Great cormorant

I have never found a place in the U.K. where you can get close enough to cormorants for photography from a public hide. There is a boating pool in Helston, Cornwall where you can walk close enough to them on a small island, but the background is not great. In Dorset at Poole Park I have taken images occasionally on foot, but again the settings are not great. This is taken in Romania at the Ultima Frontiera Reserve. Canon EOS 7D Mk2. 100-400mm lens at 340mm. 1/400th at f11 with 400 iso. The hide has an opening at floor level so you can lie down very close to the water.

Great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, single bird on post in water, Romania, June 2016

Magpie

Its a long way to travel to Romania and the Danube Delta and then end up with my Favourite picture being a magpie.  I got many other subjects done, including rare and colourful species, but I was very happy to get these magpies interacting. They appeared to be two adults, but perhaps the right hand bird was initially begging for food.

Canon EOS 1Dx. 800mm lens at 1/500th F5.6. 1600 iso.

Bullfinch

I was trying to photograph a singing Blackcap when this male Bullfinch sat above its own nest and started to sing. The trouble with Bullfinches is they do not open their mouths when singing so you can’t tell. The throat feathers move more than the bill does. You can see the ruffled feathers below the bill. I have never seen a Bullfinch singing up close before and was pleased to get it.

Canon EOS 7D Mk2. 800mm lens. 1/320th at f5.6. 800 iso. The image is full size except I have cropped it from a vertical to a square shape.

Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, single male on branch, Warwickshire, May 2016