Pied Flycatcher male. Padley Gorge, Derbyshire Peak District. DSC_9392.jpg

            I'd been watching two male birds that were showing interest in a nest box near to the footpath for a few minutes and the situation was clearly getting heated: the bird that had been visiting and entering the box regularly chasing the other bird, though the latter persisted in hanging around, also exploring holes in an adjacent dead tree and displaying. 

Eventually, the two birds had met in mid air and had a dust up only a few feet in front of me. It lasted only a couple of seconds, the two birds fighting and slowly dropping to the ground together only a feet away, both looking slightly disorientated upon landing, seen here. After a few seconds they gathered their wits and flew back up into the trees, to continue their cat and mouse behaviour, as before.

The stand off persisted for a good while longer, until both birds seemed to lose interest in the box and went on their way.

The shot is a significant proportion of the frame, as the birds were very close when they dropped to the ground, only trimming for framing purposes.

Thank you for your comments and faves - much appreciated.

Taken in: UK / England / Derbyshire Dales District / Grindleford (show map)

Taken on: May 5, 2021

Tags:

Pied Flycatcher

European Pied Flycatcher

Ficedula hypoleuca

Padley Gorge

Burbage valley

Peak District

Derbyshire

Britain

bird

birds

nature

wildlife

Nikon

D500

500PF

woodland

naturephotography

England « less

Sets appears in: • Chats, Wheatears, Redstarts, Flycatchers, Robins

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Camera: Nikon D500, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, 500mm (=750mm), ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D500
Lens:	500.0 mm f/5.6
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	500mm (35mm equivalent: 750mm)
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	+2/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.10 (Macintosh)
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