Jackdaw courtship behaviour

Below are some images of adult Jackdaws displaying some interesting courtship behaviour.  The male is on the left and the duller female is simulating the begging, courtship-feeding and pair-formation process.  The pairing involves an extended process of familiarisation, which happened three times very quickly in front of us at Marazion yesterday.  Within seconds it's all over.  The male bird is also interesting in that it is showing some quite strong characteristics of one of the eastern races, eg. the pale collar and white crescents as well as a hint of blue in the crown and generally dappled appearance.

EXIF Detail: Aperture priority.  Ap F/6.3.  Shutter speed 1/400s.  Exposure -0.3EV.  ISO 125.  WB Cloudy.  Focal length: 600mm. Tripod mounted.

Corvids at Copperhouse

Corvids are not the most photographed birds but these shots show that the family can be quite photogenic! They were taken at close range and show quite a lot of feather detail and subtle colour. Needless to say, I used the 600m lens without a converter and in full frame mode, rather than DX crop mode. WB set to Cloudy, Exposure 0.0, ISO500, Shutter Speed 500th sec. The Carrion Crow photo has caught the eye lid blinking, hence the blue colour.