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May 24, 2005
Hotel Mayura River View III - The Raven
| Camera | Konica Minolta 7d |
| Lens | Minolta 50mm f/1.4 |
| Shutter / Aperture | 1/50s / f/4.5 |
| ISO | 800 |
When we sat down for breakfast the first morning, we were hounded by a murder of ravens. I didn't know until then that they would work in groups to try and lure you away from your food. I took their appearance as a chance to turn us into the hunters instead and snap a few pictures.
The bird in the picture provided the distraction for the others. He would hop in close and flap about while the others would try and sneak around from behind and take the spoils. You could tell there was a lot going on in their little heads to try and get a go at your food. Too bad for them that they didn't suceed.
I have to say, the ravens were nothing to combat compared to the monkeys. I hate monkeys. More on that later.
I had to take four or five shots of this bird before I got the one I was happy with. The first part of the equation was getting enough light in order to take a snappy picture and the remainder was all in trying to get the catch-lights in the eyes. I still remember the instructor from a wildlife photo class I took saying over and over again, "you don't have a picture until you get those catch-lights!"
For a bird picture, I am quite pleased with this shot.
Posted by jordanh at May 24, 2005 11:38 PM
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Comments
This is not fair !
1. this little guy is posing as a model
2. he is working for his peers to distract you
and after all this you don't give him a piece of your breakfast ?! :-)
Nice shot, nice story (didn't knew those birds where that smart.)
Posted by: Sidney at May 25, 2005 4:24 AM
Nice bird portrait! They say that ravens and crows are the smartest of birds; smart enough to even use tools!
Posted by: Paul at May 25, 2005 8:52 AM
Sidney-- I would have given them some food, but I was afraid of what else happy, excited birds may have attracted. Monkeys no doubt, and monkeys are bad. Unless you like poop thrown at you. In which case monkeys are very, very good!
Paul-- I remember reading about crows in a lab that could fashion hook tools, so then I got to searching this morning and found a couple of articles about crows on a remote island that can fashion tools and improve them and evolve their design without ever having been taught. Truly remarkable.
Here are a few links:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/27/1048653799744.html?oneclick=true
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/13/ncrow13.xml
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0808_020808_crow.html
Posted by: Jordan at May 25, 2005 9:46 AM
Wow, that's incredible! I never knew that about crows, or ravens...uh...or about monkeys, for that matter! Jordan, this shot is wonderful--you've caught such an intelligent, inquisitive expression on this fellow's face, which seems right in character for these birds, and the details are so crisp and clean...
Posted by: Lara Barrett at May 25, 2005 8:23 PM
WHAT A WONDERFUL SHOT ! i like the black and white atmosphere of picture and the bird is so dark, you have a very good contrast with the background..really nice.i love it ...thanks for your visits and commentary on my blog too !! see you later bb
Posted by: ARSENIK at June 6, 2005 6:22 PM
Beautiful photo, I love ravens (but that's probably because I don't see them very often). As for the monkeys? Yes, I would like to hear more about that!
Posted by: Ariela at June 16, 2005 11:08 PM
Posting comment...
Great shot, the bird almost seems to jump out of the picture.
Posted by: Beau at May 25, 2005 3:25 AM