SEARCHING IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE: nuthatch

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Another Nice Little Fellow

The thing I like about the tits is that they are usually going around in packs, many different species all together giving the opportunity to shoot different birds. And with them it's not unusual to spot also Nuthatches and Treecreepers. The Nuthatch resembles a small woodpecker and it's a very peculiar bird, especially for the way he moves on trees. In fact, it's common to see it "walking" down, head-first, along the tree side. Also, the way it poses with the head pushed out it's typical.

280mm f/7.1 1/500sec ISO 400 +1

280mm f/7.1 1/800sec ISO 400 +1

280mm f/7.1 1/2500sec ISO 400 +1

280mm f/7.1 1/640sec ISO 400 +1

560mm f/7.1 1/800sec ISO 400 +1.33

560mm f/7.1 1/400sec ISO 400 +1

280mm f/7.1 1/1250sec ISO 400 +1

280mm f/7.1 1/2000sec ISO 400 +1

800mm f/11.0 1/640sec ISO 800

420mm f/5.6 1/250sec ISO 400

Last summer I was able to shoot a different species in California. While the most similar to our European version is the Red-breasted Nuthatch – it just have a white area above the eye black stripe – the one I shot is the White-breasted Nuthatch. You can see it below.

560mm f/8.0 1/320sec ISO 1600 +0.67

560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO 1600 +0.67

560mm f/5.6 1/640sec ISO 1600 +0.67

Monday, March 16, 2015

One of My Favorites: The Crested Tit

I love the whole family of these little birds and it's often the case you see many species together as they move in group from tree to tree: it's a joy for the eyes when that happens. And if you have your camera with you, that's even better.

These birds are very fast and it's sometimes a challenge to capture good pics, but at the same time they are faithful visitors to feeders during the cold season, and that helps to concentrate their presence and be more ready to shoot.

A few species visit my feeders at home, but that is not the habitat of the Crested tit, one of my favorites, and so I really wanted to go to this site where it would be easier to spot it and hopefully take a good shot. After many planned times last year, all postponed due to heavy snow, this time I am finally going to Switzerland to photograph this little bird, accompanied by my friend Valerio who's been there a few times already. And this time Denise is with me, too!

Once we get there, we immediately spot some birds that fly from tree to tree and once we are set with our equipment we start shooting. Coal tits, Willow tits, Great tits and Nuthatches, but finally also the Crested tit comes to the site to "pose" for some shots. It looks like only one specimen is there, but that's enough for us. It's really a beautiful bird. Enjoy...