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Universally hated, corvids are not usually at the top of the wildlife photographer’s target list either. There is no denying that they have some habits that we don’t really like, such as eating their neighbours’ children, but just as undeniably, these are the University Challenge winners of the bird world. I find them interesting but difficult customers. Carrion crows are perhaps the most hated of the lot but also the cleverest in my experience. I always consider them a good test for my camouflage as they seem to have x-ray vision and can spot even the best hidden photographer as a rule. It is often said that crows are unable to count and that you should enter a hide in pairs and let one person walk away, leaving the photographer behind unnoticed. I think that is a nice story, but in reality, probably just an urban myth. What they can see however, is the slightest movement of a lens poking through a hide, so never be tempted to swing quickly onto a nearby bird, always creep the lens round as slowly and carefully as your impatience will allow.
I recently caught these images while waiting for hares to arrive in front of my hide. They are both crops although the bird was as close as I could have hoped for. One of the disadvantages of a full frame camera I suppose. These would have been full frame images on my crop-sensored 40D. In the image above you can see a great example of their intelligence at work. This crow was picking up large rootballs left over from the ploughing in of last years pasture and dropping them from a height to shake the worms and leather-jackets loose.
We all love to hate magpies and I am no exception. It is hard to like them when you have seen them return time again to a blackbird’s nest and eat every chick while the parents scream impotently nearby, but that is human prejudice at work really. I have seen male blackbirds kill each other and that isn’t a pretty sight either but nobody dislikes them particularly.
The bird in the first image came to a road-kill rabbit bait and immediately removed the tongue and then the eyes - magpie delicacies presumably. He heard the shutter though and never came back despite the availability of free food. The next three images are of a young bird, not quite up to speed with the realities of life and are full frame, taken in my back garden. The shot below is my favourite and is a classic example of what we usually see of magpies, a black and white bird at distance. I always think of them as the British equivalent of the parrot - bright, brightly coloured and not always as popular in their own land as you might expect.
For every truth there is an exception and in true hypocritical human style, we can forgive the brightly and beautifully coloured jay most anything although it is just as clever and every bit as ‘evil’ as the other crows.
I have always struggled with these since I got some decent equipment, yet I can remember taking many closer images with my old Kodak Instamatic when I was a lot younger - sod’s law I suppose. This one came to a buzzard bait, allowed me three frames and was never seen again.
I have a very soft spot for jackdaws which seem to be more common than ever. They like to live close to human habitation and in our village are regular visitors to just about everybody’s garden except mine for some reason. I wish they would come on down and pose for a few snaps, but I suspect that once they do, they will eat me out of house and home, making me wish they had stayed away.
The one on the left came in to inspect the same rabbit bait that the magpie was on, but never actually touched it preferring to pick insects from the grass. The birds on the quarry face came along while I was waiting unsuccessfully for peregrines
5D2, Sigma 500mm , iso 800, f6.3, 1/800
5D2, Sigma 500mm , iso 800, f6.3, 1/800
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 200, f8, 1/40
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 200, f8, 1/60
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 200, f8, 1/250
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 200, f4.5, 1/125
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 200, f4.5, 1/100
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 200, f6.3, 1/25
400D, Canon 100-400 @ 250mm , iso 400, f5.6, 1/125
400D, Canon 100-400 @ 200mm , iso 400, f5.6, 1/60
40D, Canon 100-400 @ 200mm , iso 400, f6.3, 1/50
5D2, Sigma 500mm , iso 800, f6.3, 1/800
Talking shop
April 2011-
I hope that you have found the more detailed explanation of what I was trying to achieve with these images, interesting. If, having read this, you think that I am talking rubbish then at least you have stopped and thought about it long enough to come to that conclusion which is something of a result in my book. If you would like to comment on this article or anything else relating to my website, please feel free to contact me using the adjacent form. Feedback is always greatly appreciated and very helpful when it comes to improving both my site and my photography. Thank you for looking.
I can’t believe I have so few images of rooks. They are everywhere but like all of their kind nowhere near as easy to commit to the camera. This one is demonstrating how effective its sharp bill is at prising hard ground open for insects and was one of the very few interesting images that I came away from Gigrin with on my last visit. Typically, I drive three hours to a site parading 250 red kites and come away with a picture of a rook!
40D, Sigma 500mm , iso 400, f4.5, 1/500
