Birds 2011

[aster]

Yildiz, it is Gustav Kiburg (ijsvogel) you're talking about. He became on of the few testing the a77 and now he owns one and taking awesome shots (as always) on different subjects. He's mainly on Dyxum.com
BTW, he is a very friendly, modest and wonderful person.

Oh, yes! Of course, now I recall his full name.
Thank you very much, Dr. Harout.
Great progress in his life. I'd trust his views on any camera, him being a good photographer and having a great personality. : )

Indeed, he was very friendly, modest and wonderful, with a rare humourous side to his nature, standing at the edge of the rocks while shooting the eagles and the vultures! : )

I remember well now...I should make a habit of visiting Dyxum every now and again.

Thanks,

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

Hello everyone and thank you all for the wonderfull replies!

I know the images Gustav took, don't know the man personally though. His images of and devotion to kingfishers is unbelievable. However good, I don't like his style all closed up in a shelter all day, hoping for a bird landing on a branch nearby. I like to chase the birds. It's more active and I find myself more involved that way. To each his own.

Mark

[aster]

Hello everyone and thank you all for the wonderfull replies!
...
...
To each his own.

Mark

Indeed, to each his own, Mark.

Always better that way. It was quite a natural reaction of mine after seeing your lovely kingfishers. I never meant any comparisons of any kind. It must be hard enough chasing these fast and very small creatures around and you did come home with a 'basketful' of very cute varieties. : )

We are very lucky.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

I never meant any comparisons of any kind.

Hi Yildiz,

Please don't worry, I made the comment about the way he shoots just to point out the different styles one can use to capture these birds. It was not meant as a reaction to anything you said. No harm done

Mark

[Mark K]

There is a bird thread and I almost missed this one




All are heavily cropped from a700 or a77, with 70-400G or 200G with 2x

[Mark K]

There is a bird thread and I almost missed this one




All are heavily cropped from a700 or a77, with 70-400G or 200G with 2x

[stevecim]

I have some bird shots

Not sure what species this is , but I'm leaning towards a immature Rufous Whistler (it's a 98% crop of an image taken at 300mm a550 wish I had a 70-400 and A65/77 for these heavy crops )



And here is a pair of Red-Rumped Parrots, they have a nest in a tree hollow . first shot female, second shot her mate

[aster]

Nice series, Stevecim. : )

Cheerful shots with the muitiple cameras and excellent lenses. You must have been quite distant form the subjects
A little CA appears in some shots. I suppose that's to do with the extensive distance and light conditions?

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[stevecim]

Hi Yildiz

Sorry, I missed typed , I ment to say "I wished I had ....." I only have A550 and a tamron 70-300 (their cheapest model )
Yes, CA is quite common with my lenses , I do my best to remove it, here is the shot with out CA correction.

[aster]

Hi Stevecim, : )

Not to worry. All in good time. I'm sure you'll be the owner much better lenses that are to your heart's desire.
The camera is a good one though. : )

The photo without the CA correction does look worrying! Glad the corrected one is much, much better looking. I think it's to do with the Tamron 70-300. I don't have one but I do have a Sony 18-200 mm which does show CA. Later I purchased a CZ 16-80 mm (I know, rather expensive ) and the clarity of the photos were so good I never used the Sony 18-200 mm again. I can crop with the CZ extensively and still have good shots that can compete with a photo taken with a longer zoom lens' Maybe someone can recommend a better yet not so expensive lens suitable for your requirements?

Keep posting these lovely subjects in the mean time. : ) Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

@Mark: Good captures! I especially like the beautifull Egret you've captured. Striking patterns in the feathers! The landing duck is very nice too. I never seem to capture those on time. The image does look like a heavy crop on high ISO. Do you have as much trouble reducing noise in these kind of images? I have.

@stevecim: What colorfull birds, I'm jealous! It's a pity the lens has such high CA, but you did a good job correcting it in my opinion. Did you use the lens wide open? If so, stopping down just a stop could help controling the CA. to compensate, you could bump up your ISO.

[Greg Beetham]

Looks like you scored a shoveler Mark K, they are supposed to be around my parts also but I’ve never got close enough to one too get a photo. Also a spoonbill with some more ducks and a Heron in the last, whereabouts were they shot?

I had a look in my Pizzey & Knight stevecim, and I agree that your bird seems most likely to be a Rufous Whistler, I’m sortof thinking maybe a female, the juvenile is supposed to have a more pronounced buff colour on the edges of the flight feathers and a pale base on the beak but everything else is similar including the little streaks on the front, I was a bit put off by the dark eye, the Rufous Whistler is supposed to have more brownish reddish colour in the eye. Those small birds can be tough to work out, especially where ranges of similar species overlap.
The Red-Rumped Parrots nest is a lucky find; maybe you can go back and get some more shots? Actually there was one hanging around here for a couple of months, it used to come down and get some seed when I tossed some out on the path for the other little birds, but eventually it disappeared, I think it was an escaped pet as they aren’t supposed to be in my area.
Greg

[stevecim]

here is another from last month

I think it' an Intermediate Egret

[aster]

Very nice series, Mark. : )

I'm surprised that I missed them earlier. The egrets are especially nice...



Hi Stevecim,

Lovely shot. : ) Good composition also.


Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[Alpha_Zagreb]

@aa los banos: Picture of parrot is excelent! Great moment. Too bad that there are no any of them in my place. But i will go to ZOO.

@mvanrheenen: From your last three pictures, the first is the best for me. But when I look closely, the second is also very good.