Mountain Ash Berry Eatin Pine Martin !!

[ShawnZ]

During my bird search quests, I infrequently come upon something so totally unexpected and spontaneous that it defies my own logic! This morning at Lighthouse Point, Two Harbors, held one such experience. SonyA300, Tokina80-400mm, iso400,

1/100, f10, manual exposure, manual focus, cropped, increase in saturation, USM. Comments and critiques welcome.

Regards,

Shawn Zierman.

[finnbay]

I love it! Great job under some tough lighting conditions!

[MARINERMAGNUM]

What a cute little critter! Did you pet him?

[Steve Foss]

Beautiful, Shawn, just beautiful. The fierceness of the pine marten (all the weasel family species are mighty tough and nasty) is a direct contrast to the peaceful Asian watercolor feel of the foreground and background.

Likely a much more compelling and less common photograph than any avian image captured on the day.

One for the portfolio indeed!

[shortfatguy]

Awesome shot!

[dockothebay]

Wow - just a wonderful, wonderful image!

[Hwood]

Great shot. I really like it.

[upnorth]

That is a great shot. Cute little bugger, but not sure I would want to be petting it.

[MN Shutterbug]

Wowzer. That's a dandy. I am so envious.

[Prairie Hunter]

Great job! Love the look on his face.

[ShawnZ]

Thanks for the comments folks

[eyeguy 54]

Sweet!

[HawgMan]

Great Shot!!

[mcary]

Sometimes the surprises are more enjoyable than what you were actually seeking. Nice capture!

[Dbl]

I think its a very nice shot!

[JayinMN]

Sweet shot of a very elusive animal! I read about your sighting on MOU and had to wait impatiently all day for you to post it here......

[Borealhunter]

Pure jealous!! Way to go Shawn!!

[Jim Almquist]

Sweet shot of a very elusive animal! I read about your sighting on MOU and had to wait impatiently all day for you to post it here......

If he did not post I was going to email Shawn

I just love the color of the berries and the awesome facial expression of the Pine Marten.

Spend enough time in the field with a camera and great things will happen.

That is truly a wall hanger.

[Canon Guy]

Cool!

[Birdsong]

Beautiful photo!

[Nymph]

Fabulous shot!

[Todd Caswell]

Very cool

[Catmendo]

Absolutely beautiful! Not only is this an extremely rare capture on a very difficult subject. It clearly shows a much different perspective of a martin's diet! Seldom do we have the opportunity to witness a more carnivorous type creature like the martin eating things such as these berries.

Many years ago I was witness to a muskrat as it sat quietly chewing on the remain of a small brown bullhead. That really took me by surprise!

Once again, well done on a very fine capture!

[Deitz Dittrich]

easily one of my fave picts ever posted on FM.

[panthrcat]

my heart did a loopdeeloopo when I saw this image!! it's outstanding and sooooooooooooooo good!! you have captured him excellently!! I too, am envious of such an image!! while hunting last week I come across a martin, and grabbed my camera,, but alas,, I had the settings all kinkywompus after fooling around in my studio, and none of them turned out,, AAAARRRGGGG!! he stuck around for a while and poked his head from around a branch to look at us,, it would have made for a nice image,,

beautiful work!!!

Sue