Black Redstart

1345.24.04.2024

Once in a while you will see images on photographic threads showing 100% cropped images to demonstrate the sharpness of a lens or the pixel density of a camera and the image will look like something shown here. However, this image has only had a very slight crop. The bird is very familiar with me and allows me to approach her very closely. She is the adult female from the 2020 season or was one of the young born that year. Her behaviour is of course the give away as to her identity. She has raised many young and as far as I am able to tell they have all fledged and made their ways successfully without being predated. In the last two seasons she has double brooded which has not previously been known to happen in Manchester since records began. She is, to me, a very special bird and it will not be long before I find out if she is back.
The image was made with a 400 lens and a 1.4X converter with the R7, ISO 3200. f9. The image was processed when my eyes were in a very bad condition prior to surgery. When I see my images on flickr for the last three years or so, it surprises me that most are OK except a few are perhaps a little oversharpened.

Tags:   Wildlife Wild Bird Animal Nature Urban Nature Urban Birds Black Redstart Phoenicurus Ochruros Female Old World Flycatcher Manchester Adrian Dancy Breeding birds Rare Breeding Bird Urban perching bird Passerine Migratory migrant

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Black Redstarts. Mum and Dad.

0745.09.04.2024

Last year was another successful year for these rare UK breeders. For the second year in a row they have double brooded. Prior to last year double brooding had never been recorded in Manchester. I have cropped the image for compositional purposes so that the width of the full size version is about 6000pixels. I processed the image as presented when I had quite severe cataract. It has a very slight amount of noise but I can live with that.

I am very confident that the female here has been in Manchester since 2020 and that the male here was also the partner in 2022.

Tags:   Nature Urban Nature Wildlife Wild Bird Black Redstart Passerine perching bird Song Bird Breeding Rare Breeding Bird Adrian Dancy Manchester Old World Flycatcher Phoenicurus Ochruros Male Female Manchester street

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Black Redstart

1440.06.04.24

This is an image of a male black redstart that bred in Manchester last year. I managed to make a sharp image as the bird became aroused and raised its feathers. The image was made in a dark and dingy back street though looking at the image you perhaps would not believe that to be the case. This proud bird had two broods again last year with a female that has been here since 2020. Whilst quite common in mainland Europe these birds are very rare breeders in the UK. The numbers will vary from year to year but I imagine that there are betweem 50-80 breeding pairs in the UK. The image here is full frame.

Tags:   Phoenicurus Ochruros Black Redstart Bird Nature Urban Wild Bird Wildlife Manchester Breeding Rare Breeding Bird Adrian Dancy black Song Bird Passerine Migrant City Centre City wildlife Old World Flycatcher

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Black Redstart (Full frame)

1703.02.04.24

It has been a bit remiss of me not to post any images of the Black Redstarts that bred here in Manchester last year. I posted a few of Stonechat because they were a species I had paid little attention to before, so I made a project of them. I still spent many hours with the Black Redstarts each and every day. However, over the last few years my eyesight has been getting worse with cateract and processing pictures has been something of a labour owing to glare that comes off sceen. It has meant I have to cover parts of the screen up to ensure consistent colours and contrast. Everything I saw had a muddy yellow cast and I needed strong glasses to see detail on screen. My poor eyesight has meant general birding was almost out of the question. It is fortunate that I was able to get close to species that I enjoyed photographing. I have always been almost blind in my right eye and so the prospect of cateract surgery on the one eye that I need was very scary. After some hiccups I had the surgery. I was effectively blind for nearly 3 days after owing to corneal inflamation. It has now settled and I can see with such clarity that I am completely overwhelmed with the astonishing detail I can now see in the outside world. The world of colour is now so much brighter and and I am no longer blinded by car headlights. Despite all this I was a little worried that pictures I had processed would be wrong and I thought I might need to re-edit my flickr images but for some reason it seems I have not been far off the mark with colours and contrast or sharpness etc. I do not feel I need to change anything.

The image here was processed when my cateract was at its worst. I have chosen this image because I will never forget taking it. I first photographed this bird in 2022. He was a little shy when others birders or members of the public were around but he would always come close when I was by myself. Seeing me everyday he was OK with me. On one occasion in 2022 and on this occasion in 2023, he came very close indeed. I heard him calling 8 stories above and I could just make out that he was running along the gutters getting courage to come down when the coast was clear: so I lay on the floor and pressed my eye to the viewfinder. To my horror I thought the strap from my lens had dropped over the object (front) lens because it all went dark...so I went to pull it out of the way. It wasn't the strap that caused the darkness it was the black redstart that had landed literally an inch from the lens hood or a foot from my face! As I moved my hand to reposition the strap, that wasn't there, my hand caused the bird to take a few hops forward and then I took the picture.

I'm hoping very much that the bird is still alive and will be breeding again here in Manchester this year. If he is, I'll be there to say hello.

Tags:   Bird Nature Urban Nature Urban Birds Adrian Dancy Wildlife Wild Bird Black Redstart Phoenicuras ochruros Male Migrant Breeding Rare Breeding Bird Manchester Manchester Black Redstart Urban Old World Flycatcher

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Black Redstart
2120. 22.12.2023

Wishing each and all a Merry Christmas. Some images that I have uploaded recently have not made it onto the 'Activity' mode for display to the general public etc. It seems Flickr still has its knickers in a twist. I hope this image and message reaches everyone. Anyway...all the best and peace to everyone.

Tags:   Merry Christmas Christmas Card Christmas Nature Urban Nature Urban Birds Manchester Manchester Black Redstart Phoenicurus Ochruros Black Redstart Juvenile Adrian Dancy perching bird Passerine Canon R7 Canon 100-400L IS MKII Rare Breeding Bird

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