A good representational picture of the
species Roger. By ‘trompe de camera’ I didn’t
intend to be obscure. There are commonly situations where the
2-dimensional image will be misleading. Typically, birds or parts of
birds can appear unnaturally pale or whitish or lacking in colour by reason of
light reflection – or where the picture has been ‘lightened’
either by the taker or the camera’s settings to overcome
backlighting. The reverse effect can also occur. This is often the
case when someone says their photo doesn’t ‘look anything like’
the one in their field guide, where the drawing has been designed to show the
features evident in perfect, even light. Moreover, on size comparison, a
bird nearer the camera can appear significantly smaller than a bird the same
size further from the camera.
From: roger curnow
[
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006
9:37 PM
To: COG
Subject: [canberrabirds] Coppings
Crossing Road Singing Bushlarks revisited: nobody mentioned a crest, did they ?
Also a singing bushlark,
but how about that crest (no wind)
which is visible on the several photos I took of this bird
and is definitely not what G.Dabb would call a "trompe de camera".
The crest doesn't get a mention in any of my field guides so
I read further afield.
It took me almost as long to find the singing bushlark in the National
photographic Index of Australian Wildlife
(Cuckoos, Nightbirds and Kingfishers, would you believe) as it had taken me in
the field, but in the end it was (almost) worth it.
I quote :
"The absence of a crest helps to distinguish it from the
introduced Skylark,
{had i really
photographed a skylark?}
but it
can raise its crown feathers when excited or alarmed"
{nope, just an excited or alarmed
singing bushlark sitting calmly on a fence.}
G.Dabb did tell me sometime in the past that any bird could have a
"crest" if it wanted one,
or perhaps he told me they could raise their crown feathers..
