| "Returning to roost: the Yellow-headed Picathartes". |
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| Painting by Paul Gale, 16 inch x 12 inch, oil | |
| Raise money for conservation: £220 to Positive Footprints Ghana plus P&P from UK. Email:Paul@GalleryOfBirds.com |
Copyright Paul Gale Bird Photography
www.GalleryOfBirds.com : Email:Paul@GalleryOfBirds.com
Late afternoon on a rocky hill deep in a pristine rain forest in central Ghana and several magpie-sized, black-and-white birds come in to roost. They have bare yellow heads with black ear patches and are Yellow-headed Picathates. This species was initially placed in the Crow family and the sexes are identical. They arrive in silence, briefly perching on the rocks and adjacent tree branches. For us to get to the roost site involved an exciting hour's walk along a narrow path through dense, undisturbed rainforest. The walk commenced from a remote village. Thanks to the local guides, who took it in turns to carry my tripod, I was able to video one of the birds as it sat on a branch preening for over a minute. The video sound track is an added reminder of the rainforest. The picathartes nest on a small rock face at this site. The rocks are not exposed but are under the cover of the trees, which makes the area very dark, so photography needs a high ISO setting which is quite possible with modern camera bodies. On return to the UK, I used my photographs as reference material to produce a painting to raise money to support conservation of the "Picathartes site" in Ghana through Positive Footprints Ghana. The price is £220 (GB pounds) to be paid to Positive Footprints Ghana (plus the postage and packing to me - £15 in UK, more for outside UK).
| "Returning to roost: the Yellow-headed Picathartes". |
|
| Painting by Paul Gale, 16 inch x 12 inch, oil | |
| Raise money for conservation: £220 to Positive Footprints Ghana plus P&P from UK. Email:Paul@GalleryOfBirds.com |
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| Yellow-headed Picathartes photographs | Video of the Yellow-headed Picathartes |
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| Picathartes nesting site | Inside the rainforest walking to the Picathartes site |
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