Birds 2012

[Dr. Harout]

Very nice shots Mark.
I've notices some woodpeckers, blackbirds, blue tits, doves and other birds in my garden but seldom tried professionally to shoot.
I am really thinking of doing it this spring/summer.

[Greg Beetham]

That’s great Mark, finding the woodpecker; it’s always a thrill for me as well when I find a new or rarely seen bird so I understand. I looked through and enjoyed all the latest bird snippets. I have seen that same condescending look the Goldfinch has cast in your general direction from birds here as well, I’m not sure what it means, probably it’s something along the lines of ‘I don’t know what this guy is up too but I better keep an eye on him just the same’…. Not a bad BIF, what was that one? There is a similar bird here called a Swamphen.
Greg

[aster]

Hi Mark,

I wake up and find these lovely bird shots! What else could I ask? : ))
Beautiful variety. I'm glad that you found the odd woodpecker and got some neat shots.He does look very special with that tiny body and the patterns on his plummage.

Just as happy to see the other feathered sweet ones. : )

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

Hi guys and gal,

Thank you for the nice comments

Doc, I don't shoot birds 'professionally' either, just as an amateur with a hobby. I find it terribly hard to compose an image with wildlife. I never seem to get in the right place at the right time, don't have enough reach, the weather isn't working or there is to much stuff in the background for the lens to lock focus. So, for now I'm happy with just getting a focussed shot (any shot) of the birds.
If you do decide to give it a shot in your backyard, please post your images! I'm really interested to see the feathered wildlife in Armenia!

Greg, as you said, it's really thrilling to find a bird you've never seen before, let alone capture with your camera. I smiled the rest of the day The BIF is a Eurasian Cootreally and is a common bird here. You find them anywhere near and in water, next to all the ducks, geese and gulls flying around. I googled the Swamphen. It really does look a bit like the Coot, although the Swamphen is more colored.

Yildiz, the plumage was the thing that triggered me into identifying and tracking this little woodpecker. In the small peace of woods I was yesterday, there are 6 or 7 Great Spotted Woodpeckers flying around, chasing each other and making a lot of noise. Finding woodpeckers is easy, just follow your ears to the knocking on the trees. Tracking the birds between all the trees and dense growth is a completely different story. Had to get a few thorns out of my legs while chasing the birds yesterday Anyway, I heard some knocking, looked up, saw a little bird with black and white spots on it''s feathers. I first thought it was just a little specimen of the Great Spotted, until I lifted the camera to my eyes and saw I was wrong. I forgot my field guide, so I didn't know exactly what bird it was, but had a good idea it was the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. The Great Spotted are really shy, so getting close to one is a real challenge. Strange enough, the Lesser Spotted didn't mind my presence at all. I made a lot of noise in all the dense bushes but was able to get under the same tree it was. It didn't even blink! I was able to watch it for 20 minutes(!) until it decided to look for food in another tree. It was some experience!!!

Mark

[aster]

Wow! That's indeed hard work, Mark.

I'm glad you don't lose your balance or drop the camera in aal that hassle. : ) The woodpecker was kind to you too! Patiently letting you get closer and closer.
Just watch out for thorns that can be poisonuous. Some big thorns can penetrate the human skin very fast and require a small operation to pull back out again and they can cause inflammaton and pain. I know because when I was walking fast between lemon trees with fallen dry tree branches all around, one dry branch with thorns turned under my right foot and a 5 cm thorn penetrated through the small bones that are at the back of our feet(close to achilles). It was a painful experience that makes walking very difficult until a tiny cut was made to pull it out.

We wouldn't want to lose you just yet! You have many years ahead of you to photograph wonders....



Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

Hm, thanks for the warning Yildiz. I know there are some poisonous plant near where I walk, but they don't include plants with thorns as far as I know. I'll look into it.

Mark

[DennisG]

This one just wanted to have it´s picture taken he sat in front of me in the tree for a few minutes

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[mvanrheenen]

Dennis, what a marvelous shot of the Blue Tit you managed to shoot! Did you use the Sigma AF 70-300/4-5.6 DG APO Macro for that shot?

Thanks for sharing!

Mark

[DennisG]

Yea i used sigma 70-300 for that shoot and distans is about 5-6 meters.
Its my best bird shoot so far in my loooong photographic life so am very pleased with that one

[mvanrheenen]

Yea i used sigma 70-300 for that shoot and distans is about 5-6 meters.
Its my best bird shoot so far in my loooong photographic life so am very pleased with that one

I can imagine, it's a great shot!

Mark

[DennisG]

Found this one as well not the sharpest but i like it
It´s spring cleaning the house

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[Birma]

Very nice shots of birds in spring-time Mark and Dennis

[DennisG]

Last one today ( i think )
was testing to follow birds in flight with the 70-300 and this is one is the best, not al that sharp but i like it.
distans to birds is about 70meters.

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[Greg Beetham]

Even getting a bird into position in the lens in the wild is usually quite a challenge and hard work, (DA is one that sometimes makes it look easy but I bet it isn’t always) and you very rarely find a wild bird cooperative enough to let you get a really nice shot with the obstructions out of the way the focus and exposure just right with the lighting falling evenly on the subject, that’s the bird subject bird photographers dream about but struggle too find. Like yesterday there was at least four rarely seen birds hanging around here but not one of them knew me as non dangerous like a lot of the birds that frequent the garden on a regular basis know me so I could only watch and identify them through binoculars as they kept a safe distance. Birds were the Imperial Pigeon, Koel (female), Sunbird (pair) and two Cuckoo Shrikes, also numerous White-breasted Woodswallows, they come and go reasonably often but being small plus they stay up high using the power wires as a vantage point for flying insects and are very difficult to get close too, a sample below, and a bif Black Kite that swerved to the left just as I took the photo thus spoiling the framing and focus, but that’s the way it goes, you win some (very few) and you lose some (lots).
Greg
Ps Dennis you aren’t allowed too take bird photos (1st. one) that good until you have suffered terrible hardships and deprivation like the rest of us.
Pps Yildiz I can feel how nasty that thorn in your foot was from here, a suggestion for the correct attire for walking through lemon tree prunings, see below, I left it at the page of the ones I wear on such occasions, (there are nine citrus trees in our yard).
http://www.mackboots.com.au/content_com ... irling.seo
A700 KM100-300apod

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[aster]

Great shots, Dennis. : )

The first is exceptional as others already mentioned but I like the Spring Cleaning too. Very cheerful shot!

Greg, you haven't done any less either. The one on the wire is very cute while the Black Kite is spectacular. : ))


Thanks for sharing.

Yildiz

ps. Greg, I have made a habit of wearing such boots since whenever I'm walking around wooded places or bushes. The leather is very thick and hopefully no thorns or glass shards will get past the barriers my boots are structured with; a steel plate supporting the sole and extra layers of hard leather running down the back. They are pretty heavy though. When I'm in them too long, it feels like I pulled around a pair of iron balls schackled around my ankles by the end of the day.
I had a pair of strapped leather sandals that were open at the back when the thorn hit me... Never thought of Lemon trees a danger to health until that day. The thorns can grow up to 15 cm and be as hard as iron nails.

Thanks for the suggestion! : ))