|
InternetJunky posted:Where was your first shot taken? Such crazy light going on with it. These are all great shots -- I love the inquisitive look from the duck in the second shot, and you've captured a unique pose for the yellowlegs. Yeah the first one was weird. It was under a dock and heavily backlit, but somehow the duck was illuminated up front as well with the water being black.
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2015 17:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 13:43 |
|
|
InternetJunky posted:I almost stepped on this guy yesterday on a mountain hike. I just had a landscape lens with me, but luckily I was able to get ridiculously close for some shots: I believe the strong barring on the front and lack of any plain white under the belly or tail make this a Spruce Grouse, but you'd probably want to run it by someone with more real world experience to be sure. Habitat looks a lot more like Grouse habitat than Ptarmigan to me. They tend to hangout above any the tree line. Either way, great shot!
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2015 21:38
|
|
|
I think Spruce Grouse looks good. Contraindications for ptarmigan (I believe) are size (ptarmigan are pretty small- chuckar or partridge sized), large looking bill, and lack of white primaries. Spruce rather than Dusky because of short tail, and browner overall. Fly in the ointment might be if it was a hatch-year Dusky that had juv plumage and hadn't fully grown out it's tail yet, but I don't think that's likely. For a grouse-ologist, I haven't spent that much time looking at the "forest" grouse so take this without warranty.
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2015 21:42
|
|
|
Time for a roundup of the locals, This Yellow-crowned night heron has an uncanny ability to appear miserable when photographed. But I think it just droops its eyelids when looking toward the sun.  Just a Mockingbird. This one is almost mature, but still has some juvenile coloration I think.  And a Grackle in about the same situation, maturity-wise.  Female summer tanager. They have a plaintive whistling call that I could mimic well enough that this one would pop out to look at me every once in a while, but I could never get a clear, well-lit shot. This is as good as I could do.  Finally, I think this Giant swallowtail should count as a bird. It's certainly large enough. 
SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Aug 19, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2015 04:34
|
|
|
Sorry to double post but these birds are burning a hole in my pocket. This is either a Black-tailed or a Blue-gray gnatcatcher. Glad I posted this or it would have gone misidentified.  Loggerhead shrike. Pausing here after just loosing a lizard it had been chasing around this tree. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it impale anything on a thorn.  Juvenile Green heron. Actively looking for fish.  Lighting makes such a huge impact on the quality of the images I get. This is an obvious statement, but just take the Shrike photo as an example. It was taken at ISO 1250. That's high, but with the a6000 it's not so high that I couldn't get a very nice, clean image without too much noise. But the picture looks a little flat. It's just because it was taken in a heavily shaded thicket. In the open with even but weak sunlight ISO 1250 doesn't really look much worse than ISO 500. But my problem is that I have to venture into thick brush to get these songbird shots. Right now my MO is to move through the underbrush with a wooden bird call, pausing periodically to call, observe and listen. I can often catch glimpses of birds among the branches, and then carefully approach, hoping that they'll move into a relatively open area to get a look at me before inevitably flying off. As such my window for getting a good shot is very brief. I'm planning on getting a small camo-pattern tent that I can set up at a likely spot where the light is good for an hour or so at a time. Hopefully this will improve my results, although it will probably decrease my 'hit rate' as it restricts me from actively searching. The other approach I'm considering is to add a flash to my camera while I creep through the woods. But I don't know if it will help when I'm using a 400mm lens. I've got a Canon 430EXII that I can mount on my 5D2. Seems crazy to use a flash with a super-telephoto, but the majority of the subjects I'm shooting in the undergrowth are within 8m or so. So maybe it could work?? SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Aug 21, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2015 01:33
|
|
|
Google your flash's name and the word "snoot" You're having much better luck with that creep-and-shoot-when-they-check-you-out technique than I could ever hope for. Very often my first sign that a little forest bird is anywhere nearby is one popping out to look at me, then buggering off at maximum speed.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2015 01:50
|
|
|
SMERSH Mouth posted:Sorry to double post but these birds are burning a hole in my pocket. The bill on this bird is too long and thin for a vireo. It's a gnatcatcher of some type, either a Black-tailed or a Blue-Gray I believe. Not sure I can tell for sure based on this photo though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2015 03:44
|
|
|
I thought the beak was pretty delicate-looking for a vireo, but I was thumbing through a field guide, and the coloration and general body type matched. That's improper use of the guide on my part. This one is likely a juvenile, just like the shrike and the green heron. That makes it all the more difficult to determine species based on plumage characteristics. I won't hazard a guess as to whether it's Black-tailed or Blue-gray. Thanks for catching that!
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2015 05:10
|
|
|
SMERSH Mouth posted:I'm planning on getting a small camo-pattern tent that I can set up at a likely spot where the light is good for an hour or so at a time. Hopefully this will improve my results, although it will probably decrease my 'hit rate' as it restricts me from actively searching. Nice photos! I use a hide a lot for shooting when it makes sense to set it up. The towhee shots I posted earlier were from a portable blind at a water attractor. Its really the absolute best way to get high quality photos provided you can find a good spot to set up where you have a decent guarantee of birds showing up (it helps to use food or water to attract them) and won't be disturbed by people wandering by. That generally means private land, in my experience, but remote public locations can work too. Flash is...useful. It definitely improves the picture quality in shady forests but I hesitate to use it too much because I worry about possibly stressing the birds. Some species don't care about it at all, it seems, but others freak out. A lot of bird photographers swear by flash though, so it's worth trying out. I think the best method is to set it to TTL and then just expose like you would normally (same ISO, same shutter speed, etc), adjusting the flash power output so that it brightens up the shot and brings out detail without looking too "flashy".
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2015 09:51
|
|
|
Look into getting a better beamer if you are wanting to start using flash, it will really help with increasing the reach of your flash.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 01:52
|
|
|
Dread Head posted:Look into getting a better beamer if you are wanting to start using flash, it will really help with increasing the reach of your flash. Eh, I have one and I've used it, like, once. It seems like if you've got to pull that thing out the chances of the picture being any good are pretty slim. Again, though, some people swear by them so YMMV. Finally got off my rear end and processed some more shots:  Male White-headed Woodpecker fluffed up for some reason  Juvenile White-headed Woodpecker  I want to call this a juvie Vesper Sparrow but its tough to be 100%. There were definitely tons of Vesper, Brewer's and Chipping Sparrows where I was shooting but the juvies are all very similar looking. Other photos I have suggest this one has white outer tail feathers and its generally a bit darker than the Brewer's and the bill seems a touch larger. But still, I keep looking at photos I have vs online and in field guides and I can't be completely certain.  Pinyon Jay  This shot of an Eared Grebe feeding its young completely justified my spending a thousand drat dollars on a kayak.  White Pelican Speaking of pelicans, I just saw this movie with a Q&A by the director and the wildlife rehabilitation vet who was featured in it. Its worth checking out because pelicans are super loving cool and there's some good footage of them nesting on the Channel Islands.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 05:32
|
|
|
InternetJunky posted:These are beauties. The backgrounds really are perfect for both too. Raikyn posted:
We have a pair of immature Peregrine Falcons coming to hunt sandpipers at Arcata Marsh now. I feel like an idiot because I didn't see them coming from behind me the other day, and was left frantically struggling to get my camera focused and exposed properly as they flew right past me. I got to watch them hunt after that, but I don't know when I'll ever get that close to a wild falcon again.  peregrine-flyover2 by Redwood Planet, on Flickr  peregrine-sandpipers1 by Redwood Planet, on Flickr A Snowy Egret running around after a school of fish:  snowy-charge by Redwood Planet, on Flickr This guy has moved from roosting on an island to roosting on top of a post that catches the evening light nicely.  gbh-roost2 by Redwood Planet, on Flickr Gulp.  ge-gulp2 by Redwood Planet, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 08:02
|
|
|
Wish people wouldn't let their cats roam the neighbourhood  
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 09:29
|
|
|
800peepee51doodoo posted:Eh, I have one and I've used it, like, once. It seems like if you've got to pull that thing out the chances of the picture being any good are pretty slim. Again, though, some people swear by them so YMMV. I get that but I mean if you are already setting up a blind etc then that seems like a minor thing at that point. Nice pictures by the way, I need to not be lazy and use my telephoto more often...
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 18:37
|
|
|
Moon Potato posted:We have a pair of immature Peregrine Falcons coming to hunt sandpipers at Arcata Marsh now. I feel like an idiot because I didn't see them coming from behind me the other day, and was left frantically struggling to get my camera focused and exposed properly as they flew right past me. I got to watch them hunt after that, but I don't know when I'll ever get that close to a wild falcon again. This is awesome. I have like a hundred blurry versions of this photo. Excellent job. I've noticed that falcons like to hunt by flying out of the sun like a WWII fighter pilot so of course I've always been pointed the wrong way when they swoop into a flock of shorebirds. I've been close to a peregrine that snagged a sandpiper and they hit like a feathered linebacker. It sounded like the crack of a baseball bat. I just talked to a friend about heading out to the Washington coast to do some shorebirding next week. Hopefully, I'll get another chance at some peregrine hunting photos.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 20:50
|
|
|
Moved last weekend, as we were moving furniture into the house, saw a Merlin land in the tree in the front yard. Went to walk the dog today and found a Swainson's Hawk perched on a lamppost less than 100m away, followed it (of course it takes off as I'm attaching my lens to body) to a nearby cell tower and found a juvenile (I think, couldn't see the whole body) one too. Lots of berry producing trees in the neighbourhood too, hoping to see a lot of different birds than what I would normally see downtown. Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrAnd here's another because I like getting shots of the nictitating membrane  Swainson's Hawk (juvenile) by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 22:05
|
|
|
Very cool, neckbeard. I like the second shot a lot. It almost looks like it's smirking a little.800peepee51doodoo posted:This is awesome. I have like a hundred blurry versions of this photo. Excellent job. I've noticed that falcons like to hunt by flying out of the sun like a WWII fighter pilot so of course I've always been pointed the wrong way when they swoop into a flock of shorebirds. I've been close to a peregrine that snagged a sandpiper and they hit like a feathered linebacker. It sounded like the crack of a baseball bat.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2015 22:32
|
|
|
Macro lens ducks photo Duck by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2015 06:00
|
|
|
Going to keep taking the camera with me when I'm walking the dog, found these 2 waxwings pretty close by, albeit at the wrong time of day Cedar Waxwing (juvenille) by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Cedar Waxwing by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2015 22:14
|
|
|
Two pictures of Anna's hummingbirds that hangout on our deck. DSCF2702 by Albert Kottke, on Flickr DSCF2665 by Albert Kottke, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2015 23:39
|
|
|
The smoke from the forest fires is still pretty heavy here in Seattle but there was enough light to shoot with in Discovery Park (though I had to color correct for the yellow lighting on everything!)   belly of a cedar waxwing. Usually you see pictures of their backs, and the color gradient on their bellies is really pretty And not a great shot, but interesting:  Pacific (Black) Merlin. There was a small group of 3-4 of them (which another birder misidentified in the field as Cooper's Hawks) and they took down several of a large (40-50) flock of cedar waxwings made up by a significant number of juveniles. We'd been watching the waxwings in the trees, resting after a morning of eating berries, and the merlins came out of nowhere--we noticed them only around the same time alarm calls started going off and the waxwings made the mistake of taking flight. This juvenile didn't make it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 05:11
|
|
|
I finally got a kill shot! The light was horrible today, and my camera could barely keep up with everything (the buffer kept filling up and my AF was making GBS threads a brick while the falcon was weaving in and out of a big flock of sandpipers), but I got to see everything happen up close. Just like 800peepee51doodoo said, there's an audible 'whump' when they strike a bird. This falcon smashed the sandpiper down into the water, then circled back to grab it. peregrine-catch-sandpiper by Redwood Planet, on Flickr Some footage of the same falcon hunting from yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLwUSHFEq64 And a sequence of a Great Blue Heron that let me hang out with it while I was waiting for the falcons to show up:       
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 07:12
|
|
|
I was in Lake Louise/Banff yesterday and saw a bunch of these little guys: Are these baby Brown Creepers? They were tiny -- like half the size of a chickadee. neckbeard posted:Moved last weekend, as we were moving furniture into the house, saw a Merlin land in the tree in the front yard. Went to walk the dog today and found a Swainson's Hawk perched on a lamppost less than 100m away, followed it (of course it takes off as I'm attaching my lens to body) to a nearby cell tower and found a juvenile (I think, couldn't see the whole body) one too. Lots of berry producing trees in the neighbourhood too, hoping to see a lot of different birds than what I would normally see downtown. accipter posted:
Kenshin posted:And not a great shot, but interesting: Moon Potato posted:I finally got a kill shot! The light was horrible today, and my camera could barely keep up with everything (the buffer kept filling up and my AF was making GBS threads a brick while the falcon was weaving in and out of a big flock of sandpipers), but I got to see everything happen up close. Just like 800peepee51doodoo said, there's an audible 'whump' when they strike a bird. This falcon smashed the sandpiper down into the water, then circled back to grab it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 17:56
|
|
|
InternetJunky posted:Do you know if working in groups is a normal Merlin behavior? I've never seen or heard of that before. Cool shot! quote:"Breeding pairs will frequently hunt cooperatively, with one bird flushing the prey toward its mate." It's quite possible that it was a mated pair teaching their young hunting techniques, though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 18:03
|
|
|
InternetJunky posted:I was in Lake Louise/Banff yesterday and saw a bunch of these little guys. Are these baby Brown Creepers? They were tiny -- like half the size of a chickadee. That looks like a winter wren to me. I am just starting to get into post-processing and plan to play around with that photograph. Any suggestions would be more than welcome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 18:09
|
|
|
InternetJunky posted:Are these baby Brown Creepers? They were tiny -- like half the size of a chickadee. It's some sort of Wren. I'd guess Pacific or Winter, not sure what's more likely for your location.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 18:12
|
|
|
accipter posted:That looks like a winter wren to me. EPICAC posted:It's some sort of Wren. I'd guess Pacific or Winter, not sure what's more likely for your location. accipter posted:I am just starting to get into post-processing and plan to play around with that photograph. Any suggestions would be more than welcome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 18:30
|
|
|
Moon Potato posted:I finally got a kill shot! The light was horrible today, and my camera could barely keep up with everything (the buffer kept filling up and my AF was making GBS threads a brick while the falcon was weaving in and out of a big flock of sandpipers), but I got to see everything happen up close. Just like 800peepee51doodoo said, there's an audible 'whump' when they strike a bird. This falcon smashed the sandpiper down into the water, then circled back to grab it.  Very cool. Peregrines kill by smashing into their prey at like 200mph with their talons bunched up into fists. If for some reason that doesn't kill, then they sever the spine with a special "tooth" on their bill. They actually fly so fast that their nasal cavities have shock cones in them, like jet engines, so that air can enter. Without it, they would suffocate during a stoop because of how loving fast they fly. Phenomenal animals. I've posted this before but here's a closeup of a peregrine that was being released from rehab by the Portland Audubon where you can see the tooth and nose cone: 
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 18:31
|
|
|
InternetJunky posted:Nice Swainson's! Are you still in Edmonton? Yeah still in Edmonton, I'm in south Millwoods, really close to the Henday. Saw the Swainsons again while walking the dog this morning.  Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrThis one flew off and chased after a flock of Canada Geese  Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrAnd because no one has posted a making GBS threads bird in awhile:  Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2015 19:35
|
|
|
Found the Merlin this morning Merlin by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Merlin by Tyler Huestis, on Flickrand a House Finch (heavy crop)  House Finch by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2015 17:43
|
|
|
More birds... Eastern kingbird. First time I've seen one around here. Normally lots of Western kingbirds, though.  Eastern phoebe. Along with the Western kingbirds, these are the most standoffish species. This one landed so close to me that I had to back up to get to the minimum focus distance of my lens.  I want to say this is an... Acadian flycatcher? It was very small.  A very puffy juvenile Ruby-throated hummingbird. 
SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Aug 26, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2015 17:54
|
|
|
neckbeard posted:Yeah still in Edmonton, I'm in south Millwoods, really close to the Henday. Saw the Swainsons again while walking the dog this morning. neckbeard posted:Found the Merlin this morning Great Swainson and Merlin shots. There's a Merlin family near me and all summer I've been hoping one of them takes a bird or two from my feeder, but no luck so far. SMERSH Mouth posted:More birds...
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2015 18:49
|
|
|
InternetJunky posted:Hi neighbour! (I'm also in Millwoods) Cool, I've got a friend over in Summerside who has a Merlin that hangs around his yard, his yard backs onto one of the little lakes there Couple pics from yesterday evening, I'm not 100% sure on the Yellow Warbler ID, I believe it's a female, wasn't as vibrant as other yellow warblers I've seen, wasn't able to get it from any other angles  Yellow Warbler? by Tyler Huestis, on Flickrgoing to start taking a ladder with me so I can shoot at a better angle  Nighthawk by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2015 15:32
|
|
|
neckbeard posted:
Maybe not so great for making an ID, but that's a nice view of the warbler. There's a yellow warbler of some type that's been hanging around a willow tree near my regular birding spot, but I can never get a clear shot of it. ... It's been foiling my attempts to do so for the past month. I got close yesterday, but I was in the exact wrong position, light-wise. (I had almost filled up my card and so was forced to switch to jpeg not long before this shot was taken.)  ... Rather than double posting, I'm just going to insert more bird photos into here. I keep taking pictures every day. Birds, birds, birds! Ruby-throated hummingbird:  The Gnatcatcher again. I think it's a Blue-grey:  A janky-faced juvenile Downy woodpecker. There are a lot of these 'teenage' birds around right now. Their feathers won't really fill out until the weather starts to cool off.  I do feel, though, like I'm hitting a ceiling when it comes to the possible image quality I can achieve with the approach I'm taking, which is basically just stalking around my local hotspots hoping to find something new and interesting. I tend to do OK for that each time I go out. This time it was the Downy woodpecker. I've never before managed to get a good, close, detailed shot of one like I did today. But good birds (by which I mean the ones I'm most interested in, i.e. colorful songbirds and perching birds) and good light seem to be a difficult combination to bring together. I choose to use a 5D2 instead of, say, a 7D, because of its superior low-light capabilities. I need the ISO performance because so much of the best bird action is during the crepuscular hours, and often in partial shade. Plus I need high shutter speeds to manage hand-holding with my 400mm lens. Still, even with the 5D, there's a lot of visible noise in the darker shots. I find myself sizing down most of the bird shots I upload to Flickr, since the Flickr Sharpening really brings out the noise on anything over 50% crop and ISO 640. The 5D2 also doesn't seem to nail critical focus all that much more than my old XSi. There are days when I consider picking up a 7D, just because they're (relatively) cheap now and I hear they have much-improved AF. (I'd love a 5D3, but that's way beyond my means right now, especially since I just bought the 400mm L lens.) But all I really want is better center-point accuracy. Which (unless the camera can read my mind and see that I want to focus on the drab-colored little bird.. not the dangling yellow leaf right next to it) I'm not really sure gets any better on newer camera bodies or not. I worry that my lens might need AF micro adjustment, although I don't know if this is a reasonable concern or not. The concern occurred to me a few days ago when I was shooting this Shrike at the tip of a tree:  There wasn't really anywhere else the camera could have focused, and (to use a goony term) I was 'headshotting' it pretty consistently with the center AF point. Only a couple out of the dozen or so exposures I rattled off on this one came out looking in-focus. Camera shake, even at 1/800? Subject movement (maybe it was blowing in the wind a little)? Maybe I just need to ~lift more~ so I can do a better job at keeping my lens steady? I don't know exactly, but I can't help but wonder. This lens & camera combo is certainly capable of taking well-focused and detailed shots that stand up to cropping even at higher ISO's:  ... just perhaps not as often as I'd like, or that I had hoped. SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Aug 28, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2015 16:55
|
|
|
Red-Breasted and Williamson's Sapsucker Williamson's Sapsucker by Josh, on FlickrWent on a hike this morning hoping for some rare birds for my county. Lucked into this Williamson's Sapsucker. This is the first time its ever been seen in my county. The light was terrible and bird was far so this is about the best shot I got, unfortunately. Williamson's Sapsucker is, in my opinion, the most beautiful of all the North American woodpeckers.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2015 04:39
|
|
|
BeastOfExmoor posted:Red-Breasted and Williamson's Sapsucker Rare birds are always a treat. I've never seen a sapsucker of any type in the wild. Getting two birds with one shot is cool, and even better when they're two different species. I recently managed to get a combo shot like that too:  This is an Eastern Phoebe, which is very common around here, and another bird that I can't seem to positively ID. Could it be a female Blue grosbeak? That would be pretty rare for my area. SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Aug 28, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2015 05:21
|
|
|
SMERSH Mouth posted:This is an Eastern Phoebe, which is very common around here, and another bird that I can't seem to positively ID. Could it be a female Blue grosbeak? That would be pretty rare for my area. Definitely looks like a female blue grosbeak to me, at least according to what I can get out of field guides and cornell. Aren't you in central Texas? That would be well within the range, if not your exact area. Just got back from the Washington coast shorebird scene. Didn't find the lesser sand plover that had been seen recently; must have moved on. I started processing some shots and photoshop took a poo poo on me so all I've got so far is this Red Throated Loon:  Also, has anyone got any good advice about shooting wildlife video with a dslr? Focusing and tracking seem to be huge issues. I did alright when the birds just hung out and didn't really move too much but trying to follow flocks of shorebirds in flight was ridiculous, even with a gimbal head.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2015 08:58
|
|
|
Yeah, blue grosbeaks are definitely within their typical range here, but I can't say I've ever seen one (or any other buntings) in that area before.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2015 12:47
|
|
|
hope no one's getting sick of my Swainson's Hawk pics, this time it's from a different angle and light conditions!  Swainson's Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 02:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 13:43 |
|
|
neckbeard posted:hope no one's getting sick of my Swainson's Hawk pics Nope! Swainson's hawks are awesome. Here's some pics from the Washington coast:  Common Murre  Semipalmated Plover  Black Turnstone  Surfbird  Surfbird  Western Sandpiper  Western Sandpiper I need more practice shooting into the sun. Its really hard to get good exposure on the shadowed part without blowing the highlights on the lighted side, especially on white feathers. I think its a cool effect though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2015 06:53
|
|