More birds of a feather…….

As I reported on my Flickr site, yesterday was one of those days. When the birds were good the light was bad. When the light was good the birds were, well, not so good. So once more I resorted to a little innovative processing alongside what I could squeeze out of the small intersecting area on my good birds/ good light Venn diagram. (That’s about all I remember from O’level maths back in 1970-something.)

Northern Shoveler

This reminds me of a woodcut. A fairly rough one admittedly but a woodcut nonetheless. In dramatic terms this is a case of Exit Shoveler, stage right.

Now an image described on Flickr by loyal commenters as “like a Chinese broad brushstroke impressionistic painting“or alternatively “inky duck swimming in a pool of milk“.

I honestly intended the former but am quite happy with the latter. Harsh but fair, I would say.

Northern Pintail

Now I feel no post these days is complete without the Black-faced spoonbill tribute gallery. As you all know, despite the endangered nature of the species they are generally rather jolly types. Look at this merry gentlemen, a Marty Feldman doppelganger:

The Happy Spoonbill

I think I shall start a campaign to name one of the local pubs “The Happy Spoonbill“.  Come on over here, chaps. The mud’s lovely and the bitter is great.

Then back to business:

Slurping spoonbill

And what about a fly-past to salute all those hard-working photographers on the slipway?

Wing Commander Spoony

Eyes………. wait for it……….. RIGHT!

This was a thoroughly bright session despite the gloomy light. I introduced a fellow-Flickrite to the joys of bird photography. He had a good time, took some excellent pictures and I sense we may have a convert.

I am always happy to see people genuinely captivated by the sights and sounds of the birds. So if you live in Hong Kong and you have a passing interest in birds for HK$168 you can buy a field guide (The Birds of HK and S. China) and learn a little about what there is to see in HK, where to watch them and some birding etiquette. Day-Glo Orange waterproofs may not be the best kit for keeping the birds calm. Indeed if you turn up kitted out like that I may not be so calm either. And please learn how to switch your mobile thingy to vibrate mode. Otherwise I may be tempted to feed it to the spoonbills. Join the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society for field trips, education and good company. Don’t worry, I won’t be there. I’ll be down The Happy Spoonbill.  And join WWF Hong Kong too. Go on, you know it makes sense.