The Caterpillar Service – Day Four
It’s Day Four of photographing Long-Tailed Bushtits for me. After all, what is there to do when I’ve got no work and no income until October? There’s a common Italian phrase which translates literally as, “There is nothing to do.” It’s a slightly world-weary, even fatalistic, saying, which accepts that certain things are simply too large for one individual to change.
The weather is good and the sunshine bright which makes for potentially good, but also potentially tricky, photographic conditions. If you deal in light you can never have it just right all the time.
How about this for a body shape as one of the family of Long-Tailed Bushtits rises from the nest after delivering provisions? Isn’t it angelic?
By shifting my position I can change the background. The sun is quite harsh and a metre to the left and I can get the birds against an almost entirely black background.
My camera has fancy programmes galore and yet none of them can cope with these conditions. I switch to entirely manual exposure and give it another go.
I like the flight pose with the drooped toes folded back.
I can finally understand why Long-Tailed Bushtits fledge so quickly. All these Deliveroo meals of high calorie invertebrates are ideal for maximum growth. These chicks are sitting targets for any predator which notices them. They only have the bramble patch for protection.
I hope it’s enough. After all, “There’s nothing to do”.
More Long-Tailed Bushtits
The Caterpillar Service – Day Eight I only have a snatched hour with the Long-Tailed Bushtits today. I still get some lovely views. I've been trying… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Seven Today the Long-Tailed Bushtits are working as hard as ever to gather invertebrates: After a week I'm much happier with… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Six Here's the scene next to a busy public footpath: It may appear tranquil but deep within the brambles is a… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Five The caterpillars keep on coming. Beak-fulls of them. Green ones, brown ones, grey ones and orange ones; they've all been… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Three It's Day Three of following the Long-Tail Bushtit family on waste ground near my house in South Devon. I say… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Two Yesterday I spent five hours on a public footpath overlooking a Long-Tailed Bushtits' nest. I'm happy that I wasn't disturbing… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day One The call of the Long-Tailed Bushtit is quite distinctive. It must be, because even I can recognise it. 'Tsurp', they… read more