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Got him to acknowledge my presence for about 0.5 seconds today DSC_5798.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr
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Jan 6, 2013 00:13
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I drove more than 1000km yesterday looking for a group of 5-7 short-eared owls that were supposed to be in a certain area. Turns out they took a sick day yesterday and didn't show up.  There were lots of Snowys in the area, including an all-white male, but I didn't get a single usable image. They were really nervous and flighty, which probably means the banders have been through there.My attempt to make something out of junk:  Trambopaline posted:Oh yeah, that was uncropped. Here's a crop with it filling the frame. Fart Amplifier posted:Luckily there's a cool new owl hanging around the office hunting pigeons and arguing with ravens. Hopefully I'll get some action shots at some point
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Jan 6, 2013 15:30
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A bit of a derail, the top 100 photos in Audubon are pretty incredible -- there is a amazing shot of a Northern Harrier and a Snowy Owl (#7). http://mag.audubon.org/multimedia/2012-photo-awards-top-100-0
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Jan 6, 2013 17:48
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accipter posted:A bit of a derail, the top 100 photos in Audubon are pretty incredible -- there is a amazing shot of a Northern Harrier and a Snowy Owl (#7).  I need longer glass Time to go price out a 100-400 
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Jan 6, 2013 19:38
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InternetJunky posted:Thanks for the closer look. Turns out it's a pretty colourful bird. Yeah they are  When the sun hits them they shine all sorts of iridescent colours and look really cool. I'd post more but I'm going down to where I take 90% of my bird photos in a few minutes and won't have internet. In fact it may be the same spot as Trambopaline.
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Jan 7, 2013 01:54
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    Went birding today because I heard of another guy seeing a pair of trumpeters all week long along a stretch of the river. Saw the pair, but they were way too far out to get anything interesting. Did have a huge flock of Mallards and Canada geese around though to waste some time. Casu Marzu fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Jan 7, 2013 |
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Jan 7, 2013 03:51
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InternetJunky posted:My attempt to make something out of junk: This is the closest I've yet gotten to a shot of a Grey Fantail. I hear them every time, and they pretty much always check me out, but they stay in the treetops.  Friday Hellyer Gorge 2 by Execudork, on Flickr Nailed the focus, except for the out-of-focus foreground twig stabbing him in the butt.  Friday Hellyer Gorge 9 by Execudork, on Flickr Fairy Wrens have a hell of a bib.  Friday Hellyer Gorge 10 by Execudork, on Flickr Dusky Robin takes worm.  Friday Hellyer Gorge 13 by Execudork, on Flickr
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Jan 7, 2013 11:29
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accipter posted:A bit of a derail, the top 100 photos in Audubon are pretty incredible -- there is a amazing shot of a Northern Harrier and a Snowy Owl (#7). The Osprey in #11 hhhrrrrrnnnnfffff
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Jan 7, 2013 16:51
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I went back to my Great Grays yesterday and got some more nice pictures, but the weather was too warm (-2) so they weren't hunting very much and were hard to spot. I did find some Ruffed Grouse which I've never had a chance to get a decent shot of before. In the trees they are a nightmare for AF. accipter posted:A bit of a derail, the top 100 photos in Audubon are pretty incredible -- there is a amazing shot of a Northern Harrier and a Snowy Owl (#7). Casu Marzu posted:Time to go price out a 100-400 ExecuDork posted:Fairy Wrens
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Jan 7, 2013 17:31
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This is really nice.  Tufted Titmouse This one was quite the adventurous type and regularly came closer to me than my lens could focus.  PREYING MANTITS fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Jan 7, 2013 |
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Jan 7, 2013 19:29
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InternetJunky posted:I went back to my Great Grays yesterday and got some more nice pictures, but the weather was too warm (-2) so they weren't hunting very much and were hard to spot. I did find some Ruffed Grouse which I've never had a chance to get a decent shot of before. In the trees they are a nightmare for AF. Nice. You're in Edmonton, right? Do you mind sharing roughly where you're going for the Great Grays/Hawk Owls? I was there in March and spent an entire day searching for those species and came up completely empty. Just curious how wrong my choices were. PM me if you want to keep it under wraps. InternetJunky posted:The 100-400 is an amazing lens. It is also like a gateway drug into the world of expensive gear. Pretty much this. 100-400mm is a "cheap" way to get 400mm w/ IS, but it's issues with sharpness and f/5.6 will quickly make you long for a way to get something longer and faster. For better or worse there's not really any better or faster options that don't cost many times what the 100-400mm goes for. Edit: Still need to sit down and upload some Gull photos.
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Jan 7, 2013 20:43
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Nice. You're in Edmonton, right? Do you mind sharing roughly where you're going for the Great Grays/Hawk Owls? I was there in March and spent an entire day searching for those species and came up completely empty. Just curious how wrong my choices were. PM me if you want to keep it under wraps. The Great Grays are just 45 minutes north of Edmonton near a 5-house village called Opal. There are 4 in the 10km area just north up to RR 590. If you're going PM me and I can probably send you exact GPS locations of spots to look. There was also a Hawk Owl that was banded on the 1st in the Opal area but I didn't see it yesterday so no clue where it is. quote:Pretty much this. 100-400mm is a "cheap" way to get 400mm w/ IS, but it's issues with sharpness and f/5.6 will quickly make you long for a way to get something longer and faster. For better or worse there's not really any better or faster options that don't cost many times what the 100-400mm goes for.
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Jan 7, 2013 21:29
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While I don't have a 100-400 I do find that 400mm is still too short for a lot of bird photos, I am still kind of lusting after a 500 f4...
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Jan 7, 2013 23:39
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Just did some HD re-organizing and going from my pics from a trip up north from 2011 yeah, having a 500/600 lens sure would be nice...  Townsend's Solitaire by tylerhuestis, on Flickr  Grey Jay by tylerhuestis, on Flickr  American Robin by tylerhuestis, on Flickr  Chipping Sparrow by tylerhuestis, on Flickr drawing a blank on this one for some reason, can someone identify?  a birdie by tylerhuestis, on Flickr
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Jan 8, 2013 05:20
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Looks like one of the Pewee flycatchers to me, whereabouts was it? E: vvv OK, a junco's a much better call. Didn't realize they had that much variability in coloration, the ones here in BC look totally different. One Swell Foop fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Jan 8, 2013 |
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Jan 8, 2013 05:36
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InternetJunky posted:Those Wrens are lovely! Why not clone out the twig in that first wren shot? I really didn't notice it, but it should be easy to stamp out if you want. The robin with the worm is a great catch and the blurred wings really give a nice sense of fast motion. I'd be tempted to crop it a bit and clone out the leaves on either side of the wings.  The robin is already pretty heavily cropped, and again, clone-stamp isn't something I'm good at. Most of my recent stuff has been with either my el-cheapo Sigma 100-300, which doesn't play nice with my K10D's autofocus so I use manual on it (works most of the time), or my Vivitar S1 105 macro - an absolutely lovely lens, when I mess up some bird shots I can console myself with bugs and flowers. I have a 500mm f/4.5, the Takumar in m42 mount. It's enormous, heavy, awkward, and old enough to lack real multicoating. But the reach is useful when I remember to get it out of the car and set up the tripod. Autofocus supertele primes seem to cost upwards of $2K, so not on the menu for me anytime soon. Oh well, I'm having lots of fun with my current gear.
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Jan 8, 2013 05:54
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One Swell Foop posted:Looks like one of the Pewee flycatchers to me, whereabouts was it? North eastern Yukon, like 50Km or so north of the Arctic Circle
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Jan 8, 2013 06:06
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neckbeard posted:
Pretty sure that's a junco. edit: a couple of captive shots from Monterey Bay Aquarium today. Kind of fun being able to take bird shots with a 100mm lens.  ominousalbatross 653 on Flickr  b&w_phalarope1 654 on Flickr BetterLekNextTime fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jan 8, 2013 |
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Jan 8, 2013 06:36
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Pretty sure that's a junco. ahhh yes, thanks, I thought it was going to end up being something I've seen before that I should know. Not being able to see the wings threw me
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Jan 8, 2013 13:55
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InternetJunky posted:There is a burn area south of Slave Lake on highway 2 that is loaded with Hawk Owls. They are ridiculously hard to spot because the fire that went through there burned everything but the tops of trees, which all coincidentally look like Hawk Owls. If you really want to go up there PM me and I'll give much more detailed instructions for those. Thanks. I live in Seattle and there's probably about a 0% chance I end up in Edmonton again anytime soon. Every few years one of those two species wanders into Western Washington so maybe I'll get lucky sometime. InternetJunky posted:Ignoring IS, the 400 f/5.6 is sharper and cheaper than the zoom and a lot of people opt for it instead of the "dust pumper", but I'm still pretty happy with my 100-400 as long as I have enough light for f/8 (at which point there is no loss in sharpness imo). The zoom aspect is pretty nice for large wildlife too. One notable thing for anyone that travels is that the 100-400 shrinks down to 7.4" in length vs 10.1 for the 400mm F/5.6. While that's not a huge difference, I can fit the 100-400mm unmounted into the shoulder bag I carry when I fly and can leave it mounted to the camera when I carry it in my Lowepro Fastpack 350. The 400mm wouldn't allow either.
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Jan 8, 2013 16:02
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Sigma has announced a new version of their 120-300/2.8 that will include a focus limiter. Still not cheap ($3k+) but I'll be curious as to how this performs with TC's at ~400/4 or ~600/5.6
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Jan 8, 2013 18:31
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Couple more salvaged owl shots. Backgrounds replaced on all of them and I tried to correct for horrid lighting conditions. This first one looks a bit weird but it's the only time I ever saw this pose from the owl and I thought it was worth attempting to salvage.   Wing tips replaced on this guy along with background: 
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Jan 9, 2013 00:05
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Going through some old pictures DSC_4809 by jankyangles, on Flickr  DSC_4959 by jankyangles, on Flickr  DSC_6886 by jankyangles, on Flickr  DSC_6707 by jankyangles, on Flickr  DSC_6942 by jankyangles, on Flickr
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Jan 10, 2013 17:06
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Not the best photo ever, but it flew to the other side of the river when I went in for a better pic. P1010496 by tlgjames, on Flickr
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Jan 12, 2013 21:29
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I spent the entire day with the Great Grays again yesterday. Rather than post a bunch more of the same type of shot here's some fun shots I captured: A fraction of a second before the plunge, with the legs already breaking the snow  Another view of the same thing  This is how deep they plunge for the voles 
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Jan 13, 2013 15:08
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InternetJunky posted:I spent the entire day with the Great Grays again yesterday. Rather than post a bunch of loving amazing photos like the ones I took before here's some more loving amazing shots I captured: Fixed that for you. Keep 'em coming! A few more from Monterey... Heerman's Gulls  heermanshead1 666 on Flickr  heermansgull 667 on Flickr Some more shorebirds in the aquarium exhibit.  KilldeerCrop 668 on Flickr  oystercatcherbokehstilt 669 on Flickr  tinyplover 670 on Flickr  bigplover 671 on Flickr BetterLekNextTime fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Jan 16, 2013 |
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Jan 16, 2013 06:56
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Finally got around to going through the last six months of photos. I actually had a lot better stuff than I remembered taking. Hey look, I got a photo of an owl InternetJunky hasn't managed to shoot yet!  Everett Burrowing Owl by beastofexmoor, on Flickr This guy was the second of his species ever seen in Washington:  Wilson's Plover by beastofexmoor, on Flickr Snowy Plovers are the cutest birds in the world.  Banded Snowy Plover by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  Mountain Bluebird by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  Tesoro Bald Eagle by beastofexmoor, on Flickr Crossbill's are awesome when they're not on the top of a 100ft tree.  Red Crossbill's In The Dirt 2 by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  Female Red Crossbill by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  Red Crossbill's In The Dirt by beastofexmoor, on Flickr  Male Red Crosbill by beastofexmoor, on Flickr
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Jan 17, 2013 09:13
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those are great! Its been a long time since I've gotten that kind of look at crossbills. When you can't find real birds...  ElSobranteTurkey1 674 on Flickr  ElSobranteTurkey2 675 on Flickr
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Jan 18, 2013 05:54
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Finally got around to going through the last six months of photos. I actually had a lot better stuff than I remembered taking. quote:This guy was the second of his species ever seen in Washington: quote:Snowy Plovers are the cutest birds in the world. quote:Crossbill's are awesome when they're not on the top of a 100ft tree.
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Jan 18, 2013 15:11
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InternetJunky posted:
That's pretty standard in color banding studies (actually, usually it's a plain aluminum USFWS with the band number, and then three plastic bands that can be used to ID birds at a distance). Not sure of the scheme of the snowy plover biologists, but I'd guess this identifies to a year that it was hatched and a beach where the nest was, or possibly the individual identity of the bird if they don't have very many to keep track of. Edit- here's some more info on snowy plover bands. BetterLekNextTime fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Jan 18, 2013 |
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Jan 18, 2013 18:05
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InternetJunky posted:I haven't replied yet out of sheer jealousy. Of all the birds I want to shoot, this is #1. Is there just 1 in the area? Yes, they only make it over to the west side of Washington about once a year in the winter. Typically they're birds the breed in BC but winter south that get pointed the wrong direction. I'm headed to Southern California on Sunday so I hope to see many more. InternetJunky posted:Very cool. I just looked at their range on whatbird and it seems crazy that one would make it all the way to Washington. Not just one, but two in the same year (verified as different birds). In 100 years of records we have zero and now all of a sudden two. Shorebird species are built to travel tens of thousands of miles in a year so they often get pointed the wrong direction and end up way far from where they should be. Take a look at any good North American bird book and you'll see at least half a dozen species of shorebirds that breed in Siberia/Europe, but get off course and end up on the west/east coast often enough to warrant inclusion. InternetJunky posted:That is a very cute bird. Poor thing though -- why does it need 3 bands? Just to add what BetterLekNextTime said, I submitted it to USGS so hopefully they are able to pull data and tell me where and when it was banded.
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Jan 18, 2013 23:00
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Yes, they only make it over to the west side of Washington about once a year in the winter. Typically they're birds the breed in BC but winter south that get pointed the wrong direction. I'm headed to Southern California on Sunday so I hope to see many more. Any idea where in BC these guys pop up?
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Jan 19, 2013 02:46
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Dread Head posted:Any idea where in BC these guys pop up? Okanogan valley is where I've heard people mention. eBird shows a bunch of entries north of Osoyoos. There's actually a reintroduction program for them in BC. I believe this site has more info: http://www.burrowingowlbc.org/
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Jan 19, 2013 07:53
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Okanogan valley is where I've heard people mention. eBird shows a bunch of entries north of Osoyoos. There's actually a reintroduction program for them in BC. I believe this site has more info: Figured it would be up there, thanks for the info.
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Jan 19, 2013 19:19
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Enjoying the challenge of snow Shadow by HelloWorldEp1, on Flickr Back on the olympus E-3
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Jan 19, 2013 20:34
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Just got back from South Texas. I wanted to stay. Black Vulture & Turkey Vulture being skittish  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Golden-fronted Woodpecker  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr American White Pelicans  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Great Egret  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr This Osprey went the other way just a few minutes before with a tasty tasty fish in its talons  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Green Jays are otherworldly  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Best feeder ever (Green Jays and an Audubon's Oriole)  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Blue-grey Gnatcatchers move a lot  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Great Blue Heron  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Vermilion Flycatchers are so vermilion that my camera made most of them into radioactive-looking red blobs  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Crested Caracaras  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Not a real bird?  Three Rivers TX by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Saw a Scissor-tailed flycatcher from the road on my drive home, but it caught something and left before I could get a picture.
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Jan 20, 2013 05:02
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I should have been posting in this thread a long time ago, so I'll work on fixing that. I took this photo almost a year ago, but I like it a lot. I think it's a bit too green-ish; I need to spend some more time on it. I got a bunch of shots of very colorful hummingbirds that afternoon. Even when it went totally overcast like an hour later, I got some shots where the head was completely pink. A few months ago, when it was warmer, hummingbirds were visiting my balcony. Unfortunately I never got any good shots since they were rather skittish, but this year I'm hoping to fix that. I might just set up the camera with a remote release. I did spend a lot of time just sitting on the balcony while doing work and stuff on my laptop to get them acclimated to my presence, but I'm not sure that helped much.  Sunlit Hummingbird by Shadeofblue
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Jan 20, 2013 06:31
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I picked up a cheap 55-200 vr the other day because I've never done much bird/wildlife photography and would like to change that. It's certainly no 80-20 but for the price I think it will serve its purpose for at least a few years. Untitled by lwmyers, on Flickr
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Jan 20, 2013 07:25
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Wish we had more interesting birds like some of you guys have. All we seem to have is pigeons, ducks, crows and tits. Snow 19th Jan 13 by icechris023, on Flickr  Snow 19th Jan 13 by icechris023, on Flickr  Snow 19th Jan 13 by icechris023, on Flickr
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Jan 20, 2013 12:20
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icechris posted:Wish we had more interesting birds like some of you guys have. All we seem to have is pigeons, ducks, crows and tits.
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Jan 20, 2013 23:24
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