Birds

OBX,

Altona and the near coast is similar to your spot. Most of the birds we see here are migratory.

Unfortunately I often  can’t tell one from another.

The averted gaze is priceless. So then it’s Roberta. I’ve always liked that name for some reason. I guess I’ll have to add a better camera and lens to match to a sadly growing list; (material world and all) but the photos really are an artful joy! Thanks again!

Wow Franco!   These shots are fantastic…I love birds!   I try really hard to get good bird photos but they are not as crisp as yours.  I have a Sony 6500 with a Zeiss 16-70.  I have trouble with focusing in AF or MF….still learning

You should see the photos the local birders post.

Some examples from the last couple of days

as you can see when I stated that my photos are OK but not great it wasn’t false modesty, it just happens that I am familiar with photography and my limits.

I see photos of the above standards every day. They are all local birds from local birders.

BTW, most at that level use Full Frame (the 24x36mm sensor size) with lenses like the Tamron or Sigma 150-600mm, several with a 100-400mm of the same brand as their camera, often with a dedicated 1.4x converter.

I use an APS C sensor (about 2.3x smaller) with a Sony 55-300mm or Tamron 200-500mm.

I try to compensate for my lacking skills by injecting some humour into my posts.

For example a few days ago I posted this photo

asking people to keep an eye out for the missing leg.

(straw necked ibis)

Pamhikes

we have the yellow and royal spoonbill here but not that roseate  type (that I know…)

Nice photo.

my photos of ours

Franco I’ve not seen the spoonbill in white before.  In Florida with have Roseate…a pretty light pink.  I’m enjoying your photos very much, keep them coming!

3 from today

welcome swallows , N 1 black shouldered kite and N3 kestrel.

( I number the individuals I know)

All within about 300m (900′) of each other.

A bird that is very common here, we see flocks of 100-300 often enough, are the black swans.

Here is a family photo

Check this work out……

https://www.flickr.com/photos/edpost/

Great shots there, Ken.

I worked in the camera trade for over 30 years. Many of my co workers were very good photographers , tipically working for us  to get some regular income to get themselves established before turning pro full time. So I have for many years observed work from pros and that is why I know my shots are OK at best but I am having fun anyway.

Yesterday I posted this photo

describing it as a photo of the contenders lined up for the annual dash across the bay race .

I was so impressed with it that I had it stored inside the recycle Bin.

but it was fun for 5 minutes .

From this afternoon.

Black cormorants, not so black cormorants and a game of kite and mouse

the last one is a little Eagle. It was getting closer to me when a crow started to harass it driving it away. There was a rabbit on the ground where the eagle was slowly moving to.

Another kite hunting

Your photos are awesome…..thank you!

I love the kestrel

Thank you.

I am having fun capturing these birds.

I see the kestrels, kiyes and brown falcons most days, I have started to see the little eagle and a hobby but there are other raptors in the area that I still have to photograph.

just before this comment I was looking at this photo posted by a Pro :

for a start you need to spend about $17 k (Sony A99 II/500mm F4 and 1.4 conv) then you need to know how to use it…

Very nice photos folks. Thanks for sharing.

@Franco are you shooting handheld with image stabilization or on a tripod?

Cheers,

Bruce

Swan with sygnets on the Rhine River, Germany (shot with Sony RX100vi)

Bruce, all hand held.

There is an  IBIS (!) inthe camera , that is In Built Image Stabilisation. Works by moving the sensor to reduce the effect of camera movement.

But I use high shutter speed with it too, however  that alone would not be enogh for me.

One of the reasons I did not get the 150-600 mm version is because that is too heavy for me to enjoy using  without a tripod.

BTW, some of my shots are taken with a Sony 55-300mm (compact and light) the others with the Tamron 200-500mm, longer , heavier and at about the limit of my hand holding capability.

This afternoon

I just noticed that I had a better shot (still pretty poor…) of the same flame robin taken a couple of days ago.

I was by myself so the bird came much closer than today but my camera was not able to focus on it so I had to manual focus, not ideal with my lens.

These days I spend more time watching birds than hiking. Few of our birds are as flashy as the ones Franco has been posting, but this little guy comes close

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Violet-green Swallow, at Mono Lake, California

Up North , right on the Northern coast, we get the Barn Swallow and the Red Rumped type. Both with a blue back, very pretty. Down here we only get the Welcome and White Backed type.

When I took the photo I posted the other day , swallows were flying all around me , darting about, but I had a tele lens on so found it impossible to capture them in flight. The next day they were gone.

Litle Pied Cormorants (very common…)

There are 6 types around here, I know  3 of them and taken photos of at least 4 types.

I took this welcome swallow about 1 month ago

Very nice!

Thanks. This afternoon I went ou with the camera, about 5 minutes later it started to drizzle. So went back, put rain pants on and went out again (It has been raining on and off for a few days) Did not get a drop of rain , in fact at some point the sun came out. I walket right under a tree with a kite looking down from about 3 metres above, later on spotted the little eagle less than 15 metres away in full clear view. Could not see it from the side but in the open at the front.

This is the bird from a previous but not so good encounter :