Re: Close encounter of the Sparrowhawk kind....

I'm still quite shaky (with the excitement)......after all the talk of Sparrowhawks on the forum this last week, it finally happened. I looked out the window and there was a Sparrowhawk sitting just outside the kitchen window, quite relaxed, preening itself. Almost killed myself trying to grab the camera and fired off some shots. Managed about ten. When I looked, they were all really dark as I hadn't had time to change any settings. However, after some judicious tweeking, I have managed to salvage some half-decent shots. All I need now is for him/her to take out the squirrel that is eating all the sunflower hearts!  :-)

Well done GD welcome to the Sparrowhawk club lol

A cracking photo of a beautiful bird

It really is exciting too GD.A really nice pic :0)))

Hi GD

Fantastic shot! Your mentioning not having the camera settings right reminded me of this shot I took about a month ago. It was at a local nature reserve, and the Sparrowhawk was trying to land on a bullrush close to some feeders. Unfortunately, I had accidently nudged the camera's mode dial to A-Dep, and ended up with this shaky, surreal shot. I'll keep hunting!

Ken

I reckon you could frame that Ken as a piece of 'modern art'. Thanks Doggie and Sheena. Does anyone know if it was male or female? I know size is a factor but are there other characterstics?

I can't tell you GD, if your on Flickr post it here www.flickr.com/.../sparrowhawk if no-one can tell you on the forum

Thats a beautiful shot Shame  but they don't like squirrel LOL

I'd go for female. Males are more rusty-brown shaded underneath. Don't quote me!

Ken

What  an absolute stunner of a photo, GD.Well done.

Viv.

Brilliant shot GD, I can imagine how excited you must be. I never have a camera to hand when I need it most! Well done for getting a good photo even if the settings were wrong on the camera. There just isn't time is there? Stop and check all the settings and the bird has flown!

Well done, great shot. It is quite a thrill when you get a bird like that taking you by surprise. We've all been there with having the camera on the wrong setting but I must say it doesn't show on your photo.

For those interested in the photography element...

1. This is the original RAW file - not great when you first open it up. I use Nikon ViewNX 2. I was able to add in two stops exposure compensation, then I added a little brightness and colour boost before sharpening the image.

2. The image is now much improved but because of the high ISO setting, there is a lot of speckling in the photo so I use another piece of software called Neat Image to clean up the photo. It costs a few pounds but has rescued quite a few images from dull days. There is a trial version available.

3. This is a crop but it is now reasonably acceptable compared to the first image. Here is the final photo again which looks OK on the screen as a compressed JPEG.

Hope that might be useful for those wanting to improve poor images. It does depend though on being able to shoot in RAW format on your camera.

Well done and great shot!!!! Has the adrenalin stopped rushing yet? LOL.

To my mind she is a female judging by the brown upper parts rather than the slate blue associated with males. And I agree with Judi, she won't take a squirrel, but she may see off your pigeons!

Wow!  I'm absolutely no expert at photography, but isn't it amazing what a bit of technology can do these days!  That is a beautiful photograph and what a co-incidence after we have all been reading Judi's thread for the last few days! No wonder you were trembling!  Can I have one now, please?!!!

Great shot Dave

Def female   welcome to the sprawk club

 Ray