Beautiful Robin

Especially during the winter, I like to take pictures of this beautiful little bird that often visits our gardens and feeders. It's extremely cute when it's cold and it "becomes puffy" fluffing its feathers to keep itself warm... sometimes it looks like a little feather ball!

It's very easy to spot, with the extensive orange area on its chest. That is actually also the only common visual trait with its American cousin, which share the same name, but belongs to a totally different family – you can see a couple of shots here. When I heard for the first time the other bird being called "robin" I was surprised to see a much larger bird and with such different plumage. The European species is the Erithacus rubecula while the American robin is the Turdus migratorius.

I see the robin most of the times alone, moving quickly in the bushes or on low trees, like many of the small birds do. It seems it likes to feed on the ground, mostly insects, but sometimes it doesn't disdain also hanging feeders.

So far not too much snow around, so I am still missing one classic shot of the bird in the snow, such an iconic image, representing often the Holiday Season in book illustrations, but I hope to get to it... one day.

And talking about book illustrations, I would like to dedicate this post and its photos to a friend of mine, Anna, a children's book illustrator who loves robins and all the other little friends from the woods. Enjoy.

               540mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO1250 +0.67

               560mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO6400 -0.33

               560mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO6400 -0.33

                                    560mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO6400 -0.33

               560mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO6400 -0.33

               560mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO5000 -0.33

               560mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO3200 +0.33

               560mm f/7.1 1/2000sec ISO5000 -0.33

               560mm f/7.1 1/2000sec ISO3200 -0.33

               560mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO6400 -0.33

               490mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO1250 +0.33

               560mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO1000 +0.67

               560mm f/6.3 1/1000sec ISO400

               800mm f/8.0 1/1600sec ISO800

Fall Again

I really love this season, wonderful and visually striking with an explosion of colors all around us. And when there is a sunny day like last Saturday, the beauty of nature is even more extraordinary.

I want to share a few more Autumn images taken during a quick visit to a natural park not far from home, the Parco di Montevecchia e valle del Curone, where Denise and I spent a few hours, looking for nice spots to photograph. Thanks to Cristina for the tip!

               17mm f/7.1 1/160sec ISO500 +0.67

               200mm f/4.5 1/500sec ISO100

               17mm f/7.1 1/125sec ISO250

               95mm f/4.5 1/1250sec ISO400

               17mm f/5.0 1/80sec ISO160

               142mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO160

                                      180mm f/6.3 1/125sec ISO250

                                      17mm f/7.1 1/125sec ISO160

               135mm f/5.6 1/320sec ISO100

               17mm f/6.3 1/160sec ISO640

               88mm f/2.8 1/400sec ISO160

               17mm f/9.0 1/125sec ISO160

               40mm f/6.3 1/160sec ISO500

               23mm f/8.0 1/100sec ISO160

               180mm f/6.3 1/200sec ISO100

               17mm f/7.1 1/125sec ISO320

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

Happy New Year!

To All of you my best wishes for a great new year full of joy and serenity and of course... a lot of terrific photography!

             400mm f/5.6 1/125sec ISO 1250

Searching for the Golden Eagle – Day 3

Here we are, ready for a new day, after the boost got yesterday from seeing our first eagle. After breakfast we head for our spotting site. Weather is not too bad, even though it's not fully clear. Luckily for me and Valerio, our luggage came in yesterday as announced and we are able to wear something warmer: we are below zero, and even if it's not too cold, it's nice to wear some extra layers!

Same routine as yesterday and soon we hear ravens and little birds coming. That is a good thing and we maintain maximum silence not to disturb the birds: that helps creating a "safe" scenario that should "call" the eagles and make them feel at ease. More birds are coming today and the squirrel visits us again as well.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM f/5.6 1/60sec ISO 6400

                                     EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM f/5.6 1/160sec ISO 1600

                                  EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM f/5.6 1/160sec ISO 2000

Conny listens carefully to the sounds around us and can tell some eagles are around. After some time, conditions are perfect, with a very nice light, but no eagle decides to show up at that moment... and we try to relax taking pictures of the ravens. Something is in the air, though, and Conny and Ally show us a dead tree where they say the eagle often sits, before getting down.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/200sec ISO 640 +1

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/250sec ISO 1250 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/250sec ISO 800 +1

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT + 2X III @800 mm f/8.0 1/80sec ISO 800 +1

And finally, there it is: the male lands on the dead tree and we take our shots. I do not want to push the ISO here, and light is not great, so shutter speed is far from ideal, but the eagle is quite close. The bird seems posing for us, with a regal posture, showing off all its beauty.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM f/5.6 1/50sec ISO 640 +1

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM f/5.6 1/100sec ISO 640 + 0.33

A short flight and it's down. We shoot, being careful not to make too much noise. Single shot is preferable and whenever the eagle stops eating to look around, concerned, we wait a couple of seconds before shooting again.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/400sec ISO 2000 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/400sec ISO 2000 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/7.1 1/500sec ISO 2000 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/7.1 1/640sec ISO 2000 +0.33

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT + 2X III @800 mm f/8.0 1/160sec ISO 800 +0.33

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT + 2X III @800 mm f/8.0 1/125sec ISO 1250 +0.67

At a certain point the bird flies to land on a tree nearby, always confronted by the ravens that look like they are absolutely not afraid, actually even look like challenging the golden eagle.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/7.1 1/200sec ISO 2000 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/9.0 1/125sec ISO 2000 +0.67

The eagle flies away. It seems it's not the only one in the area. A new couple is taking a look around and that might be a possibility for fights. But unfortunately that doesn't happen. 

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/250sec ISO 2500 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/400sec ISO 3200 +0.67

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560 mm f/5.6 1/320sec ISO 2000 +0.67

Later in the day, an old eagle comes to the site. It's the first time Conny sees her this year, she usually comes a little later in the season, and he's happy to see she's still alive. This one is very hungry and keeps eating. Light is gone now, and it's no use to keep trying shooting, since we need to go up to (and over) 25,600 ISO and that is creating so much noise that the final result is totally off our desired standards.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @412 mm f/5.6 1/125sec ISO 8000

We can't leave, though and we need to wait until is safe to go without being seen.

We return to home base happy because today we have been able to take some shots, but not completely satisfied at the same time because of the hard conditions that the little light forced us to work with. We'll see what's come out after we edit the photos.

We decide to rest tonight and after dinner we  take the opportunity to chat a little altogether and to admire Ally's photos taken during her past visits. Those are so beautiful that we are completely speechless. Valerio and I are very jealous, but at the same time we receive great inspiration to continue in our adventure.