Photographing a strange jackdaw in Richmond Park
I am not a professional wildlife photographer, and I only take photos of wild life as a hobby. Regular followers of my blog will know I have a soft spot for jackdaws, and one of the places I like to photograph these cheeky rascals is in Richmond Park.
On a recent gorgeous early autumn day, I took a camera into the park to see what I would see. I was amused to see some jackdaws eating some vomit in the car park at Pembroke Lodge, and I took some photos. Which just goes to show that “one person’s meal is another person’s vomit”. Sorry about that, but this is wild life! (Those of us who have pets know they can get up to worse).
My first photo below shows a normal jackdaw, who appears to be healthy and in superb physical condition. All the other photos are of a jackdaw with a strange deformed beak. The upper mandible appears to be more or less normal, but the lower mandible is very long. I have seen this jackdaw before, but this is the first time I got a good look at it – and only because I had a camera with a long lens with me.
My daughter pointed out that the legs of this jackdaw also don’t look normal. Compare it’s legs to the legs of the normal jackdaw and see if you agree?
And finally, is it my imagination or does this jackdaw look more bedraggled? Is it perhaps not in full health?
Technical Information for photographers
Just in case any of my fellow phtoographers are curious, the camera is the Olympus OM-D Mark 2, and the lens is the Zuiko 300mm. All photographs were taken hand held.
