Fluffy Feather Anyone?, a photo from London, England

Photographer's Note

Grebes indeed eat feathers! Apparently it helps with their digestion. Here you can see Mum Crested Grebe feeding her babies (known as "humbugs" for their stripy pattern) with one.

I have posted quite a few photos from my local park (Bushy Park) and wrote about it in the note to this upload: https://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/United_Kingdom/England/London//photo1549029.htm What I didn't mention is that it is one of three huge local parks full of wildlife, the other two being Home Park (also known as Hampton Court Park) and Richmond Park. In all three you can get really close to the resident wildlife. All three parks are famous for their populations of deer but what I love the most is the almost tame bird species that are quite skittish in other locations.

Being able to get close to wildlife is what I miss the most about my home town.

Fis2, PaulVDV, pajaran, ChrisJ, ikeharel, jemaflor, holmertz, ktanska, Royaldevon, aliabazari has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Silvio1953 (221751) 2022-02-19 13:13

Ciao Kasia, nice family scene, wonderful colors, excellent sharpness and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Fis2 (170885) 2022-02-19 13:20

Czesc Kasiu!
Sympatyczne zdjecie perkoza z malymi.
Ciekawostka z piorami.
Znakomity kadr, kolorki i ostrosc.
Lubie takie...
Milej niedzieli.
Krzysztof

lousat (139342) 2022-02-19 13:51

Ciao Kasia,certainly a very interesting place to visit, a very wild park where there are also species of birds like this, which are not very common to find. The scene was really a lucky hit, I didn't know about this custom of eating feathers and you captured this tender moment with perfect timing and quality! Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano

PaulVDV (62978) 2022-02-19 15:14

Hello Kasia,
Wow! You really took this photo at the perfect moment!
Both grebe beaks and the plume are nicely sharp and are ideally central in the photo.
I didn't know some birds ate feathers.
Might think about it if I ever have a digestive problem :)
A long time ago I had a canary and I sometimes saw it with a feather in its beak but it never ate it.
This is a truly beautiful photo of these grebes.
Best regards, Paul

ifege (48183) 2022-02-19 19:54

Hi Kasia
I've never seen a bird eating a feather. Very interesting and what a superb capture of the bubs being fed.
cheers
Ian

ChrisJ (171888) 2022-02-19 22:37

Czesc Kasia!

A superb close up sgot of the grebes, with excellent use of selective focus and perfect sharpness. Good colour and textures too. Tfs!

jemaflor (147248) 2022-02-19 23:51

Hi Kasia,
Congratulations ! So well timed your view of this birds family, excellent sharpness a cute scene, tfs.

emka (158204) 2022-02-20 0:09

cześć Kasiu, Śliczne zdjęcie mamy perkoza dwuczubego. Mlode wygladają całkiem inaczej. Nie miałam pojęcia, że jedzą piуra. Jak udalo Ci sie do nich zbliżyć. Hampton Court Park to ten za słynnym labiryntem? Byłam tam chyba 50 lat temu.

Pozdrawiam serdecznie i życzę spokojnej niedzieli

MAłgorzata

holmertz (102800) 2022-02-20 0:39

Hello Kasia,
This is a beautiful and interesting photo showing a moment in these birds' lives not usually seen. I'm amazed that you could get so close and manage such a sharp photo. They really seem to be almost tame.
Best wishes,
Gert

abmdsudi (95869) 2022-02-20 6:37

Hi Kasia
Intimate moment and absorbing shot under available light, delightfully sharp in focus and perfectly positioned at the third strengthening the compo. Such a tender image!
Congrats
Best regards

ktanska (44814) 2022-02-20 11:14

Hi Kasia,
Just great tightly framed tele shot! Grebe is quite impressive bird. And now I see the young ones look lovely too. You have perfect timing and focus.
Kari

jean113 (27895) 2022-02-20 11:47

Hello Kasia, an excellent close up of the mother grebe and her ‘humbugs’!
An interesting fact about eating feathers!
The sharp focusing on the birds is wonderful. Love the blurred background.
Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards, Jean.

Royaldevon (85932) 2022-02-21 8:29

Hello Kasia,

This is absolutely delightful!
The composition and the amazing, close-up details of mum and her humbugs is superb.
This will have to enter my favourites!

I once took exciting photographs of grebes in Hyde Park. It is surprising just how relatively tame these birds become!

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

aliabazari (22289) 2022-02-21 20:21

Hello Kasia
A beautiful shot from the moment this bird feeds its chicks. I think you were lucky to capture this beautiful moment. I like chickens sitting behind their mothers. Clarity and exposure are well done. Thanks for sharing

mkamionka (74577) 2022-02-27 8:59

Czesc Kasiu,
Niesamowite zdjecie dzikich ptakow. Weszlas do samego gniazda i widzisz wszystko z perspektywy matki,
Niesamowite ze tak ostre sa dokladnie te elementy ktore powinny byc ostre tzn oczy zarowno doroslego jak i dzieciakow. Piorko jest jak wisienka na torcie.
Doskonala praca. Nadaje sie do National Geographic,
M

everlasting (19680) 2022-03-01 3:13

something new I've learnt today, I didn't know this.
A fine crop and nature photo

jmdias (115280) 2022-04-16 12:30

kasia

I thought they were playing with the feather. probably they get some minerals back too to build a new feather. amazing natural moment so well captured by you.

take care

jorge