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User / phil winter / Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
Phil Winter / 1,293 items
3 weeks ago I found a male Treecreeper chasing a female through the trees.

Watching them through binoculars, I had a chance to see in detail their amazing plumage.

I decided to make a project of photographing them that would show off the cryptic camouflage.

I parked the landrover in the wood and watched the male collecting insects and taking them back to the nest.

He would regularly return to the same trees and, usually - but not always, start near the bottom and spiral his way up and then fly to the next tree.

I needed to get him to use my perches where I could control the background and, ideally, photograph him on a horizontal branch. This would show the intricate feather pattern at its best.

It turned out to be much easier than I thought. I started photographing from the landrover, but after several days, he got used to me and I stood in the open and used a tripod.
Providing I stood still he would ignore me.

The branch in this shot is dug into the ground next to one of his regular trees.

I found an ants nest in my green house and collected as many as I could. I tipped them onto the horizontal branch and waited.

The next time he returned, he performed perfectly. He landed at the base of the tree and hopped straight onto my perch, quickly working his way up to the ants. This gave me the chance to get the type of shot I wanted.

PRESS Z TO CHECK OUT THE AMAZING PLUMAGE!
Popularity
  • Views: 6130
  • Comments: 48
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Dates
  • Taken: May 12, 2017
  • Uploaded: May 16, 2017
  • Updated: Aug 20, 2017