Show us your small songbirds, canaries and finches...

[Tom Kellie]

Lonchura griseicapilla

Photographed at 7:38 am on 8 February, 2014 in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 100, 1/320 sec., f/2.8, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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Morning had begun with a marbled carnelian sunrise, encouraging exploration in the dew-moistened tall grass around the tented camp where I was staying.

A single Lonchura griseicapilla, Grey-headed Silverbill, flitted in the vegetation growing along the barbed wire perimeter fence. Picasso could imagine no finer plumage!

Edited June 2, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

Dew-moistened Uraeginthus bengalus

Photographed at 7:45 am on 8 February, 2014 in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 100, 1/250 sec., f/2.8, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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Morning dew coated the tall grass growing in the small field west of the tented camp where I stayed. Not only I but also the birds were wet from contact with the dew.

A pair of Uraeginthus bengalus, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, were eating green grass seeds. I see their species every time I visit Masai Mara.

[Tom Kellie]

Cisticola on a Grass Stalk

Photographed at 11:39 am on 11 February, 2014 in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

ISO 800, 1/2500 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

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From the first through the third and most recent visit to Amboseli National Park, it's repeatedly been a productive location for bird photography.

This cisticola on a grass stalk was beside the track. Anthony patiently stopped to make possible this portrait.

[kittykat23uk]

White-browed tit warbler, Sichuan, China. This is the male.

 

PB120583 adj White-browed tit-warbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[Bush dog]

Yellow-fronted canaries (Mara triangle)

[Tom Kellie]

Yellow-fronted canaries (Mara triangle)

 

~ @@Bush dog

 

Those are BEAUTIFUL!

The image brings out their form and color with exemplary clarity.

Truly nice!

Thank you for posting them!

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Yellow-crowned Canary

Photographed at 8:54 am on 22 January, 2013 in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 200mm f/2.8L IS telephoto lens + EF 2x extender.

ISO 100, 1/160 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual Exposure.

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This image shows the first Serinus canicollis, Yellow-crowned Canary, I ever saw. Until encountering this bird, every canary I'd ever seen had been living in a cage as a pet.

Accordingly I felt an inner uplift of joy at seeing a canary free to fly wherever it liked. As much as I enjoy canary song, I'd rather that the various canary species live without any metal bars.