Birds 2012

[DennisG]

Also found some seabirds now that the ice is gone from the lake.


crested grebe ( i think )

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This mallard couple just swam out from under the bridge where i was standing looking at the birds above.

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[mvanrheenen]

Hi Dennis,

Great images again! The first is definately an Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) and my favorite image of the lot. The second one is indeed a Nuthatch, an Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) to be precise.

@Birma: you cought that gull at the right moment in flight. Good composition too.

Mark

[Birma]

Thanks Mark and Yildiz.

Yildiz, I think the autofocus is quicker on the A700 with Sigma, than the Nex with SEL 55-200, which were my two options. I also find it easier to hold the camera to me eye for the seagull type of shot - although I have rarely tried this sort of thing.

Nice bird shots Dennis - I especially like the yellow-hammer and the mallards.

[aster]

Dennis, what a neat series of neat birds.

They are very lovely, no doubt about that but I found the Nuthatch to be a cute funny bird in your shots. Clutching the bark of the tree upside down and all.
Like the Yellowhammer and the Starling also. Though behind a couple of branches, you have capturd the lovely colours of their plummage nicely.

In the second set of couples in swim the Crested grebe couple are most interesting. I hope the Mallards don't mind...


Thank you for sharing,

Yildiz

[[SiC]]

Well, I'm not that much of a bird shooter but this Easter I really got me a treat. I have never before experienced something like this in the wild, to be able to see such a beautiful bird up close from only a few meters distance
Kudos to all of you who spend hours in forests and around lakes to get such wonderful shots. I simply had the fortune to have my father in law spot the bird and guide me to the right place and within about 30 minutes or so the magnificent bird appeared, trying to tell us to leave his domains


Tetrao urogallus by Thorstensson, on Flickr

BR,
/Zeb!

[mvanrheenen]

Sweet bird and ditto image, Zeb! You have more talent than you give yourself credit for!

Mark

[aster]

When life treats right, it indeed treats just right!

Hi Sebastian,

There's almost everything imaginable to make this fantastic bird shot a success: extraordinary plummage, all sorts of counter-acting colours, an interesting eyelid, carriage of the body with pride... : ) And the shades of Nightblue, so extraordinary.

Such birds must be the initiating inspiration of Venetian masks that we see in Venice at present.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[Birma]

Well done to your father-in-law Zeb Wonderful shot.

[Argonaut]

Fantastic shot Zeb!

[Argonaut]

Back to Tanzania for some smaller birds taken from the car. Coursers are mainly nocturnal/crepuscular (note the large eyes) and if you find them in daytime they're just sort of hanging around. This one is on the Red List. Sigma 400, 1/2000, f16, ISO 1600.

The larks are really difficult to tell apart, but this one is quite common and sings a lot, so the call is used for i.d. Sigma 400, 1/2000, f16, ISO 1600.

The Speckle-fronted Weaver reminds me that our House Sparrow is a weaver finch too. They certainly look like cousins, but this one is prettier and somehow manages to exist without access to McDonald's fries. Sigma 400, 1/2000, f5.6, ISO 400.

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[Dr. Harout]

Zeb and Argonaut, bravo!

[DennisG]

walked down to the lake this afternoon and found that allot more of birds had arrived.

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[DennisG]

And on the way home (200m) this pigeon landed in the hedge 2-3 meters from me wanting hes picture taken

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[mvanrheenen]

Hi Argonaut, the lark looks so fragile because the balance between length and "meat" is off The bokeh on the Weaver shot real smooth. I always have trouble composing images of birds with a pleasant background. Great job.

Those are some good birds in flight Dennis. Getting good bird shots at big lakes can be quite the challenge. Birds can see you from afar if the lake doesn't have much growth on the banks. Also, if your out of luck, the birds are all cluttered on the other side and your in for a walk. Also, herons are especially cautious. The mallards and geese are often more docile. Everybody likes pigeons, they tend to look a little dumb and move sluggish. They remind me of clowns

Thanks for sharing both!

I had a little time to process some bird shots I made at the butterfly garden last Monday. All birds were shot in captivity.

#1 - German Roller Canary

As I mentioned before, I don't like animals created by man. I however couldn't ignore this very pretty bird. The German Roller Canary is bred by man and isn't found in the wild. I had the opportunity to come really close and I think this is one of my best shots to date.



#2 - Zebrafinch (Taeniopygia guttata)

Common to Central Australia. Maybe the image is a bit overexposed, but didn't get it right no matter what I did. Oh well.



#3 - Diamond Dove (Geopelia cuneata)

Also an Australian native. Very cute and funny little birds these!



#4 - Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)

One of the most beautiful colored birds I've ever seen in the flesh. Very calm bird. Native of the mountains of western China.



Mark

[Argonaut]

Mark - the bokeh in my shots is not planned. There usually isn't time. However, when a bird is close to you, the background is usually so defocused that it disappears except for its color. And of course if I can choose among similar shots, I'll look at the bokeh. But, my planning is limited to (devoted to?) getting the bird sharp and, if possible, doing something interesting.

You said the Zebra Finch was overexposed and you couldn't do anything about it. Do you shoot RAW or JPG? I shoot RAW particularly because it allows me to fix that kind of problem. Again, when you're shooting birds you have to work fast and no matter what kind of metering you use, there will be times when you don't get best exposure. RAW can fix 90% of my misses that way.

Argonaut