#004-365 A Pair of Lorikeets

A couple of postings ago I posted a shot of three of these fellows, with two in flight, some of you enquired about their colour and Julie asked for a close up. So I Grabbed my Nikon D70s with the sigma 70-300mm lens and added the 2x teleconverter so that I could get a real close up as these are really skittish birds.

I will be posting a close up of the bird on the right at a later date but thought this perfect as I think they are a mating pair as they never left one another for about a half hour that I observed and a neighbour said they came back later, with a couple of friends. This shot was taken with a shutter speed of 1/80 a f/5.6 with a 150mm focal length and ISO 200.

The day was overcast and it looked like they had been photographed backed by an overwashed greying sheet so I had a go at replaacing the sky and apart from a hint of white around the edges am faitly happy with the outcome. I had tried to get the photo in the same Golden Penda tree that I shot before but we have had a bout of wet weather here (Thank heavens as the Regions dams are now holding over 50% capacity for the first time in over 8 years) and the blooms were knocked about and are just coming back. I stepped out of the door with the awesome weapon I described above (The Camera) and they took flight, Nada, Nix Nothing, didn't have time to get them in the view finder, turned to walk back inside when I heard them chattering around the corner.

So quietly I crept around the corner and there they were sitting on top of the hedge that separates the two back units of our complex. This is strange as I had never seen them on that before and it won't be in bloom for more than 4 more months, so inch by inch I approached, clicking as I got closer as I was sure they would take flight at my approach. My first shot was at a shutter speed of 1/800 (Far too dark) then my neighbour Old Bob an 85 year old Kiwi started to say something, so I just put my finger to my lips, cause, hanging out his washing he was closer to them than I was.

He kept STUMM, I adjusted my settings and was able to get about 5 or six good shots including this one before they were off and away again. I went of to the nice old guy and apologized for my rudeness and he said "I just wanted to tell you the birds were there - He must think my eyes are worse than I thought they were. I said thanks and ones I had processed the three keepers from the bunch I printed out copies and gave him a copy as payment for his cooperation, both he and his wife loved the photos and said their grandkids would be thrilled.