Black-billed Magpie

Love the shot! Captured perfectly in flight with crisp eye focus. The irridescent green on the back is amazing. I would hang this!

This is an excellent capture. I share your frustration with whites that aren't blown out but still dont show detail, but in this instance it is such a small part of the bird that it doesnt matter at all.
I might try a panoramic crop, taking some off the bottom.

Mia, excellent job getting this bird sharp at 1/1000s. That is not that fast of a SS for a flight shot. I understand how tough it is to get good light on a bird with this much black plumage so you can see detail and still keep the whites in line. You did really well here on the exposure and getting a good light angle to show the iridescent nature of the feathers. The white area you mention looks fine in the larger version. Detail is not always visible and here I can tell it is not blown, but just the funny angle of view. Love the tail and the mud on the beak. The BG is nice too. No nits from me on this tough shot. Well done.

Excellent shot of a tough species to get.
sandy r

Did Ron get a similar shot , or did you leave him very jealous ?
A very seldom seen flight shot. Nicely done !

Another lovely shot Mia! I can't say enough good about it.

Gorgeous flight shot of a gorgeous bird. You seemed to have nailed the exposure as the whites don't seem to be blown out on my monitor at least. I love the wing position and the nice sharp eyes. Well done.

Both you and Ron got great takes on this bird. I envy your steady hand for flight shots. No criticism from me—you get shots I just have not moved up to. Good work!

Masterfully done Mia on a devilishly difficult subject and in-flight to boot. The bird is excellent and I really like the background - just enough detail there to hint at habitat but very pleasing aesthetically too. Love the iridescence you captured. What fun we've had with these birds, huh?

I can't even get a decent perch shot of these birds around here. Excellent image capturing the iridescence and well exposed. Hope to see more these!

Superb Mia - you've captured the essence of the bird beuatifully. When I've seen these in Asia (without camera) I wondered how I'd manage with the combination of black/white and iridescence plus long tail. In flight is the obviuos answer- well done

cheers
Rob

Awesome!

Shooting again with Ron I see? Another great image of this cool looking bird

An excellent flight shot, Mia! Love the BG!

Great flight shot Mia!!!

Ken Archer

simply amazing--a tough subject in more ways than one (flight, exposure). don't see how this could be better. great wing position, great sharpness, cool sheen, and the whites look good to me. congrats!

Sweet flight shot, Mia. The wing position evokes that sort of gliding motion they use when flying.

Cool photo.Good moment.
István

I wouldn't want to have to choose between your BBMA and Ron's; both are excellent. You don't post many flight shots, but this is very nice. Lovely detail in both the whites and black, fine work on the iridescence, and perfect timing on the wingbeats. These are tough birds to photograph and both you and Ron have done brilliant work.

Excellent!!

Good stuff Mia. The detail in the larger image is superb and you can really appreciate the iridescence that makes this image. You handled the exposure perfectly in my opinion. I also like that there is just a little bit of detail able to be made out in the BG. The detail in the large version has changed my mind and I am going to start including larger photos with my posts.

Brilliant bird in flight image,love these birds and there colours, I salute when I see these as its a custom in UK Lovely image

Great job.............Mia just superb

Very nice! I have no criticism.You and your shooting partner did a great job on these magpies.

Nice detail and lighting, Mia. Do these make as much noise as the other magpies?

Thank you for the comments thus far on this image.

Cheryl, Ron Dudley and I shoot together a lot, we make a great team with two pairs of eyes to spot the birds.

Rich M., I am not concerned about the far wing being in focus, I think it adds a nice sense of motion with the blur there.

Bill L, Black-billed Magpies can be very noisy, the only other magpie species I can compare them to are the Magpies in Australia which can be quite noisy too. I have yet to see or photograph the Yellow-billed Magpies though I hope to one day. It was interesting that we observed a very quiet chittering back and forth when two Magpies where in the nest at the same time. That did not occur when there was only one magpie in the nest.

We also observed that the magpies have more than one entrance to the nest which has a large dome cover over it with twigs intertwined into the sagebrush they built the nest in and that they pirated twigs from a nest about 200 yards from this one. Not sure if that nest is occupied by a pair of birds currently or if they are pirating the twigs from an older nest.

Great shot and it sounds like you two had a wonderfull time.

Thanks for sharing.

Dan

Great capture, Mia! Perfectly exposed and wonderful colors. Sharon

this is an excellent capture Mia. Any exposure compensation? How do you guys get detail in the blacks. I'm trying to capture Ravens with the same black issues.

Beautiful!!
Mauro

Sweet!!

Awesome capture, Mia! Nice work all around.