The birds they mock me

[ddarno]

Not all ducks are equal...an imposter in the flock

Tufted Ducks by ddarno, on Flickr

The imposter...

Scaup by ddarno, on Flickr

[kevin63]

DSC_7752-2 by cerbykev, on Flickr

[DibblyDobbler]

^^^ Excellent! You must have ninja skills to get that close (assume shot at 200mm ?)

[kevin63]

DibblyDobbler said:

^^^ Excellent! You must have ninja skills to get that close (assume shot at 200mm ?)

600mm hand held.

[DibblyDobbler]

kevin63 said:

DibblyDobbler said:

^^^ Excellent! You must have ninja skills to get that close (assume shot at 200mm ?)

600mm hand held.

Ah my apologies I misunderstood a previous post. Great kit + great shot!

[nellyleelephant]

A Bittern from today at Minsmere. A first for me (the Bittern and Minsmere!)

[fitz1985]

Some wonderful photos in here, I echo the poster above, always brightens my day taking a look in here.

My humble attempts today below, hopefully get a bit more practice this year, criticism welcome!

Fighting Ducks (Mallards?)




Final Approach



Black headed gull?



Any tips from those of limited (focal) length such as me? In a bit of a catch 22 where I don't want to spend out on a larger (> 200mm) lens, without taking more photos...and I seem to limited as I think you need much more than that to get good shots from a hide unless you are lucky / super patient.

[DibblyDobbler]

Nice shots Fitz

You could try spot metering as the birds look a bit on the dull side?

Re lack of length - no easy answer I'm afraid, what camera + lens combo do you have at the moment?

[fitz1985]

DibblyDobbler said:

Nice shots Fitz

You could try spot metering as the birds look a bit on the dull side?

Re lack of length - no easy answer I'm afraid, what camera + lens combo do you have at the moment?

Thanks DD!

Erm whats spot metering?! I'll have to look that up in my lunch break tomorrow.

Currently sporting a Pentax K200D, and the shots were taken with a pentax 50-200mm DA lens. Am I correct in thinking that to make much headway I need either a greater lens, such as a 150-500, or upgrade to something like a K5 / K3 which would allow me to crop more whilst still maintaining a printable / viewable quality. Obviously both of the above would help, but I suspect one will happen before the other.

I know my K200D is entry level, but I'm just keep to practice atm so that I get to a stage where the camera is the limitation rather the muppet holding it

[Handbag]

Lovely pics Kevin63 and Nellyleelephant. Fitz1985 I'm afraid luck and patience is the biggest part if like me you don't have the focal length.

Chaffinch by janstan111, on Flickr

[LongQ]

Handbag said:

Lovely pics Kevin63 and Nellyleelephant. Fitz1985 I'm afraid luck and patience is the biggest part if like me you don't have the focal length.

Chaffinch by janstan111, on Flickr

Very nice.

Unless you set something up at a known and fixed location (feeder or nest in the garden for example) luck will always play a part. Quite a big part usually, no matter the lens length available.

[Vocal Minority]

On the basis I was at the seaside at the weekend, I thought of this thread and thought I'd have a go. Results are a bit dubious, but its a start



This one was taken as I was diving for safety to be honest...



Cormorant

Edited by Vocal Minority on Wednesday 8th April 09:02

[Bryan19]

I prefer sparrows but these two last one are also graceful .

[ExPat2B]

I have been following this pair of Grebe for a couple of years now, and have managed to capture some lovely moments this year as they start a new family.

The young love to travel on their Mothers back :

Grebe_Babies_Riding by natureiser, on Flickr

Grebe_Babies_Riding_3 by natureiser, on Flickr

I had previously though that only the mother Grebe would carry the babies, but for the first time this year, I saw both of them carrying the chicks.

Grebe_Babies_Riding_Both_Adults by natureiser, on Flickr

The chicks need a lot of fish, and the Father spends all day fishing to feed them :

Grebe_Daddy_Has_A_Fish by natureiser, on Flickr

As soon as the chicks see that there he has a fish, they jump off mum and race towards him to collect the prize.

Grebe_Daddy_Feeding_Young by natureiser, on Flickr

Grebe_Daddy_Feeding_Young3 by natureiser, on Flickr

There are no prizes for second place - even large fish will be swallowed whole by the greedy youngsters.

Grebe_Daddy_Feeding_Young3_No_Prize_for_second_place by natureiser, on Flickr

Of course, some are too good to give away :

Grebe_Fishing by natureiser, on Flickr

One proud Father :

Proud_daddy_Grebe2 by natureiser, on Flickr

Grebe_Portrait by natureiser, on Flickr

[fitz1985]

Thanks for posting Expat2b! I really enjoyed those photos!

[ExPat2B]

fitz1985 said:

Thanks for posting Expat2b! I really enjoyed those photos!

Thanks ! I had a lot of fun making them

[Handbag]

Great pics ExPat2B

[Pesty]

Brilliant. Thanks.

[ExPat2B]

Thanks for the positive comments on the Grebe shots. Here are some Seagull pics I have been working on, it was fun to get up close and shoot at 70mm rather than 800mm for a change.

Seagull_Monaco_Flight2 by natureiser, on Flickr

Seagull_Monaco_1 by natureiser, on Flickr

Seagul_Portrait_Monaco_2 by natureiser, on Flickr

Seagul_Portrait_Monaco_1 by natureiser, on Flickr

[toasty]

A few from a recent trip to South Africa. Varying quality but the best I got of each.


Southern Ground-Hornbill by jcross70, on Flickr


Lappet-faced vulture by jcross70, on Flickr


White-backed vultures by jcross70, on Flickr


White-fronted bee-eater by jcross70, on Flickr


Red-backed Shrike by jcross70, on Flickr


Hamerkop by jcross70, on Flickr


Malachite Kingfisher by jcross70, on Flickr


Rufous-naped Lark by jcross70, on Flickr