Who is watching who?

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Common chiffchaff birds pl 1.jpg


I usually take my zoom lens when I go choo sunsets. It is handy to get the disappearing sun looking like a fireball. So of course I did it this time too, but since I was a bit early I went to have a look at the nearby bushes and walk a bit around the fields paths. I noticed that many birds hide in them for the night so I was hoping to catch some before it gets dark.

Bingo :)


Common chiffchaff birds pl 3.jpg


I saw this little guy jumping from one branch to another and he saw me too. And as I was trying to catch some nice photo of him that would be in focus, he was doing his best to make it harder for me.

Every time he moved to another branch it took me a while to pot him again. Sometimes he was hiding completely behind the leaves. He could have been looking for some last bits of food before the night, or a place to sleep. The bushes are thick and away from any traffic. I could hear other birds flying in and battling (probably sparrows) for a spot.


Common chiffchaff birds pl 2.jpg


I think this is Common chiffchaff though there is another one that looks almost the same - Willow warbler. They both seem to have the lighter stripe above the eyes and some yellow on the edge of the wing and long, thin beaks.
Which one is it?

He looked at me a few times and flew to another branch.


Common chiffchaff birds pl 8.jpg


Shook off his wings...


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Stuck his butt at me. And jumped to another branch not giving me many chances to take a decent photo.


Common chiffchaff birds pl 10.jpg


The last spot was a bit nicer - less leaves, more sun and blue sky behind. But he didn't plant to stay there longer either.
Probably didn't feel comfortable with me around.


Common chiffchaff birds pl 6.jpg

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One last look at the weird creature...


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And off he went.

I really need to get myself a bigger zoom for little guys like this.


Common chiffchaff birds pl 5.jpg

»«
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Tamron 70-300mm lens
Location: Poland
All photos and text are my own.



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14 comments
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Beautiful series here ! You nicely documented their turnaround and spots :)

And that little addition of red on the leaves, plus the blue sky on the last ones really finished well your reportage. Great shoots, want to see more.. But thanks you already for those !

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Thank you! It was nice to watch him. Just wish I had better tools to catch him better.
I don't shoot many birds.. not as many as I would like to. Yet :)

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Oh, the birds of this family are very difficult to distinguish... I can't see the color of the legs. If they are dark, then this is a common chiffchaff. But that's not all, because besides this, they also have subspecies 😄 The only thing that can help here is to listen to their voice.

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Oh boy :p
I didn't see the legs either and I don't think it was singing. I wouldn't even remember now anyway.
But I was close. Yay :)

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What a beautiful bird dear friend @ewkaw
Glad it sat long enough for you to take some beautiful shots.
I take this opportunity to wish you a splendid day

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One of the two for sure. @ratel is the expert, we have to start learning the damn critters callings to distinguish them! :))

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I just call all the small grey ones "like sparrows" :D

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😁😁 It's also a possibility!

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