Canon Elan IIe, semi-handheld, Canon 75-300 at about 270mm Fuji Provia 100 F5.6, 1/60

Not cheating

Despite the proximity, this picture is not of a captive bird, but a grab shot in the wild.

Crossing a long bridge at NC's Outer Banks early one morning, I espied this Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) perched on the rail less than 2 meters (six feet) from the traffic lanes, totally unconcerned. I hung a U-turn at the end of the bridge and went back, stopping now in the traffic lane opposite the bird (luckily there was no traffic at all). Propping the camera against the windowframe, I managed to get off three frames before he decided that I was too close and took flight, right after this picture was taken.