Day 4677: Endangered Birds Portraits & Shoebill Stork & Starling Murmuration.

"Temporarily Defeated": Digital photo 

  

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   Endangered Bird Portraits

by Photographer Tim Flach

Virginia Cardinal

Tim Flach is an animal photographer with an interest in the way humans shape animals and shape their meaning while exploring the role of imagery in fostering an emotional connection. Bringing to life the complexity of the animal kingdom, his work ranges widely across species, united by a distinctive stylization reflecting an interest in how we better connect people to the natural world.

London-based photographer Tim Flach travels the world capturing the nuanced expressions, unique patterning, and unusual profiles of animals large and small. Often focusing his lens on endangered and vulnerable species, Flach highlights the traits of animals that are at risk of disappearing due to habitat loss, climate change, and human activity. The photographer has worked with a huge range of wild, domestic, and captive animals, from Saiga and Beluga Sturgeons to Pied Tamarin and Pangolin.

Jacobian Pigeon. All photographs © Tim Flach

Set on plain backdrops à la studio portraits, Flach’s bird photographs particularly stand out. His sharp, clear portraits show the colorful and wildly shaped feathers and beak of birds from the U.S. to the Himalayas. A stately Jacobian Pigeon, its two-toned ruff of feathers framing a white-crested face, seems to peer elegantly at the view, while an assertive cardinal stares pointedly, a white highlight glinting off the hook in the bird’s red beak. A statement on his website explains the relatable emotional quality of his work.

Himalayan Monal

Philippine Eagle

Gouldian Finch

Silver Laced Poland Chicken

King Vulture

Shoebill Stork

I love the Shoebill Stork

They don't blink. They don't smile. And, they don't miss. This is the Shoebill Stork-one of the most fearsome and silent hunters in the animal kingdom. Standing at up to 5 feet tall with an 8-foot wingspan, this bird doesn't just look prehistoric-it acts like it. It doesn't chase. It waits. It doesn't warn. It strikes.And when it does... it clamps its massive shoe-shaped bill with a sound so sharp, locals call it a "death clap." Its favorite meal? Lungfish, eels, and even baby crocodiles. In a world full of noise, the Shoebill rules through stillness. No flapping. No fuss. Just focus. It's not angry. It's just always watching.

 A Murmuration of Starlings

A murmuration is the intricately choreographed movements of a large flock of starlings as they swoop through the sky. The phenomena appears like an undulating cloud, quickly shifting directions, density and shape as it traverses overhead. Due to a relatively warm winter in the Netherlands between 2014 and 2015, many starlings stayed in the country rather than migrating south. Filmmaker Jan van IJken captured one such air show in his short film The Art of Flying, which can be watched in full on his website.

 

  

 

A 5+ minute video, king size camembert, here

 

  

 

Just because ...

  

Plumbeous Water Redstart 

Monday's Smiles ...