Bird Photography

[Senna4ever]

Originally Posted by Boostslut

1D MKVI or 5D MKIII for birding then?

In my experience, the 5Dmk3 has a better AF system than the 1Dmk4, but the 1Dmk4 is faster with the 10fps, of course. I was out at Iona shooting with both bodies the other day and the 5Dmk3 gave me more keepers than the 1Dmk4 even with the slower fps with small birds in flight....but I can't discount the possibility I didn't have the 1Dmk4 set up properly. I didn't bring the 1DX with me due to stupidity.

[N.V.M.]

I bought this 1D4 from another birder, its dialed in. He's a regular on Fred Miranda, his pics are incredible. He's also using a 5D3 now, but he's not completely sold on it either.

If anyone is looking for a Canon 600mm II , he's selling one, only $9k.
Posted via RS Mobile

[N.V.M.]

a new bird for me, a Brown-headed Cowbird:

[N.V.M.]

bah, such crappy weather, stayed at home but walked around the yard with my 1.4x TC attached.

[N.V.M.]

never had Hummers like this before. can only imagine what a 1DX can do:













going back in the morning to improve it a bit.

[N.V.M.]

shiite, went back this morning and only saw this strange bird :

[Amaru]

Took this photo near Ucluelet (just south of Tofino)... the eagle wasn't camera shy at all, I was able to get within 20 feet.

Props to RS member "Tacoyaki," who kindly took the original photo and edited it with his mad Photoshop skills to produce this final version...

[Senna4ever]

Nice! I would have filled in the eyes a bit more though.

[Amaru]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

Nice! I would have filled in the eyes a bit more though.

"Filled"? Enlighten me? :-)

[Senna4ever]

^^^ The eyes are a bit dark in that particular edit. I meant that the eyes should have been lightened up a a bit.

[Senna4ever]

A little bit of sad news. On our way to the Palouse area of Washington State, we came across this beautiful little Barn Owl that had been hit by a car and was lying in a field just off the highway. It's body was bent in a weird position and it couldn't move its legs, so I'm pretty sure its back was broken. It could move its wings, but not its legs. The way it looked at me with those eyes as if to say, "Help me" was disturbing and heartbreaking. There was a state patrol officer nearby so I told him about it and he aid he would phone animal rescue services but he looked apathetic. The owner of the rest area was more sympathetic and called them right away. He said he sees a lot of birds hit by cars because they fly low to the ground and get hit by cars. He said this was the third owl he's seen in the past few months. We shielded the owl from direct sun and waited for over 90 minutes for animal rescue to come, but it was getting late and we had to go so we ended up leaving it there. Unfortunately, I'm sure it had to be euthanized...it was getting weaker and weaker, barely moving by the time we left, and the flies were starting to come.

[european]

^


I'm so choked up. No more sad photos please First the baby Sandhill Crane now this Owl.

[N.V.M.]

some randomness:

[N.V.M.]

this YHBB let me get pretty close. feeding its fledglings was more important:

[N.V.M.]

two youngsters.

a Downy Woodpecker:



and a Starling, which you can see in the face but the colouring is still distinctly different than the dark adults:

[Senna4ever]

One of the Vanier Park eaglets fell out of its nest on Friday and fell about 40 feet on to some branches lower down in the tree. It seemed uninjured except maybe a bruised ego, but it was stuck on a thin, unstable branch, unable to fly. It was desperately trying to get back up to the nest, but there was no way. It spent the night in there while swaying in the wind. On Saturday, there were some people from the David Hancock's foundation there keeping an eye on it, as it was getting fatigued and seemed like it would fall to the ground. While this was happening, the sibling took its first and second flight, and the parents were calling for the other one. Things ended on a high note, as the stuck eaglet finally decided to try its wings and made its first flight back up to the nest!

The sibling's second flight


Ma eagle looking at her stuck child


Failed first flight ends up stuck on a branch


Starting to get sleepy...almost fell again!


Ma calling as she flies around the nest.

[european]

^
AWESOME PICS!

[N.V.M.]

with full summer sun nowadays, you have to get out early to get some nice light. all with my 1D4/500mm f/4, 1.4x TC.

[Senna4ever]

[N.V.M.]

this is a mated pair of Tree Swallows. while one was in the nest, the other would
hang around and preen itself while waiting:





and speaking of preening, i watched this American Gold Finch preen and fluff itself up for quite a while. ended up looking quite comical:

[N.V.M.]

hunting sticks, lol.

[N.V.M.]

couple more from this morning. this is right by Bidwell school in NV(as are the others, above):

[Senna4ever]

"Mommy's home!"


"Daddy's home too, but Mommy's big butt is in the way!"


"Never mind, I'll just wait here and hover like a hummingbird... Hummmmm"


"Did you just say I have a fat ass?!??!"
"No, Honey, I didn't!"

[european]

wow!

[N.V.M.]

Lazuli Bunting



Eastern Kingbird



Cedar Waxwing