Favourite bit on a bird (1 Viewer)

[Jane Turner]

Oh...yes... the Coppery tail patches on a Bluethroat. My first one ever was a female hidden in some low scrub. The first thing I saw was the tail patches, catching the light.... then I saw the rest of the bird....


....oh and the coppery "shawl" on a firecrest....


....and those little white tips on the flight feathers of a Yellow-browed Warbler..... I'd better stop I'm getting excited!

 

[seb_seb]

"This is a wierd thread. I'm kind of turned on by the seductive curves of an egret's lithesome neck, her slim elegance, her delicate filament plumes in nuptial-- sigh!-- plumage, the purity of her immaculate whiteness..."

Lets not do anything illegal now Charles....

 

[Alan Hobson]

I'm with Steve - the summer plumage on the Black-throated Diver is outstanding. Who would have thought that the use of three supposedly dull colours - black, white and grey - could produce such magnificent results?

And it's worth adding too, that I have never ever seen either a picture, or even a photo, which has done full justice to this. One of those birds it is so much better seeing in the flesh.

Ditto, incidentally, the Wryneck, so I can see what Jane means there.

 

[rogerk]

I like the contrast of orangey-red and bluey-grey on the head and neck of an adult summer chaffinch. Something that I was admiring today actually (hence, why I mentioned it!!)

You were admiring an adult summer Chaffinch today?
Only being cynical.
Bullfinch, the whole head thing, its blackness and the perfectly 'clean' look to its beak, cool!

 

[Steve G]

I'm with Steve - the summer plumage on the Black-throated Diver is outstanding. Who would have thought that the use of three supposedly dull colours - black, white and grey - could produce such magnificent results?

And it's worth adding too, that I have never ever seen either a picture, or even a photo, which has done full justice to this. One of those birds it is so much better seeing in the flesh.

........

Hi Alan,
Laurie Campbell's eye level close-ups of Scottish Black-throated Diver must come very close -his series of images was stunning but took a lot of hard work & great personal discomfort to get. Somehow the hard work & pain seem appropriate -great images of a bird this good should never come easily!

 

[Ranger James]

Hi Alan,
Laurie Campbell's eye level close-ups of Scottish Black-throated Diver must come very close -his series of images was stunning but took a lot of hard work & great personal discomfort to get. Somehow the hard work & pain seem appropriate -great images of a bird this good should never come easily!

I'll second that! After six hours spent not being able to move from a bent double position, sitting in a hide made from hessian that actively encouraged a bitter wind to sap the heat from me, and to then only get a decent shot of a pied wagtail! Well, morale was pretty low that day I can tell you. Sometimes I envy those digi-scopers, but there is something romantic about film. Its real.

Back on thread, how about the grey marl of a drake wigeon's back.

James

 

[Angie]

The cute little face of a long tailed tit.

 

[joser]

You were admiring an adult summer Chaffinch today?
Only being cynical.

Ok, ok!! Calm down!! What I meant was....oh, you know what I meant!! It was obviously not an adult summer, its february!!, but its colours were still nonetheless as vivid as an adult summer or close enough. Well, it certainly was more colourful than its more subdued winter clothes anyway!

 

[Dave B Smith]

The fantastic bill of the Keel-billed Toucan.

 

[Beverlybaynes]

The incredible heat of the red on a Red-bellied Woodpecker's head . . .

The intense blue of an Indigo Bunting in the sun . . .

The military red patches on a Red-winged Blackbird . . .

The burst of flying sunlight that is a Prothonotary Warbler . . .

The brick red of a Red-tailed Hawk's tail catching the light . . .

There are so many . . .

 

[Tom Moodie]

Hi Fifebirder, probably not the correct place to post this but could you please contact Davy Ogilvie, Fife Recorder, as he doesn't have any contact details to get in touch with you and requires descriptions for Desert Wheatear and Great Shearwater asap.
Thanks
Tom

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Hi Tom,

I was just thinking it was about that time of year - thanks for the reminder! I know I've got Davy's address somewhere but would you be able to PM it to me in case I can't find it? Thanks.

 

[Tom Moodie]

Davy Ogilvie, 25 St Fillans Road, Kirkcaldy, Fife, KY2 6LT

Cheers
Tom