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So there I was kickin' back watching from West Wing after a long rear end day - My wife calls me and says "Evan, I found your favorite bird chillin' by the bridge. If you hurry, you can catch him". I hang up without saying anything, put on my slips (not slippers, more of a flat bottom skater shoe) and haul rear end. It was a little further than I expected, so midway the run I was regretting not driving the car. I get there completely out of breath (I ride a road bike and hate running) to see a  Green Heron hunting. Once I see he's going to be there for a bit, I run back to the house, get the 400 and tripod, and drive back. Here are the results:    G+ did a bunch of auto processing for me, so you can see the originals and a few more shots with EXIF data found here: https://plus.google.com/photos/106495651918093410761/albums/5885049042192445489 e: Got some crazy shin splints. Thanks shittie skater shoes. Bahama.Llama fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 5, 2013 14:42
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Still hasn't really turned into summer here, so I thought I'd share this one from the spring Also...you're not fooling anyone. 
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Jun 5, 2013 15:57
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Cru Jones posted:Still hasn't really turned into summer here, so I thought I'd share this one from the spring I tried to think of a killdeer joke that wasn't cruel to deer, but I couldn't. Pretend I did though. Also, I love the contrast robin's offer. Your shot with the rain/snow makes him look so sad  . Nice.  I took this a while back, but haven't posted. Having the breast lit better in the second one would have been nice, but I had the red from the pepperbush (or was it a Holly... I can't remember).
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Jun 5, 2013 16:16
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Fart Amplifier posted:Welp, I went out back to the eagle nest I'd visited last year to see what was up. The tree had blown over and there were several tiny eagle corpses littering the area I worked on a Tree Swallow banding project many years ago, and when we were trying to catch the swallows in their nest boxes (especially the males), we would try to float a feather past them. They couldn't help themselves, they'd catch the feather out of the air then race full speed to stick it in their nests (at which point we could cover the nest hole and catch the bird). There have been a few studies on it with somewhat mixed results, but the main hypotheses for it seem to be thermoregulation and reducing the number of mites, etc on the chicks. Sorry about your eagle nest  Gorgeous heron shots, and I love the birds in the rain Cru Jones and Dalax
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Jun 5, 2013 16:33
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Fart Amplifier posted:I did get to see birds playing with a feather though. Neat! That must have been fun to watch. BetterLekNextTime posted:I worked on a Tree Swallow banding project many years ago, and when we were trying to catch the swallows in their nest boxes (especially the males), we would try to float a feather past them. They couldn't help themselves, they'd catch the feather out of the air then race full speed to stick it in their nests (at which point we could cover the nest hole and catch the bird). There have been a few studies on it with somewhat mixed results, but the main hypotheses for it seem to be thermoregulation and reducing the number of mites, etc on the chicks. This is fascinating! Bahama.Llama, those Green Heron shots are amazing. Hunting waterbirds are kinda scary. Rattlesnake Springs is very worth it if any of you are headed to Carlsbad Caverns. We were the only people there all morning, and I got to see a Painted Bunting, among other new species. My husband took his binoculars and stalked some turkeys. Black Phoebe  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Brown-headed Cowbirds trying to outdo each other. (I heard there were Bronzed Cowbirds and I was hoping to see those, but these guys were pretty entertaining.)  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Painted Bunting  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Northern Cardinal doing... something. Probably telling me to go away.  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr I don't know; Western Wood-Pewee or some sort of Empidonax flycatcher? IDs are hard.  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Vermillion Flycatcher!  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr Mystery Hum (I call most hummingbirds Black-chinned because that's what I usually see)  Rattlesnake Springs by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr
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Jun 5, 2013 17:23
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beep beep beep   redwing blackbird by philip painter, on Flickr  redwing blackbird by philip painter, on Flickr
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Jun 6, 2013 01:38
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Swantastic DSC_1768.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr  DSC_1440.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr Sillyduck  DSC_1613.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr Clever girl  DSC_1682.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr
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Jun 6, 2013 07:25
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Gorgeous heron shots, and I love the birds in the rain Cru Jones and Dalax Rain? Try snow... that's why he looks so depressed An egret? set up shop in a holding pond off a local highway, been stalking him when I get a chance over the last 2 weeks. I think he's psychic, because no matter how I try to sneak up on him, as soon as I raise the camera up, he takes off. 
Cru Jones fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Jun 7, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 14:59
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Judging the cleanliness of my bird feeder...   I'm also trying to use a GoPro to get some nice slow-mo footage of take-offs/landings but it's been so overcast, the results turn out, but really drab.
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Jun 7, 2013 22:04
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 great blue heron by philip painter, on Flickr  great blue heron by philip painter, on Flickr
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Jun 8, 2013 15:27
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 small-4281 by jankyangles, on Flickr Worst shooting conditions ever. Super windy, in the shade, very much a wild bird. I'd have liked to shoot at a slower shutter speed since she was being very tolerant but the background leaves were all over the place so I had to keep it fast.
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Jun 9, 2013 04:27
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What's up super windy buddy. Made handholding a 40 year old 400/5.6 lens really hard.  _6080373.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6080408.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr
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Jun 9, 2013 04:30
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Mr. Despair posted:What's up super windy buddy. Made handholding a 40 year old 400/5.6 lens really hard. I love the classic wing shape in this. Edit: This is terrible but such is life.  small-4096 by jankyangles, on Flickr Maker Of Shoes fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jun 9, 2013 |
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Jun 9, 2013 04:31
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A couple from yesteray: World's Most Boring bird, female cowbird (although they are fun to watch as they climb all over the cows eating bugs on them)  Eastern Kingbird  smallmouth posted:
Maker Of Shoes posted:
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Jun 9, 2013 18:48
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InternetJunky posted:I was going to post the great horned I found a couple of nights ago that I took at 50k ISO but I'd be embarrassed to next to this one. Thanks for the kind words. Here's another though I might have gone a bit bananas with the post on this one. Still playing around with the adjustment brush a bit.  small-4272-3 by jankyangles, on Flickr Edit: vvvvv 
Maker Of Shoes fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 9, 2013 19:58
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I just took nearly 600 pictures of birds handholding this:  My arm hurts, although 400mm on a 2x crop is pretty loving awesome for birds at the lake. If only I had autofocus. e.  _6090350.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr Dr. Despair fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 10, 2013 01:07
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 falconry by Paul Hofreiter, on Flickr insideoutside fucked around with this message at 06:09 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 10, 2013 05:50
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Mr. Despair posted:I just took nearly 600 pictures of birds handholding this: I haven't taken 600 photos through it in one day (yet), but I've got a tag on my flickr "supertele handheld" that includes some old shots taken with this:  500mm f-4.5 (1 of 2) by Execudork, on Flickr  E.G.  Sandhill Cranes 18 by Execudork, on Flickr (old picture, I think I posted it here way back when) **** A flock of maybe 2 dozen Cedar Waxwings was hanging around our campsite in Blackstrap Provincial Park on Saturday. They have excellent hairdos.  Blackstrap Weekend 4 by Execudork, on Flickr This one reminds me of Sam the Eagle. Grumpy!  Blackstrap Weekend 5 by Execudork, on Flickr
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Jun 10, 2013 18:09
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Ugh, the 400 was bad enough. Too much zoom for some of the ducks at the lake, I was having to step back to compose for them. Step waaaay back.
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Jun 10, 2013 18:32
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Yesterday was crappy for shooting as we had on and off again heavy rain all day. Managed to find this Robin who decided he'd show me his/her very versatile acting repertoire. Beer belly redneck  The Flasher  The Drunk  Angry Bird  Here's my ghetto blind 
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Jun 10, 2013 18:56
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InternetJunky posted:Yesterday was crappy for shooting as we had on and off again heavy rain all day. Managed to find this Robin who decided he'd show me his/her very versatile acting repertoire. This entire post is the best post. 
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Jun 10, 2013 19:29
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Nice robin! Here's some more from yesterday.  _6090226.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6090471.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6090443.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6090157.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6090251.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr
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Jun 10, 2013 19:31
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Drunk Robin should be the thread's mascot.
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Jun 10, 2013 22:33
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drunk robin rules, what was it doing there?
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Jun 11, 2013 16:40
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neckbeard posted:drunk robin rules, what was it doing there?
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Jun 11, 2013 17:21
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More fun with my 40 year old 400mm. I only wish the minimum focus was shorter than 20 feet. Starlings.  _6110050.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6110036.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6110081.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr Robins.  _6110195.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6110144.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6110106.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6110113.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _6110142.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr With bonus video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-dEpJRjQgY Dr. Despair fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Jun 11, 2013 |
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Jun 11, 2013 20:57
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InternetJunky posted:He was rubbing his beak on the branch for a few minutes. I'm not sure why. This is pretty common along a decent amount of species. I've always assumed they are cleaning their beaks, but that's just a guess.
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Jun 14, 2013 02:01
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BeastOfExmoor posted:This is pretty common along a decent amount of species. I've always assumed they are cleaning their beaks, but that's just a guess.
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Jun 14, 2013 03:35
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Great robin closeups, InternetJunky and Mr. Despair. We've been having a lot of grey weather up here lately, but I managed to slip out to the marsh during a short window of sunlight last week. I only had a 105mm on me at the time, but I got some ducklings while hiding in the reeds and a marsh wren didn't seem to care that I walked right up to it.   I went out to see the osprey again today - there were a few flybys but no dives at Freshwater lagoon, but I got a decent shot of one hovering.  And on the way back, I stopped to check out a nest I spotted during my last outing. It was in use!  There's pretty much only one spot you can film this from without falling down a cliff or standing in the middle of a highway, and it's unfortunately backlit by the setting sun. I'll have to try it in the morning next time.
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Jun 14, 2013 06:13
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I'm quite jealous of the Osprey showing above. I've come across a Western Osprey once down here in South Africa, and it gave me terrible views! It's currently the middle of winter here, making the birding a bit slow, I'm really starting to miss the summer migrants. Here's a few shots taken over the past month, mostly in and around Cape Town, South Africa. Lesser Double Collared Sunbird  Yellow Canary  Large-Billed Lark  Orange Breasted Sunbird (moulting)  Marabou Stork (regional rarity)  All shots were taken with a Canon 50D and Canon 400mm F5.6 L lens, shot in AV priority at an ISO of 400 in most cases. meso fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Jun 14, 2013 |
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Jun 14, 2013 12:24
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Those are all superb.
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Jun 14, 2013 16:07
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That sun bird is gorgeous.
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Jun 14, 2013 16:39
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Maker Of Shoes posted:Those are all superb.
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Jun 14, 2013 16:47
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meso posted:I'm quite jealous of the Osprey showing above. Those are all wonderful shots, by the way.
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Jun 14, 2013 17:02
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Thanks for the kind words guys,quote:I'm very spoiled, wildlife-wise. I live in an area surrounded by lagoons, bluffs, forests and rivers, and I'm about 10 minutes away from this bird magnet. I am in a similar situation, yet different habitats. I live down the road from a reserve which has a good variety of birds, both resident and summer visitors. There's a few Buzzard nesting spots within the reserve, along with some of the other local raptors, I'm a bit of a raptorphile. And then 10 minutes in the opposite direction I have some wetlands and the ocean, where I can get some of the ocean birds. 270 species is a very impressive list though for a single location, sounds a lot like a location this end called the West Coast National Park, which has around the same number of species listed for that area. My local reserve has a species list of 170 (though I managed to tick 3 new species for the reserve last year, so that should be up to around 173 now). I'll share some of my other shots shortly, though obviously don't want to flood the thread too much. Did a pelagic trip earlier this year, which was great for some ocean bird photography!
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Jun 14, 2013 17:23
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meso posted:I'll share some of my other shots shortly, though obviously don't want to flood the thread too much. Did a pelagic trip earlier this year, which was great for some ocean bird photography! And I really want to see the results of your pelagic trip - there seems to be an idea floating around (pun not intended) that a boat is a poor platform for bird photography.
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Jun 14, 2013 19:00
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Also you all should consider posting in the GBS critterquest thread so all the ignorant GBSers can learn about birds and poo poo. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3538809&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
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Jun 14, 2013 19:06
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I'll jump in here as another South African birdwatcher and photographer. Meso is actually my boyfriend (finally coaxed him into joining the forums even though I don't post all too often), and we tend to go birding together mostly. He's actually the one who inspired me to start photographing the species, as I found his work (not only that of birds) something of a motivation to get back into photography. My stuff is far more "arty" as opposed to technically proficient though.     I shoot primarily with a Canon EOS 450D, using a Sigma 300mm APO Macro lens.
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Jun 14, 2013 19:21
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How much did you pay them to stand just so? This is amazing. Meso, the orange-breasted sunbird is my favorite of all those. (Maribou is a close second)
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Jun 14, 2013 19:38
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From a walk a couple of weeks ago. Bughunt in Saskatoon 6 by Execudork, on Flickr  Bughunt in Saskatoon 10 by Execudork, on Flickr I don't know what this is - I'm pretty sure it's not a female Redwing Blackbird.  Bughunt in Saskatoon 15 by Execudork, on Flickr Some Canada Geese have thick necks - is this a male thing?  Bughunt in Saskatoon 21 by Execudork, on Flickr  Bughunt in Saskatoon 36 by Execudork, on Flickr
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Jun 15, 2013 22:56
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