Thursday, July 24, 2008

Lesser Bird of Paradise

Since I posted a bird photo earlier this week, I thought, "why not another?"

I only had to take a few hundred shots to get ONE good one....they were not very cooperative, and there were always either branches in the way, the wrong light, or they were looking the wrong way, or they were too far away....BUT, I got this shot, so I was happy. These beautiful birds are only found in Eastern Indonesia and Northern New Guinea.

15 comments:

kjpweb said...

What's "less" about that?
Awesome shot of an extremely beautiful bird!
Cheers, Klaus

Louise said...

Fabulous! I'd travel to see a bird like that. And stand there taking 200 pictures (at least, since it took you 100, it would take me at least twice that many) to get one good picture!

Tricia Ryder said...

Wow - I've just "discovered" you through Skywatch. That's an impressive pic of an impressive bird.

Love your work Scotty :)

Gemma Wiseman said...

I really can't believe what I am looking it! The colours are so stunning! And that tail is awesome!

Anonymous said...

Stunning! Keep up with the bird photography, you have the patience for it ;)

Texas Travelers said...

I forgot to comment on this yesterday. I love those colors. Great photo. Sure looks better than blackbirds here.

Thanks for the visit and alligator story,
Troy

Whitney said...

Beautiful bird! Amazing picture of it! I think this photo was worth the 200 it took to get it!

Kathie Brown said...

Scotty, this photo is magnificent along with the bird. How I would love to see one for real.

Stacey Olson said...

I have always been fascinated by these birds. would love to watch them durring the mating season, and to capture a photo... WOW!

becky aka theRAV said...

WOW!!!

becky aka theRAV said...

WOW!!!

Allison said...

I love your pictures! Your patience paid off

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Very beautiful, no wonder the name paradise.

William said...

Scott,

Thank you for such a magnificent picture. Where did you take it, and where did you hide?! It's stunning!

I worked in the Wahgi and Jimi valleys in PNG in 1975 -76, 1978-81 (at UPNG) and revisited in 2006 and 2008. There were Raggiana BoPs in the Wahgi and Lessor in the Jimi valley. I took many pictures of BoPs but they were all deceased and adorning tribesmen and women's head dresses. Raggianas played in the trees above my house, and I would often hear them call Kraiiiiiii (like a very raspy, high-pitched blast from an air horn) from their perches throughout the valley.

An artist friend is doing a painting of four "live" birds in the forest -- since I did not and could not take any close-up live pictures of them -- and he found your site while searching for good pictures of the different kinds of BoPs to use as models.

It is a great photograph and I would love a print if you sell them. Do you also lead bird tours?

I look forward to hearing from you.

best regards, Bill Heaney, Oshkosh

email is

Scotty Graham said...

Bill....your email did not post for some reason, so I hope you come back to hear my response.

I seriously regret to inform you that I have lost this photo. I had moved all of my files to a new Drobo unit that failed almost a year ago. I lost over 2TB of photos, and this one was one of the lost photos that I am just sick about losing.

A great story you told about these incredible birds. I don't lead bird tours, and I am no expert on shooting birds or on the birds themselves. I got really lucky with this shot. It was taken on an island called Waigeo in Raja Ampat. The Papuans had been taught that they could make more money showing people the birds rather than killing them. There was a nice watching station built high in the trees...I climbed to the top, and got the photo almost eye level with the bird. It took off right after I took the photo, but I got the shot!!

Cheers,

Scotty