Erithacus rubecula (European Robin)

Erithacus rubecula (Family: Muscicapidae; common name: European Robin)
 
One cute little songbird which has the strange habit of singing in the middle of the night as well as during sunrise and sunset. A beautiful song coming from a beautiful bird. It has the size of a sparrow which means that in order to fill your frame you need very powerful telephotos. This particular shot was taken from a distance of 12 meters with the equivalent of an 750 mm telephoto and still it only filled half the frame. However, as you will see in the photos below, Frank was far luckier than I was, with his robin.
 
Photos by George J. Reclos

Shooting Data:
 
Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor ED 500mm f/4 P
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/1000 sec, f/4 Manual
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS2, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.

European Robin
 
This series of photo's is a bit of a story on it's own. I've been trying to take photo's of this cute little bird for a while now. OK, they are not that nice as the males show quite much intraspecific aggression and defend their territory quite fiercely, but these fellows are lovely to take photos of though. These shots were taken outside in the woods. The top photo shows the bird In the woods on a tree branch. It not the sharpest picture, but I like the colours and the scene very much. The bottom photo is an outside shot; the bird stands high in a birch tree in the neighbours garden. Here it sings a while before moving on to another strategic place in it's territory.
 
Photos by Frank Panis

Shooting Data:

(Top photo:)
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/125 sec - f2.8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.4.0

(Bottom photo)
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/750 sec - f5.6
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.4.0

European Robin 

These photos, of the same bird as above, were taken in our garden house. That poor Robin got trapped in there, probably in a search for food. Obviously I discovered the bird when I entered that place. I already had developed an instinct for potential photos, so I closed that door faster than I had openend it. Loaded with my camera, lens and flash I went inside again. Yes that were definitely the worst 10 minutes in the life of this robin with flashes bouncing everywhere. After 30 shots I decided to release the bird, so I opened the door. After flying up and down the garden house a couple of times the Robin finally found the exit and there it went. To my surprise I heard him singing high in a tree just 2 seconds after it's escape. I guess there was no time to waste to reclaim it's territory! I was happy to see this and also because I had several super detailed pictures of this "cooperative" fellow.

Photos by Frank Panis

Shooting Data: 

Top photo: Head shot in our garden house
 
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f5.6
Flash: SB-800 I-TTL
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.4
 
 
Middle photo: Ready to fly in our garden house
 
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f8
Flash: SB-800 I-TTL
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.4.0
 
 
Bottom photo: Full view while resting on the wood construction
 
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f8
Flash: SB-800 I-TTL
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.4.0