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For The Birds !


samuijimmy

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Chickens do fly, after the kids throw them in the air! wink.png

I don't know why, but this made me laugh. Funny picture smile.png

The kids thought is was funny to, (10 to 12 year olds) .... I don't think the chicken found it all amusing! wink.png

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Something went wrong then lets try again.

Male Scarlet Backed Flower Pecker in a local park

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The book says these things are between 8.5 and 9 cm assume that includes the tail, however they look much smaller.

They leap around in trees at great speed and are rarely still for more than a heartbeat.

Just seeing them in a tree where they are out in the open, out of all the leaves and branches is hard enough then by the time I have lifted the camera and picked them up in the viewfinder they usually bounce away before I can get a focus.

Its a bit like trying to get a pix of the ball in a ping pong game.

If I am lucky enough to get a focus on one there is every chance it has ducked behind something just as I push the tit

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They do however seem to stay still on power wires for a bit longer, dont know if it charges their batteries or what.

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Will keep trying and one day will get a good one.

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Small Pratincole nesting down by the river, they nest on the sand and the eggs are the same color as the sand

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The nests are very difficult to find because when anyone or anything approaches they leave the nest and put on a show of being injured, flopping around to draw you away from the nest.

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When they think you are far enough away they will up and fly off.

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the only lens that would get me anywhere near where i want to be for distance bird photography, would be the canon 500mm f/4 with a 2x tc... problem is the $10k price tag & the weight.

so i don't use 'a lens' as such.. i use a Canon SX50hs superzoom for bird shots, has its limitations but overall it works quite well once mounted on a good tripod. (and has a greater reach than the lens combo mentioned above)

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Amazing quality of images Goshawk !!! My canon lenses won't get that quality, although perhaps I should take along a tripod more often!

But usually the birds fly away too quickly too sad.png

Here is one, but not near the quality to make a good pic! (Hand held!)

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Edited by samuijimmy
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A couple of shots of a Green Billed Malkoha that started visiting the garden when it was really hot March/April(came for water and a bathe).The first shot is not my best but I was trying to show just long this birds tail is!! For a big bird he is quite shy and hides in the trees a lot-not exactly photogenic.


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Amazing quality of images Goshawk !!! My canon lenses won't get that quality, although perhaps I should take along a tripod more often!

But usually the birds fly away too quickly too sad.png

Tripod is good but more important (to me) is the head. Make sure it's of good quality. I use a Manfotto 2-way fluid video head with quite a long 'arm'... it's buttery smooth in operation & great for tracking your subjects

The best way is to find the busiest wave of bird activity in a given location then strategically & stealthily position yourself with the sun/light behind you and then........ wait.

Wait for them to come to you rather than vice versa - once i'm satisfied in my mind that the perfect stage is set, i simply await the players....

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Large Niltava - Doi Inthanon (insect in its beak)

....these specialist mountain birds are easily heard but can be tricky to photograph as they're mid-story to canopy dwellers usually in dense dark forests. For this particular one i had to really push up the iso (degrades quality) then post process to bring out the image. It's far from a great shot, but it took me ages to get it.

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