birding

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A community for people who like birds, birdwatching and birding in general!

Feel free to share your photos and other birding-related content here. If a photo you post isn't yours, please credit the original creator! Additionally, it would be appreciated if the location of the sighting and a date were given when a photo or question is posted. You do not have to give the precise location, something like "Northern Idaho, June 2023" or even "North-Western US, June 2023" suffices.

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A beautiful little fluff ball. (additional pic in post) (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by EvilTed to c/birding

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 500, 480mm

My favourite small bird. It really is tiny at about 14 cm (5 1/2 in) in length but that includes its tail which is about 60% of the total. It can also weighs as little as 5g (0.18oz) which is the same as a goldcrest, but is usually a little heavier, up to 8g (0.28oz). I have seen fledglings which are truly miniscule.

They tend to live in flocks and I have seen as many as 30 at a time but more commonly around 10-15.

You will almost always hear them before you see them, they make a high pitched pip sound as they keep in touch as they flit through the trees and bushes.

I see them almost everyday on our bird feeders in the garden and they cheer me up no end as they all try to fit on one feeder.

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[–] LunchEnjoyer 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Wow, so small yet so majestic!

[–] EvilTed 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yes, they do have an air of self confidence for ones so small, a bit like my chihuahua lol

[–] LunchEnjoyer 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Do you know what region these are most commonly seen in?

[–] EvilTed 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You get them all over the UK but I have had my best sightings in East Anglia. I've seen them in the reed beds of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, but they do seem to like leafy, deciduous woodland near water. In the spring and early summer they will dance through the canopy looking for insects.

[–] LunchEnjoyer 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Good to know, I just checked and we can also find them here in Scandinavia, so I'll be keeping my eyes wide open for these cuties 😊

[–] EvilTed 3 points 7 months ago

Excellent, you might be able to see the Aegithalos caudatus caudatus sub-species. It has an almost pure white head. I haven't seen one, we get the Europaeus sub-species here.

https://ebird.org/species/lottit1

[–] fastandcurious 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Nikon colors are my fav. they have such a peaceful feel to them, are these SOOC or have you tweaked them? Absolutely gorgeous

[–] EvilTed 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Thank you 😊

Tldr: yes and no, because I shoot in RAW.

I shoot in RAW so I have an import profile I use in lightroom for all my bird photos that's basically balancing the exposure, shadows and highlights with some noise reduction and sharpening. I don't apply any colour correction.

I then mess around with the ones I want to make a tiff from or on rare occasions print. I usually end up making it worse lol

This one was a bit different, in that the bird was well lit and I was happy with everything but the leaves were really blue as they were in deep shade. I looked at changing the white balance to bring the greens out or messing with the channels, but in the end I left it pretty much alone.

When I started digital photography I found it difficult to deal with everyone's opinions on the look and feel of my images. I have a taste but it's not to everyone's liking. This many years later I have kind of decided you can't please everyone but I am really glad you like it.

I have a couple of others I think you will like if you like this one. I'll post them up over the next few days.

[–] fastandcurious 3 points 7 months ago

I am looking forward to seeing your other pics (ʘ‿ʘ)