Skittish
This is a red-winged black bird. It's not the first time that I've posted a shot of one of these (here), but it's been a while and this is a much better picture than that other one so I figured what the hey... Actually, I'm a bit surprised that I haven't posted any other shots in the interim - I know that I've taken a lot of pictures of them since I posted that one!
The lighting was a bit of a challenge as these things are very flighty and don't let you get close at all. Moving to a better location is usually pointless as the bird is gone from it's perch long before you get there. In retrospect I would probably have done better to use some fill-flash (it didn't even occur to me at the time) though I've managed to rescue some of the details in the bird without destroying the rest of the picture (photoshop saves the day again). They have such dark feathers that it's hard to capture the detail there without blowing out everything else.
These are quite vocal birds, with two distinct calls (male/female?). Worth a visit to the bird sanctuary at Iona Park, in case you've never been there.
With spring just around the corner I suppose you can expect more wildlife shots, more flowers, more insects...
