The Photographer and the Starling

Starlings are such fascinating birds. They fly around in huge flocks and can empty a bird feeder in a few minutes. They are noisy and messy and generally not the most popular of all birds which I think is a shame.

The two things that fascinate me most about starlings are their amazing ability to mimic lots of other birds. I once had one land on the roof of my house and it made a harsh cry that sounded exactly like a magpie. I looked up expecting to see a magpie, one of my favourite birds, and instead this much smaller bird was sitting there. It is amazing how that starling could make such a loud noise when it is much smaller than a magpie and how it could mimic the sound so well.

I have spent ages trying to get nice photographs of s starling with mixed results. These birds are so busy and never seem to be around long enough to get a nice photo. They are also far less confiding than great tits or pigeons, making it impossible to get really close to them.

I have a wonderful 20x zoom lens on my camera that lets me zoom in really close to animals that are far away. The problem with this is that if the animal moves even a tiny bit the result is a blurry photo.

I tried photographing starlings on my bird feeder when they come rushing in to collect a beakful of mealworms. I got some really nice photos but the bird feeder always looks so dirty it spoils the photo. Unfortunately I am a perfectionist.

I decided I wanted a photo of a starling sitting in a tree. There is a nice tree that overhangs my back garden where I knew they would land. I think in the end it took me three weeks of patient waiting, crouching in the garden every day after putting out some mealworms, until I got the shot I wanted. Every single time I tried to take a photo the bird was looking the other way, or it moved. I have a lot of photos of a tree with a bit of tail sticking out and things like that.

I did finally get a photo I was pleased with, although being a perfectionist I would like it if the bird was looking towards me just a bit more, but overall I think the photo captures the beauty of this bird as it sits in the tree and the sunlight shines off its feathers.

The following photo is the one I took. Being a 12mp camera I was able to enlarge the photo slightly when I made it into a greeting card in my shop so the original is a little smaller but apart from that the photo is as it was when I took it.

Starling in a Spruce Tree Custom Birthday Card by Fallen_Angel_483
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