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I like how the Kestrel looks here, but hate the lighting American Kestrel by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrAnd when I did get some great light...  Great Horned Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Nov 15, 2020 17:14
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The other good shot from my owl encounter On the wing by Aves Lux, on Flickr
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Nov 17, 2020 16:07
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I came across a lovely Cooper's Hawk the other day I need to upload. Also new olympus firmware going to add BIRD DETECTION AUTOFOCUS 
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Nov 17, 2020 19:33
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HELL YEAH BROTHER this is my consolation prize for the 150-400 being too expensive for me 
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Nov 19, 2020 02:48
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Atlatl posted:HELL YEAH BROTHER Seriously, holy poo poo. Did get the 2x teleconverter though and man my 300mm f/4 can see FOREVER now
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Nov 19, 2020 06:08
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From a few years ago back when I was better lekkin Sage grouse in snow 2 4mb-0470 on Flickr Sage grouse man in mirror 4mb-0463 on Flickr
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Nov 20, 2020 03:38
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Those are such cool birds. One of the biggest disappointments of 2020 is the trip I had booked to go hang out in a blind at a greater prairie chicken lek got canceled.
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Nov 20, 2020 03:47
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I live on the wrong side of the Atlantic but that that's a spectacle on my to-do list too. I've recently started listening to the Wild And Exposed photography podcast and some of their early episodes cover such a trip.
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Nov 20, 2020 19:51
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Oh gently caress there's a bird thread. Gonna start posting here a lot, lol A few weeks ago I was shooting a ruby crowned kinglet in my parents' backyard from a great distance. It was hopping all over the place and most of the pictures came out blurry, including this one:  Didn't notice that it was hunting a fly until I pulled this pic off my SD card. Man, I wish this one came out clearer! A few came out sharp, but in less interesting poses.  I also have a lot of trouble with lighting, since so many small birds love to hang out in / under trees and bushes, which means they're in shadow while the background is brightly lit. My current obsession is trying to get a good photo of a Belted Kingfisher. They're pretty grumpy, and since they patrol long bodies of water they'll often fly miles away as soon as you spot them. I've seen a handful and taken a few very lovely pictures, but haven't gotten a single good picture yet. Will probably head out this weekend to Randall's Island (between queens + manhattan), as there are a few that regularly patrol the stream there. torgeaux posted:
Love these dudes. You must live somewhere in the Denver area? My sister lives in Boulder and my yearly boulder trips have essentially turned into birding trips, lol Rocky Mountain Canada Jays are a variant unique to the rocky mountains — they're a lighter, paler gray. Polo-Rican fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Nov 20, 2020 |
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Nov 20, 2020 20:08
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Pablo Bluth posted:I live on the wrong side of the Atlantic but that that's a spectacle on my to-do list too. You've got Black Grouse and Capercaillie over there, which are both on my bucket list. Polo-Rican posted:Oh gently caress there's a bird thread. Gonna start posting here a lot, lol Welcome! Yeah, birds in trees are a pain (especially flitty ones like Ruby-crowned Kinglets). I usually try some mix of going up a stop or two on Exposure Compensation and just trying to fix it in post. And if your bird all of a sudden hops into a sunbeam with a really dark background you have to do the reverse or it might be blown out. quote:My current obsession is trying to get a good photo of a Belted Kingfisher. They're pretty grumpy, and since they patrol long bodies of water they'll often fly miles away as soon as you spot them. I've seen a handful and taken a few very lovely pictures, but haven't gotten a single good picture yet. Will probably head out this weekend to Randall's Island (between queens + manhattan), as there are a few that regularly patrol the stream there.
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Nov 20, 2020 20:26
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Never really tried to target one but I'd guess you'd just need time, whether it's time figuring out their favorite perches and then waiting there, or just giving yourself a lot of chances to find one in a nice spot for a photo. Yeah you nailed it, the issue is time + positioning. Usually there's only 1 or 2 kingfishers at a given body of water, so if they're napping, you're out of luck unless you can spend hours waiting for them to wake up. And they usually have a handful of favorite perches, spread out on all sides of a body of water (so they can find fish), so there's no singular spot where you're guaranteed good views. The next total solar eclipse is in 2024, and the path of totality goes cuts vertically across the us from Texas to Vermont — we might use that opportunity to take a Texas trip and try to find Green Kingfishers along the Rio Grande. (if you've never seen a total solar eclipse, it's basically the most incredible thing you can see, and worth taking a flight for)
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Nov 20, 2020 20:55
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I used a vacation day and went birding today . I was mainly looking for sea ducks, and other stuff to add to the year list, but ended up finding a short-eared owl, it was pretty distant so the pictures aren't great, and some pretty cooperative red-throated loons. Both lifers. Short-eared Owl [Asio flammeus]  Short-eared Owl [Asio flammeus]  Red-throated Loon [Gavia stellata]  Red-throated Loon [Gavia stellata]
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Nov 21, 2020 04:17
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If this were in focus it would have been a fantastic shot, it looks like you at least have the timing down. The owl by the log is good, weird grass diffraction and heat haze/rocks bokeh is very distracting though. Could gaussian blur it or something in post I guess but eh.
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Nov 21, 2020 04:57
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So today I biked to Randall's Island with the specific goal of getting a good shot of a Belted Kingfisher. Immediately saw a black-capped chickadee, who landed right in front of me before I finished assembling my camera: one of those "don't move you bastard" moments, as I attached my lens and set up the exposure.  Spent a long time patrolling the waters without any luck. Right as I was about to give up, I heard a kingfisher call. Unfortunately, it was coming from the other side of the water, and there's no way to reach that spot on foot. See the trees on the far side below:  With maximum zoom, this is the best I was able to get. Nothing great. Too far, flat lighting, busy background...    I was hoping it would fly to a better location, but I watched it for around 45 minutes and it didn't seem to be going anywhere. These guys are really difficult! At least it gives me an attainable goal for future outings. As if jealous, a Song Sparrow flew right up to me as I was stalking the kingfisher:  And a merganser kept swimming back and forth in the water between myself and the kingfisher: 
Polo-Rican fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Nov 21, 2020 |
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Nov 21, 2020 23:47
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Nice kingfisher. I need to get my rear end out and bird again IDing and being able to locate the birds is a lot of the battle and it looks like you're doing well with that. The focal plane here is caught on the branch at the right middle of the frame, where it looks pretty sharp, and the bird is a little blurry since it's sitting just outside and behind that. It's really tricky shooting into trees, using focus check tools and auto+manual focus to dial it into the eyes is usually the best bet. It takes a lot of practice to be fast with it so just try that out next time you go out.
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Nov 22, 2020 00:52
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Atlatl posted:The focal plane here is caught on the branch at the right middle of the frame, where it looks pretty sharp, and the bird is a little blurry since it's sitting just outside and behind that. Yeah I've been having a lot of trouble with focus - I use a 120-600 with no tripod or monopod, plus pretty strenuous 45 minute bike rides to get to and from all the good birding spots, which makes my hands shakier than they should be. Another problem I have is a reluctance to shoot too much... I should be shooting bursts, and shooting constantly when a bird is giving sights like this. But for no reason whatsoever I snap one shot, check it out, snap one more, check it out, etc.
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Nov 22, 2020 01:43
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Well yesterday sure was better than last weekend. Found a Great Horned Owl within 20 minutes of arriving at the park, on a barren tree without a shitton of branches in the way and the sky was nice and sunny Great Horned Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Nov 22, 2020 16:29
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neckbeard posted:Well yesterday sure was better than last weekend. Found a Great Horned Owl within 20 minutes of arriving at the park, on a barren tree without a shitton of branches in the way and the sky was nice and sunny Nice! He's so sleepy  Also love how he's blending into the tree.Bird:  Eurasian jay
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Nov 22, 2020 16:51
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TheFluff posted:Nice! He's so sleepy What a great expression on that bird's face! They're really cool birds. They used to come it our window feeder and take peanuts when we lived in London.
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Nov 22, 2020 19:50
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I took a walk with my wife and daughter after dropping our son off at school this morning, and later drove downtown to chase a Hoary Redpoll that's been see the last couple of days. I had to wait around for about half an hour, but ended up getting pretty close views. Hooded Merganser  Hoary Redpoll  Hoary Redpoll  Hoary Redpoll The bird was in a tiny meadow patch downtown: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3618051,-71.0548396,267m/data=!3m1!1e3
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Nov 25, 2020 04:34
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EPICAC posted:I took a walk with my wife and daughter after dropping our son off at school this morning, and later drove downtown to chase a Hoary Redpoll that's been see the last couple of days. I had to wait around for about half an hour, but ended up getting pretty close views. What a handsome bird, lovely autumnal colours as well.
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Nov 25, 2020 09:23
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Polo-Rican posted:
Yeah it is quite an experience. The most fascinating aspect is that everything gets dead silent. All the birds and insects are like "WHAT THE F" and shuts up for a few minutes. I was in southern europe in 1999 (?) when there was a total eclipse.
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Nov 25, 2020 10:14
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Had a lovely Autumn wander myself yesterday. Profile by B. B., on Flickr Trio by B. B., on Flickr
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Nov 25, 2020 16:33
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All of these are super good but this one specifically is awesome, great shot. torgeaux posted:
As a northeasterner, I want to see the magpies more than the bald eagle!! Since I joined this thread late I'm gonna start posting some of my photos from earlier in the year. This is one of my favorites — I tend to shoot "portraits," close-ups of faces and whatnot, but would like to take more naturalistic photos like this one. 
Polo-Rican fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Nov 25, 2020 |
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Nov 25, 2020 17:46
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 Blackbird by Aves Lux, on Flickr
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Nov 27, 2020 17:40
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 Coopers by B. B., on Flickr Missed by B. B., on Flickr Taking Off by B. B., on Flickr Pair2 by B. B., on Flickr Juvenile Pair by B. B., on Flickr
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Dec 5, 2020 21:58
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torgeaux posted:
Beauty hawk. (Assuming these are the same bird?) I'd call this a 1st year Red-tailed Hawk. I think I'm ruling out light morph Ferruginous based on the bare legs and light leg feathers, although I'll be honest that I don't have a ton of experience with Ferrug. Definitely says Buteo to me rather than Coops/Accipter though. Cool eagle parings!
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Dec 5, 2020 22:17
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Beauty hawk. (Assuming these are the same bird?) I'd call this a 1st year Red-tailed Hawk. I think I'm ruling out light morph Ferruginous based on the bare legs and light leg feathers, although I'll be honest that I don't have a ton of experience with Ferrug. Definitely says Buteo to me rather than Coops/Accipter though. Cooper's hawk is a common sighting there, but I have zero bird ID ability. I just saw a picture of a cooper's in that same park. I'll look at Beauty hawks. Yeah, same bird. This park has been great for raptor sightings. Apparently, a couple of great horned owls, but down a trail I haven't hit...next Friday.
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Dec 5, 2020 22:27
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Beauty hawk. (Assuming these are the same bird?) I'd call this a 1st year Red-tailed Hawk. I think I'm ruling out light morph Ferruginous based on the bare legs and light leg feathers, although I'll be honest that I don't have a ton of experience with Ferrug. Definitely says Buteo to me rather than Coops/Accipter though. I agree with red-tailed. The streaking isn’t uniformly distributed as it would be with a Cooper’s, the “belly band” of streaking is consistent with red-tailed, as is the narrower barring on the tail. Cooper’s tails have broader stripes and have more of a gray coloration.
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Dec 6, 2020 01:20
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Aaaaaaaa I found some short-eared owls hunting for voles today and I am so excited. Now I need to find someone to buy my kidney to fund a 600/f4 and a R5. Here's the first shot I grabbed out of Lightroom so far.  Short-Eared Owl by charliebravo77, on Flickrcharliebravo77 fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Dec 6, 2020 |
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Dec 6, 2020 01:29
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Here's a few more from yesterday.  Short-Eared Owl by charliebravo77, on Flickr Short-Eared Owl by charliebravo77, on Flickr Short-Eared Owl by charliebravo77, on Flickr Short-Eared Owl by charliebravo77, on Flickr Short-Eared Owl by charliebravo77, on Flickredit: fu imgur and your compression charliebravo77 fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Dec 6, 2020 |
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Dec 6, 2020 15:33
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charliebravo77 posted:Here's a few more from yesterday. I love this one.
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Dec 6, 2020 19:10
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BetterLekNextTime posted:I love this one. Yeah, the color separation on the background pushes this one.
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Dec 7, 2020 00:28
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Still no luck finding Snowy Owls in my usual spot, but found a Bald Eagle and Great Horned Owl today Bald Eagle by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Great Horned Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Dec 7, 2020 02:24
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That owl is sick of your poo poo.
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Dec 7, 2020 21:33
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Here are a couple of Little Egrets, captured down in the salt marshes nearby my home. 
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Dec 8, 2020 22:53
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 Common Redpoll by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Dec 10, 2020 00:51
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A hawk at sunset
runaway pancake fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Dec 13, 2020 |
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Dec 11, 2020 03:24
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Finally found a snowy owl this afternoon Snowy Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Dec 11, 2020 03:41
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Tui in the backyard while I was sitting down having a beer tui by Marc, on Flickr
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