green-crowned brilliant fearlessly attacking a small viper

Photographer Bence Máté said:"I was photographing hummingbirds when I heard the sharp, alarming noise of the birds reacting to the presence of a predator. Sixty feet away from me this green-crowned brilliant was fearlessly attacking a small viper. The long shutter speed and shallow depth of field made it difficult to make an image with both animals sharp. This encounter was one of the most interesting ones I had ever seen, and I quickly set up two flashes to increase the light and shutter speed, using one flash fired from the background and another from the camera.”

Photographic information:
Camera: Nikon D700; 300mm ƒ/2.8 lens; 1/100 sec at ƒ/4; ISO 200; Canon 540EZ flash; Canon 550EX slave; Gitzo carbon tripod; Gitzo fluid head.

Feather Artist off the forest floor thank you Sal !

The  painters of these Feathers are outstanding,
but the message below the Feathers, "God's Wings," will touch your   heart.
 These paintings were all made by Julie Thompson. ...
http://www.featherlady.net/  

http://www.google.com/search?q=Painters+of+Feathers&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

G-d's  Wings

After a forest fire in  Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers  began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.  One ranger found a bird  literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.  Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight,  he knocked over the bird with a  stick.  When he gently struck it, three  tiny chicks scurried from under their dead  mother's wings.  The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had  gathered them under her wings, instinctively  knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.  She could have flown to  safety but had refused to abandon her babies.  Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had  scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been  willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.