Merlin
An ultimately disappointing image, taken after a close encounter with a splendid male Merlin on the Isle of Man yesterday. It had been perched in a roadside tree as I drove past. I reversed the car slowly back past the Merlin and fumbled for my camera to get what could have been a dream image of this elusive falcon, no more than ten metres away, on a prominent, natural perch and against a clean background of fields. At which point it flew onto a power line, silhouetted against a dull sky and surrounded by man-made clutter! I suppose that encapsulates why wildlife photography is both so frustrating and so exhilarating.
Merlin
An ultimately disappointing image, taken after a close encounter with a splendid male Merlin on the Isle of Man yesterday. It had been perched in a roadside tree as I drove past. I reversed the car slowly back past the Merlin and fumbled for my camera to get what could have been a dream image of this elusive falcon, no more than ten metres away, on a prominent, natural perch and against a clean background of fields. At which point it flew onto a power line, silhouetted against a dull sky and surrounded by man-made clutter! I suppose that encapsulates why wildlife photography is both so frustrating and so exhilarating.