In full feather

A short while ago I wrote about and showed photos of a very under-feathered cockatoo. Well, we have had a few really cold mornings with quite heavy frost on the lower levels so I would expect that we will not see that poor creature again. So to show you the true beauty of these wonderful wild creatures I was happy to be able to get outside this morning and capture a few shots of these visitors to my veranda.

f/ 4.0  1/800  ISO 160   85mm

I might have told you how I usually chase the birds away because they can be very destructive if they think they can get a regular feed and then find the feed dish empty. As a result of this the birds are quite skittish when I open the door to come out with the camera!
I first noticed the birds on the feed dish cage when one of them had his head thrust between the bars and going his hardest at cleaning out the seed dish. He initially looked as if he was stuck! When I slid the door open he had to wriggle to free himself without removing his neck feathers!
I had seen the birds through the window to start with so changed lenses so that I had the 70-300mm attached. I wanted both birds in the shot first and when one flew off (the one that had managed to get at the seeds) I zoomed in!

 f/ 4.0  1/800  ISO 160   100mm

Don't you just love "back lighting"! Of course I have had a little help from Photoshop to lift the shaded area on the birds front (Select the bird, Ctrl+J to duplicate, use levels, mask and tidy using a soft brush, smart sharpen and merge down) There is rarely a photo that I do not use Photoshop.

 f/ 4.8  1/800  ISO 160   200mm

Zoomed right in for this shot and if you click on the picture to enlarge it you will have the surprise I did - I did not realise that cockatoos had brown eyes! I thought they were black!

f/ 5.0  1/800  ISO 160   240mm

The bird was very suspicious about my activity - many birds think that a big camera is a gun! So it wasn't long before he flew into the tree a little distance from the veranda (We have had a tree lopper in so the branches of the tree available as perches are further away!) This is where I prefer to see the cockatoos! They are beautiful birds but they have been endowed with huge voices that only another cockatoo could love!
AJ