In a previous post I published an image of a Sparrowhawk in our garden, saying I was not sure whether it was an immature male or female. I didn't get any suggestions in response to this. This one that visited briefly on Tuesday is definitely a mature male, however! The image is poor as it was throwing it down with rain, and it was taken through window glass that the rain was falling on - it's a wonder that I got any sort of focus! This has been heavily 'post-processed' - the original was far worse!!
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| Sparrowhawk (male) - our garden |
No chawfinch or Robins thatt day I suposse........... :-)
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't a problem, el Campero. The Sprawk was only around for s few seconds, and the rest of the garden birds were back 5 minutes later.
DeleteWith all of the obstacles you faced this is a great shot Richard!
ReplyDeleteThank you Phil, but it really was VERY HEAVILY post processed. The camera had over-compensated for the dull conditions so it was badly over-exposed. Had to exposure compensate by a -0.5 factor. It was then too flat, so had to apply a +98 contrast adjustment. Then a 3 factor sharpening (I rarely apply more than 1). I then had to pass it through Neat Image to reduce the noise, and to apply a further 200% sharpening!! Having re-sampled it down to 1000 pixels on its longest side it just about looks acceptable for the blog, but would look really bad at anything bigger.
DeleteRight...Now I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteYou get two and I've not seen one in my garden for months! Stunning creature. Actually, while teaching on Thursday afternoon, stood at the whiteboard (yes, whiteboard), a female SH glided past the classroom window. I stopped briefly, enjoyed the sight, and just carried on. I don't even think the children noticed! Says a lot for their listening to me!
I reckon you've got them so well trained that they too were mesmerised by the passing Sprawk.
DeleteDon't be too upset by not seeing one in your garden for months - better that than too often!!