Well I guess you've got the picture now, I spent quite a while photographing this / these birds this day, in fact there were almost 400 shots taken in just under an hour. I know it's a lot but how often does anyone get this kind of opportunity and writing this has also forced me to weed them out and get rid of the majority of shots.
Just to prove that it wasn't all about Crossbills ....
See, other birds are available :)
A lovely Redpoll male and Siskin male.
I realised that what you're not seeing in this parade of Crossbill photos, is the frequency of eye contacts, almost every successful seed extracted, she'd look up and check around, I could almost have made a time-lapse with the number of shots I had :)
Ok, this is a LOT of Crossbill photos so, I'm going to cut to the closest shots I got, none of the following images have been cropped other than small amounts to centre or balance the image itself so, I was this close, bearing in mind the lens (Sigma 150-600mm)
One thing I have learnt from Crossbill stalking is, if it's raining pine cone detritus they're nearby, possibly overhead however, you'll also get that from others like Siskin.
Are you still here?
Any which way
So I got to hang out with a crossbill for an hour or so
Siskin & Crossbill
Crossbill & Siskin
Eye to eye again
Sorry folks, a LOT of images here I know but what an opportunity? You can maybe see what I meant by she allowed me so close? The following shots are not cropped at all, they are as they were taken, I had to back off a bit to allow the lens to focus, if I'd remembered the other camera in my bag???? Hah!
Closeup or closedown?
Does she see herself in the lens?
So, that's it, sorry there were so many but what an experience! In the end I walked away and left her munching happily in the tree. There are more Crossbill shots as the months go by, then they disappear (to me) probably moving deeper into the forests but I hope to see them again later this year or in Spring next year.
