Try as I might I couldn’t haul myself out of bed early today. Whilst others were ticking Barred Cuckoo Dove and dancing a little mental jig at their success, I was wandering rather half-heartedly around LNEC, a sort of local patch. The light was abysmal. I sat in a favoured spot for an hour. Not a sausage. Worse, not even a bird.
I wandered the paths and spotted a small flock of minivets, probably scarlet. They were right at the top of a tree. Silhouettes. And then there they were gone, as we say in the valleys. Except one. And it wasn’t a minivet. A quick scan with the binoculars and a record shot to confirm Verditer Flycatcher. Some consolation I suppose but not going to help my BAD habit.
And then another bird, half hidden and against the light. A shrike!! And definitely not Long-tailed, the common local shrike. We started our pas de deux, the shrike shuffling position in the tree, yours truly shuffling on the path, desperately trying to get a better light angle (or right angle as the Chinese might call it) without causing the shrike to go off in a huff. At some point we compromised. The shrike stopped. I stopped. The shrike was a tad high. Or I was too low. It matters not. This was the result:
Good enough to be BAD but no cigar for this one.
The frustrating thing was that it flew shortly afterwards and I could not find it again. Nor the Verditer. The shrikes tend to favour the bamboo bean-canes but not today. Suddenly though the Long-tailed Shrike popped up. And so as a non-qualifying bonus BAD photo, here is the more colourful LTS.
No cigar here either. I don’t like the broken twig in front of the bird. Otherwise quite passable with a sweet background. So a day that looked as if I was going to fail miserably ended with a last minute rescue by a brace of shrikes.
All downhill from here 
I think these shots are gorgeous Andrew! I love the top one especially, while the shrike may not have much colour the patterns and endless nuances of brown are beautiful in my eye. I think the deep green in the background sets it off beautifully. You are very critical of your photography, I think it is incredible!
Thanks Jayde. Being self-critical is the only way to improve. But it hurts!
Good shot. Is that you Andrew, reflected in the Bird’s eye? I don’t mean peas.
I can’t get over the details in your photos.
Bird’s Eye peas!!! Splendid, Gerard. It took me a while. If it anybody else then I have a Doppelgänger. I was all alone shooting this one.
Not a sausage! I do love that expression, I must remember to slip it into one of my posts one day 🙂 These photographs are so sharp, the detail is extraordinary. You did good, Sir!
Ah…. the boy done good. Thank you muchly. I am agonising that they may be too sharp. Unnaturally so.
I curious…. I’m curious, too. There’s no editing protocol here. For one who can’t spell worth a hoot and types like a clod, it’s easy to look textually sloppy in these reply boxes. But we are an understanding lot.
Andrew, you write: Good enough to be BAD but no cigar for this one.
What’s your reasoning here? What qualifies the image for second tier? I curious about what your eye is seeing here that makes this one “less than”.
I just don’t like the broken twig, Eb. I know its natural but somehow it offends me. Perhaps I am too easily offended.
True enough, A. The broken twig breaks the symmetry of the bird’s form. The artist desires to see through a perfected lens. Why not? I was curious because I read too much into your lament, thinking there was more than a broken twig to rouse your displeasure.
Better indeed than never. Your Shrike is a lovely bird. I care not about the twig. I think little things like that are not a detriment any longer. All the important bits are in view, the focus and color are excellent and the background is smooth and attractive. Works for me. Maybe not a contest jury but they can never be trusted any way.
So far so good. If you continue at this rate our next chief executive will possess a shrill irritating voice that eats into our brains most painfully. 🙂
Lipstick on a pig, was her most memorable saying for me. She should run with Dan Quayle.
Pretty little no 2 bird. What’s a little twig in the way if you can get two nice photos. So maybe these are not up to snuff. Not all photos are going to be 100%. All good in my book.
Thanks Yvonne. Its my perfectionist streak.
Just as well you weren’t going to eat your brace of shrikes. Pretty little pair I must say. The shrikes, I add quickly.
Not much meat on a shrike! But I am very fond of them. They certainly brightened my morning.
excellent!
Thank you!