggestions, although I like #2 over #3. #1 best.

[terrib]

Thanks Paul and Bobo. I actually like #2 also. It's not a textbook photo but I like the position of the bird and that it shows the windy conditions.

Bobo, those are good suggestions for finding hawks. I may, however, be able to catch one close to the house. We have at least one that routinely patrols our pastures and lands on various posts around the place. Just yesterday, crows were making a ruckus behind our barn and I was walking out to see what it was about and there was a hawk and a crow fighting mid-air. They were actually close enough to have gotten a decent shot. I just have to quit going outside without my camera or actually spend some time early daylight in an unobtrusive place waiting him out.