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nitsch — Female Merlin Portrait
Published: 2007-04-07 21:17:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 1408; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 36
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Description
Beautiful female Merlin which I photographed at the Andover Hawk Conservancy which is a fantastic centre.Enjoy!
Merlin - Falco columbarius
Wingspan 60-65cm
Britain's smallest raptor. Male has blue-grey upperparts and buffish, streaked and spotted underparts. Female has brown upperparts and pale underparts showing large, brown spots. Seldom soars but more usually seen flying low over ground in dashing flight, in pursuit of prey such as meadow pipit. Perches on rocks and fencepost for long periods. Breeds on upland moors in Wales, N England, Scotland and Ireland. In winter, many birds move S to heaths and coastal marshes.
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Comments: 37
Beautiful shot, such lovely crisp detail and the colours of her are brought out so well
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Aye! She is!
I'd like to have her eyes...
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wow, from a distance they can look really dainty, but this image shows that even the smallest of raptors holds power within...
Another fantastic shot Nick!
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Cheers! Thank you very much indeed!
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Pretty! Though the glare form the flash in the eye looks funny.
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Thanks. No flash used here, just natural light. It was actually pretty dimly lit as it was taken beneath a tree which was shading most of the light out so I used ISO1250. The catchlight in the eye is a natural highlight but I know what you mean about it looking slightly odd, I noticed that in the full size image.
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I see, maybe you caould edit it somehow and make it slightly less... noticable, but it really is a nice pic
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Nothing new, but great shot!
Did you change anything on the backgroung?
It looks very well!
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Thanks! No this is pretty much straight out of the camera, just resized.
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