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Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

  • Red-capped Robin (Image ID 25918)

    Red-capped Robin.   Photographer: Chris Dubar

  • Silver Gull (Image ID 42151)

    Silver Gull.   Photographer: Michael Todd

  • Painted Finch (Image ID 27741)

    Painted Finch.   Photographer: Mark Lethlean

  • Little Pied Cormorant (Image ID 25339)

    Little Pied Cormorant.   Photographer: Sandy Castle

  • Gouldian Finch (Image ID 31764)

    Gouldian Finch.   Photographer: Doug Castle

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Mystery Reviewer Critiques

All our Mystery Reviewer critique articles are available here, with the most recent ones at the top.  Those published within the last two years are member-only access; you must be logged in to see them.

The Mystery reviewer articles are written during the voting phase of the competition; the Mystery Reviewers do not know the identity of the photographers.

 

The theme for this competition was Introduced Species.  Entries must show a bird, or birds, whose population is described as “Introduced” in the BirdLife Working List V2.1.  There were 26 such species eligible for entry in this competition, which provides plenty of scope for capturing inspiring images of our non-indigenous bird species.  The eligible species were Ostrich, Northern Mallard, Helmeted Guineafowl, California Quail, Indian Peafowl, Red Junglefowl, Green Junglefowl, Common Pheasant, Wild Turkey, Rock Dove, Barbary Dove, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Nutmeg Mannikin, Java Sparrow, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Common Greenfinch, Common Redpoll, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Skylark, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Starling, Common Myna, Song Thrush, and Common Blackbird.  [Editor's note: The Taxonomy page now shows 28 eligible species, following the update to BWL V3 in December 2019.]

While introduced species are all around us, it can be a quite a challenge to capture their images. One of the reasons that many are successful is that many of them are wary of humans. It is probably no accident that there were no female Common Blackbird images among these entries. But perhaps, for this competition, it was the other way round: some potential entrants were averse to introduced species?

The Entry Level category for the Introduced Birds competition comprised only 14 images.  As usual I looked at these images in terms of their technical standard and their composition.

I presume that whoever dreams up the BLP photography competition themes is a geriatric hippy living far out in a Leonard Cohen-induced psychosis.  As a result of his song, “bird on a wire” has come to symbolize someone precariously perched in life and many of our photographers made the point very well.  I was especially taken by the juxtaposition of a beautiful bird on a menacing-looking barbed wire and all its sinister association with human kind, perhaps I really mean inhumanity.

The theme for this competition is one of my favourites.  Whilst I note the competition co-ordinator’s comment that “wire is one of the least attractive of perches,” I would have to say “Not always!”.  Wire can possess some wonderful tones and textures that add a unique and artful perspective to an image.  Whilst I lament the compartmentalisation of the Australian landscape as a result of our European fencing heritage and the damage fencing inflicts on animals, there is a subtle romantic quality that rusty fencing displays in early morning and late afternoon light.

Congratulations to all the entrants for the Bird on a Wire competition.  I was pleased and surprised to be asked to provide the Mystery Reviewer comments on the Entry level photographs.  The rules for the theme ‘Bird on a Wire’ required that the bird or birds be perched on a wire, although larger birds such as a raptor may be perched on a post or similar.

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