Just on 5:00pm, went out to the clothes line to check if some towels had dried enough to bring in.
So there I was, at the clothes hoist, standing between two towels, both arms raised, a hand feeling each towel.
And looking straight at me, on the peak of the clothes hoist, no more than 4' away, was this currawong! So we stared at each other for all of 30 seconds!
I then gently released the two towels, lowered my arms very slowly, turned, and walked to the laundry door, entered and turned around. He was still there.

So, went to get the camera and 150-450mm lens, thinking "He has gone by now".
Stepped outside the laundry door, and checked - right, no Currawong.

Turned to the left, to check out the garden and bird bath. Currawong on the bird bath!

"CLICK CLICK CLICK".
And here he is.

The light at this time was already dim, and the display was red-lighting my default 2500 ISO cap, so dialled down the Shutter Speed from 1/2000 (my "comfort" shutter speed when hand-holding The Monster - the 150-450mm) to 1/640s, and opened up the default F8 to F6.3, but left the ISO cap. Came out a little under-exposed, but DxO Photolab seems to have rescued the shot reasonably well.

[phx.david]

Nice catch. I can do understand calling it the monster. I love the lens, but it is a handful.

[MikeNArk]

What a bird. Black and white with an orange eye and quite a beak. Nice shot and great catch. This bird looks like it would fit in nicely on a pirate ship.

[angkymac]

Great story about a great shot!
Isn't that the way of it; almost need to keep a camera mounted on your shoulder to get the best shots.
Were the towels dry? Or did you forget them?
Angky.

[ToddK]

Terrific shot! Sometimes the best ones come out of unusual circumstances. I can't tell you how many times I have been in similar situations but missed the opportunity. Birds don't typically give you many chances.

[eaglem]

A nice catch, not sure we have them in WA

[K2 to K50]

Nice catch. I can do understand calling it the monster. I love the lens, but it is a handful.

Thanks David. Yes, the 150-45o IS quite a handful. But when focused, it gives such great detail!

What a bird. Black and white with an orange eye and quite a beak. Nice shot and great catch. This bird looks like it would fit in nicely on a pirate ship.

Thanks Mike.

Great story about a great shot!
Isn't that the way of it; almost need to keep a camera mounted on your shoulder to get the best shots.
Were the towels dry? Or did you forget them?
Angky.

Thanks angkymac: the towels need a little longer!!

Terrific shot! Sometimes the best ones come out of unusual circumstances. I can't tell you how many times I have been in similar situations but missed the opportunity. Birds don't typically give you many chances.

Thanks Todd. Yes, it is rare for a bird to give you a second chance like this! I was pretty chuffed when I saw that it had moved to the bird bath.

A nice catch, not sure we have them in WA

Thanks eaglem: I believe you have the Grey Currawong (or a sub-species thereof) in WA, but no, not the Pied.