A strange capture

Going through the images I'd taken whilst on holiday last week I spotted something that looked a little odd on one of the sunset shots. I've uploaded the full image then a crop, you can see a bird within the sun disc - the position of the bird looks rather odd (to me) with its wings tucked in as though it was diving or swooping but it's pointing upwards not downwards. Also, the focus is near perfect on the bird yet almost nothing else is in focus apart from part of the water where there are small starbursts!







It looks like a complete freak of a photograph - the bird in that pose, silhouetted against the sun and in the same plane of focus as the water I was locked on. I'd love to say that my instincts are so sharp that I spotted the bird and reacted so quickly to capture the image - but the truth is I was totally unaware it was even there

Strange how things turn out

Some birds love flapping up and then try and hold still for the briefest of moments.
I reckon that this bird was just loving the weather.

Funny my first thought was, that bird's outline reminds me of a Pied Wagtail.

Personally I loved the image - so just claim the credit

It's a great puzzle- very difficult to understand/explain. In addition to all above oʻbsevations I also feel that the size of the bird appears disproportionate considering it's a long shot of sunset, the size of the sun,the hills and the trees over there.Can you please share exif ? This apart , it's a very nice image , like it.

As the bird is in nr perfect focus as Lennybloke says, the bird will actually be much nearer the boat than it appears on the image just above the tree line, all about perspective, the lens will prob have foreshortened the distance

Yes Chris , I agree. Could be due to perspective.

Would 10-20 metres be about right for the distance to the water you were focusing on and therefore to the bird? Just a rough estimate based on the angular diameter of the sun (about half a degree) and guessing the size of the bird.

A few possibilities for not seeing any wings:
1. They are half way through a flap and aligned with the body.
2. The wings are momentarily closed as part of a deliberate manoeuvre.
3. The bird is one of those species which flies by alternating a burst of flapping with a short period of not flapping, typically undulating flight.

A wild guess - the bird is hunting insects low over the water, it swooped down, flew around, then pointed upwards and flapped furiously to gain height and is now letting gravity slow it down with wings closed before levelling out and doing another powered swoop for more insects. Just a guess, though, which could be way off the mark.

And it isn't just birds which appear unannounced in photos. There's a thread in the other forum about insects appearing on shots link. And I've had dogs which would also insert parts of their anatomy into shots when I was sure they were well out of it.

Steve

Thanks for all the input and suggestions on this image I think Chris and Steve have worked it out - the bird is much closer than I originally imagined so appears higher than it actually was. looking through other images taken at the same time (such as Waterhead Pier in the Gallery) there were a lot of insects above the lake, so Steves' "wild guess" looks to be about right

Just for completeness - the shot was taken at f7.1 and 1/8000 second at ISO 100, so the frozen action of the bird makes sense too!

I reckon that bird is simply "pining for the fjords"

I'll get your coat for you Peter

Too kind Sir