Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sparrow under glass


I've been experimenting with the sparrows whom frequent the bird feeder on my apartment balcony. They've become so accustomed to being fed that on most morning I find them waiting patiently waiting for me to fill it. As a result they are becoming quite tame and tolerate my close proximity because they know it means a free meal.

I've been experimenting a tad - by removing the feeder and putting in its place different (and I'm sure to them) odd shaped containers holding their bird seed, just to see how they will react and also hoping for different and unique photo opportunities.

In this example I replaced their feeder with a wine goblet hoping to catch a photo of a bird inside it, but have yet to do so. Instead they stand just outside it - pecking at the seed through the glass, sometimes furiously. To them it must seem like some kind of alien force-field - tempting them with food so close yet unreachable.

In this shot the lighting was just about perfect as this female came up and lifting one leg tried to peck through the glass. Looking at it all I can think it's too bad sparrows don't wear top hats and sing "Putting on the Ritz."