Project 365 day 98

I was out and about today on a family trip to Wingham Wildlife Park and after many photos I've decided on this Harlequin Macaw for my photo of the day because of all its bright colours and distinctive sound.

A Harlequin Macaw is produced by crossing a Blue and Gold Macaw with a Green-Winged Macaw. The scientific name of the Harlequin Macaw is: Hybrid, (cross between Ara Ararauna and Ara chloroptera). Harlequin Macaws are not found in the wild.

Green-Winged Macaws originate in northern South America, ranging from Panama to Paraguay to Argentina. The Blue and Gold Macaw also originates from northern South America, covering almost the entire region.

It is reported that the coloring of the male parent will dominate the coloring of the offspring. Other reports state that the Harlequin will inherit the body type of the Green-Winged Macaw and the coloring of the female parent. A Harlequin is often colored identically to the Catalina Macaw, another hybrid macaw. The chest feathers of a Harlequin are often reddish-orange, edged with a brighter yellow-orange.

Harlqeuin Macaws are very colorful full-sized macaw. An adult will measure up to 34 inches in length and they can weight over two pounds. They can talk and can have a vocabulary of 15 or more words or phrases.

While the color of the Harlequin will be determined by the male parent, the temperament is generally a combination of the green-winged parent, which is docile, much like the hahns macaw, and the blue and gold parent, which a natural clown. The Harlequin will have the high level of intelligence inherent in all macaws.

Harlequin Macaws can be very noisy and very loud.

There is some opposition in the macaw breeding world to hybrids such as the Harlequin Macaw. Because of the increasing endangerment of wild macaws there are some breeds that are becoming extinct. Some breeders feel that hybrids like the Harlequin may contaminate the bloodlines of pureblood Green-Winged and Blue and Gold Macaws because it is often difficult to distinguish between the hybrid and the pure blood birds.

I took this shot with an aperture of f/5.6 for 1/28sec.

Alphabet Project day 8

H is for Herbs and Heart. I took this shot in manual mode with an aperture of f/4 for 1/30sec using a macro led ring light mounted on the front of my lens to light the image. To see the full details of the textures in this image please view at full size.

Project 365 day 97

Screwed. I decided to stick with the toolbox theme again today. I shot this in manual mode with an aperture of f/7.1 for 1/15sec and used natural window from the window to light the image and create the highlights.

Alphabet Project day 7

G is for Gate, Garden, Grass and Green. Nice to get a bit of sunshine so thought I'd get outside today. I took this shot in manual mode with an aperture of f3.6 for 1/400sec.

Project 365 day 96

Tools of the trade. I took this shot in manual mode with an aperture of f/4 for 1/30sec. I used a macro led ring light to light the image from the left of the shot helping to produce the reflections.

I'm thinking I might do a toolbox project just to get some more use out of all my tools that I've accumulated over the years.

Alphabet Project day 6

F is for F stops, flame and four. I shot each image in manual mode with a shutter speed of 1/160sec but each shot I adjusted the f stop setting to change the exposure of the image the settings I used were top row f/4 and f/6.4 bottom row f/8 and f/10.

Alphabet Project day 5

E is for Eggs, Extra, Expressions and Edible. I took this shot in manual mode with an aperture of f/4 for 1/40sec, I set this up in front of the window to light the shot with natural light.