Sylvia melanocephala

Sardinian Warbler, Ria de Alvor

Canon 1D MkIII 100-400 L IS + 1.4TCII
1/640s f/8.0 at 560mm ISO 800

Great picture!

best regards

Thijs

Colin,

Looks like Spring is here!

Cracking picture - rarely does a photograph do this super little Sylvia justice.

Bye for now

Simon

Dear Thijs & Simon,

Thank you for your kind comments. Photographing any species of warbler is absolute HELL - the little sods will just not keep still for a second. I actually got that shot while trying to photograph the Ring Ouzel which is still present (over three weeks now) at Ria de Alvor but which is very camera-shy. I managed to get a few shots at about 100m range, but they are not good:



This bird is an adult female, but there is also an immature bird which is very difficult to distinguish from the numerous female Blackbirds.

Oddly enough, I was in Alvor town this morning after walking my dog along the dunes and just after the round-about (near the Farmacia and AliSuper) an adult male Ring Ouzel in breeding plumage came out of a garden and picked something off the road before returning to perch in a Loquat tree! Of course, I had no camera with me.

All the best,

Colin