The Cat, the Squirrel and the Bluebirds

[terrib]

Our cat chased a squirrel up our electric service pole and the Bluebirds nesting in the birdhouse objected to the squirrel's escape route. The cat was hiding behind a shrub at the bottom of the pole so there are not pics of her to complete the story but here's a few of what I got of the rest of it.

These are cropped quite a bit. Had the 400mm on the camera but I was still about 100 ft away. Shot on Shutter Priority at 1/1600, Auto ISO.

#1 If I were to take more time with this one, I might clone out the switch box. I didn't crop closer because I liked having the birdhouse in the picture.



#2 I did lighten up the shadows on the squirrel's head but didn't want to go to far. It's not the best angle so I didn't spend much time on this one, although I do like the spread of the bird's wings.



#3 This is my favorite. I cropped in pretty close to see the bird better but again wanted to leave the birdhouse to complete the story. There's actually squirrel hair flying above the bird.



#4 DOF on this one didn't really cover the bird and the squirrel has his eyes closed so without facial features it's less than optimal but still a fun shot.



#5 All the high speed continuous shots and not one has both birds or the female at all. Here they are resting between attacks while the squirrel is all the way to the top of the post hiding behind the transformer.

[Stagecoach]

Terri,

Excellent captures. It's No 3 for me, I'm trying to think of a good caption for the bird (that can be printed)

[Andrew76]

Those are fantastic shots Terri!! Great timing!

[jprzybyla]

Great captures Terri, love them....

[HAZZA]

Great pics Terri - I actually like number 1 - looks like a game of hide and seek

[GrahamH]

Great action to watch and you spent time getting the pics so we could all enjoy. Thanks Terri.
Love number 3 as well especially.
Rodent routed
'Pol(e)and' successfully defended against invasion by the Ratsies.

Anyone else got titles?
Graham

[jeeperman]

Well done Terri. I love the interaction of 2 and 3 but #2 just a bit more with the tails in contact.

[terrib]

Thanks everyone for your compliments. It was definitely interesting to watch. These are the times that remembering to use the high speed continuous definitely helps!

[dje]

Great set of shots Terri. Fascinating display of natural animal instinct to protect their young.

Dave

[Otavio]

Very nice, Terri. You certainly recorded an event that some of us will never see in whole lifetime!

[pnodrog]

It is the sort of photographs I enjoy viewing - almost sports photography - ninja bluebird vs pole-climber. Well done and I think the switch box is fine in the context of what you were capturing. Very well done.

[Bobobird]

Excellent series and well narrated. Well done.

[terrib]

It is the sort of photographs I enjoy viewing - almost sports photography - ninja bluebird vs pole-climber. Well done and I think the switch box is fine in the context of what you were capturing. Very well done.

Ninja Bluebird. I like that. I later thought I should have titled the thread "When Bluebirds Attack". I did rescue the squirrel by chasing the cat away, but only after taking my shots!

Thanks everyone!

[Brownbear]

Wonderful photos. a delight to view!

[FootLoose]

Great photos, Terri, thanks for sharing.

[terrib]

Thanks, Christina and Greg.

[Loose Canon]

Hi Terri!

What an awesome series! No kidding, you nailed these!

I never get domestic Ninja Blue’s! Around here they are shy and tend to stick in the woods! Wish I had yours to dive bomb my tree rats (which are plentiful!)

Terri? Might I suggest that due to your crops, which by the way are great, you have some noise happening? Mostly background?

You have an awesome series here. Just a Theory! (Yeah I know! Everyone’s a stinking critic for crying out loud!!)

[terrib]

Thanks, Terry. You are absolutely right. I need to take them into Neat Image to get rid of the noise. This was the best I knew how to do in Lightroom.

[Shadowman]

Nice series and story telling images.