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 Common Redpoll by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Common Redpoll by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Rough-legged Hawk by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Dec 20, 2015 17:56
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First owl photo of the winter that isn't in the recycle bin: Moon Potato posted:I think this is a Sharp-shinned Hawk, but it could be a Cooper's (this is my first time seeing a juvenile of either in person). It came in low and fast over a pond and chased a harrier away from a coot that it had caught. This fellow was still hunched over the coot pulling pieces off of it when I was walking back to my car at sunset. Love that heron perspective! neckbeard posted:
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Dec 21, 2015 17:58
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InternetJunky posted:
Nice owl, envious you found one, I was out looking for owls on Saturday out past Tofield. I saw the redpolls at Francis Point and saw the hawk on Township 626 between RR 183 and 182. I've only seen 2 redpolls in my neighbourhood, and that was like 2 weeks ago or so. Crossbills are hanging around now. Got this one in the front yard this morning. Saw a male on Saturday morning while I was waiting for the car to warm up, but lighting was crap. For some reason I thought they were bigger, like Grosbeak size  Red Crossbill (female) by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Dec 21, 2015 23:29
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They can vary a bit in body size. My recollection of the stuffed specimens I've seen is intermediate between finch and grosbeak. It rained a lot on the Christmas Bird Count yesterday. Hopefully I didn't drown my camera  , cause I sure didn't get much in the way of photos. Krakauer-Albany Bulb Brown Pelican Golden Gate 2140 on Flickr Krakauer-Albany Junco 2143 on Flickr
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Dec 21, 2015 23:56
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InternetJunky posted:Your mystery jouvie looks pretty good for a Cooper's. Duller yellow eyes, belly barring pattern, and thicker legs. Also it seems quite large compared to the bits of the coot visible.  Great Northern Hawk Owl, by the way. We're starting to get Short-eared Owls and Long-eared Owls in one of the state wildlife areas here, but my trip there got rained out before I had a chance at any close encounters. neckbeard posted:
A Snowy Egret scaring a stickleback out of the mud and snatching it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3kVH8-JZe0 Moon Potato fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Dec 22, 2015 |
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Dec 22, 2015 06:46
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InternetJunky posted:First owl photo of the winter that isn't in the recycle bin:
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Dec 22, 2015 09:15
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Pablo Bluth posted:You're doing better than me. After a couple of months being too busy to pick up my camera, both Sat and Sun I went out to locations of reported Short Eared Owls but struck out on both days. 
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Dec 22, 2015 17:07
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The south of England. The weather has been too mild to drive down the large aggregations to known hotspots that make for the good daytime photo ops. Sightings seem to be single wandering birds that don't reappear.
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Dec 22, 2015 18:52
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The segment I shot for the BBC and PBS about Steller's Jays and Red-shouldered Hawks is going to be airing soon. The BBC series will start airing tomorrow on BBC 2 as World's Sneakiest Animals and the American broadcast will be part of PBS nature, starting on January 13th (although I'm pretty sure my segment will air on the 20th): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/natural-born-hustlers-about/13389/ Unfortunately, it looks like PBS is using their own narrator for the American broadcast, so all the stuff I shot with Chris Packham will only be in the BBC version. Here's a shot from a voice recording session in Bristol, featuring one of my local Steller's Jays: 
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Dec 24, 2015 19:51
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Awesome, nice job! Looking forward to seeing it, Steller's Jays are one of my favorite birds.
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Dec 24, 2015 21:22
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Stellar's Jays have the most annoying call. They're funny though. Last year we left the door to the backyard open to let some fresh air in and at one point my husband went into the living room and found a Stellar's Jay sitting at my dog's food dish eating the kibble she had left earlier (the dish is about three feet from the back door).
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Dec 25, 2015 08:16
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Went out for some Christmas owling as is my tradition. Found my first GGO of the season: Moon Potato posted:The segment I shot for the BBC and PBS about Steller's Jays and Red-shouldered Hawks is going to be airing soon. The BBC series will start airing tomorrow on BBC 2 as World's Sneakiest Animals and the American broadcast will be part of PBS nature, starting on January 13th (although I'm pretty sure my segment will air on the 20th):
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Dec 26, 2015 02:01
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HookShot posted:Stellar's Jays have the most annoying call. Great shot! I hope I get as lucky when I go owling tomorrow. The reed beds at Arcata Marsh have been battered pretty hard by the storms, so the bitterns are running out of places to hide. I counted four individuals there yesterday.  bittern-stand by Redwood Planet, on Flickr  reedy2 by Redwood Planet, on Flickr I missed focus on this one, but I kind of like the shot because it shows how well they blend into their surroundings when you're not isolating them from the background with a long lens.  bittern-hidden by Redwood Planet, on Flickr Great Blue Herons:  jiblet-slough by Redwood Planet, on Flickr  gbh-wind by Redwood Planet, on Flickr A Common Merganser swam by when I was hanging out with one of the Great Blue Herons  merganser-slough by Redwood Planet, on Flickr
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Dec 26, 2015 06:26
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I went for a walk in the park and spotted some birds.   
indigoe fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Dec 29, 2015 |
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Dec 29, 2015 14:14
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 Horned Grebe on Flickr Diving Brown Pelican on Flickr Brown Pelican overflight on Flickr American Pipit on Flickr Snowy Egret on Flickr Female Bufflehead on Flickr Scaup on Flickr Snowy Egret on Flickr Female Goldeneye on Flickr
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Dec 30, 2015 00:38
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I got to see some Trumpeter Swans at the wildlife refuge today. First time I've ever seen them! Trumpeter Swans by Justin Cowart, on Flickr
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Dec 31, 2015 04:57
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Townsend's Solitare not at the top of a tree. Weird... Townsend's Solitaire by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrThe Waxwings and Grosbeaks were eating from the same couple trees, was hoping to get a shot with both in-frame, but couldn't pull it off with the branches  Bohemian Waxwing by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Pine Grosbeak by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Bohemian Waxwing by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrFound a Snowy Owl!!!! Wouldn't have normally posted this first one but it appears to have been tagged and has some red paint (I hope) on it's head it was a "test camera settings and then get to better angle" but I got too close and it took off.  Snowy Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Snowy Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr
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Dec 31, 2015 05:03
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I've never heard of marking an owl on the top of it's head before. My guess would be a minor injury.
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Dec 31, 2015 05:50
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BetterLekNextTime posted:I've never heard of marking an owl on the top of it's head before. My guess would be a minor injury. Also, beautiful shots Neckbeard. The solitair is especially nice.
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Dec 31, 2015 06:20
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Thanks, a couple other people on Facebook also confirmed its a local bander that does that. I didn't even notice it until i was looking at the pics on the computer, but might make things easier for spotting them out in the field. I've been fooled by rocks and plastic bags
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Dec 31, 2015 15:33
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Any goon recommendations for binoculars? Figured this is a good place to ask. Please don't recommend a 400mm prime.
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Dec 31, 2015 15:46
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Budget? Size? If you can afford them, Swarovski's are pretty sweet.
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Dec 31, 2015 17:11
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Budget around $150. Not sure about size, don't mind lugging some decent sized ones around.
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Dec 31, 2015 17:18
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Can't advise on specific brands/models. Be realistic with magnification; x8 or x10 is generally recommended as the upper limit anyway but for $150 anything offering high magnification will do so at the expense of quality. I'd have a browse of the binocular section of birdforum.net.
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Dec 31, 2015 17:43
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If it's your first pair, probably 8x 40 or 8x50 would be easiest to use. I'm not sure what kind of sale there might be right now, but you might put yourself into a better range if you can get into the $200-250 area. This is now a little out of date, but there's a breakdown at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (note binoc tech does not turn over quite as quickly as camera tech so most of these models are probably still on the market). quote:There's a very specific bander in Alberta who's allowed to paint snowies like this after banding them (none others are authorized to do so). It can take 8+ hours sometimes to trap one (if they come for the bait at all) so it's a monumental waste of time to catch the same one twice (and it's hard to see a band on the leg most times).
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Dec 31, 2015 20:10
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VelociBacon posted:Budget around $150. Not sure about size, don't mind lugging some decent sized ones around. I'm really happy with the Opticron T3 Trailfinder 8x42, and it's ~$190.  Acorn Woodpecker by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr Black-Chinned Hummingbird by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr
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Dec 31, 2015 21:09
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This little guy landed just barely outside my focus limit range. Townsend's Warbler by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr
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Dec 31, 2015 21:16
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Bubbacub posted:
Looks like an Anna's (black-chinned would only have the "color" feathers below the bill, not on the forehead). The color really depends on angle, and I think you just happened to catch this guy in a dark moment.
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Dec 31, 2015 21:38
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VelociBacon posted:Budget around $150. Not sure about size, don't mind lugging some decent sized ones around. $150 is just slightly under what I think is the sweet spot for value for bins. Jump up a little more and you have a bunch of great options. My main pair of bins are Vanguard Endeavor ED 8x42's. For the money I think they're the best thing out there. Pristine image, good build quality, nice field of view for the price. I got mine for under $150 when they were clearing them out before version 2 dropped, but they've gone up since then. They MSRP at $500 and compete well with the models in the $300-500 price range (Nikon Monarch, Zeiss Terra, etc.) Amazon has both open box (Warehouse Deals) for about $200. There's also a 3rd party seller with the 8x42 model for $165+shipping which is a great price if his comments on condition are true. 8x42 10x42 The other model that pops into my head at this point is the Sightron "Blue Sky" II 8x32. There's a giant thread about these on Birdforum and everyone seems to love them. They sell for about $185. At 8x32 they'll be a bit smaller and lighter at the possible expense of a little light gathering ability in darker conditions. edit: Completely agree with Pablo Bluth regarding magnification. 10x is the most you probably want, at least for wildlife viewing and other general purpose uses. Higher magnifications are very bouncy without a stable platform (tripod, etc.). BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jan 1, 2016 |
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Dec 31, 2015 23:27
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Have had my 300 F2.8 for over 2 weeks now and due to Christmas, lovely weather and other things i have only been able to take it out twice (and only for a couple of hours at a time) Long focal length photography is hella fun. It is very challenging which is what got me interested in it in the first place (more so than the birds at least). I am a bit surprised at the quality of photos i managed to produce (probably mostly the lens!) Here is a bunch of lessons learned: Lesson 1: I have never really noticed just how little light we have here in the north during winter (northern europe, essentially further north than any settlement in the americas.) A shutter speed of 500 at F4.0 (1.4x extender mounted) requires an iso of 4000ish to be correctly exposed, and this is at the brightest part of the day. Just half an hour later and the ISO's required were in the 8000's. Lesson 2: All the non migratory birds are either very tiny, or somewhat "boring" (common) e.g crows and seagulls., which brings us to: Lesson 3: "You can never have enough focal length". Lesson 4: I don't really know where to go to find birds, or any wildlife for that matter. At least not while going for walks. While we have lots of beautiful and untouched nature the conditions here are so harsh that there are very little animals here. While the 300 is a "walk around" lens it doesn't look like i will get much use out of it doing the king of walking around i am thinking of. Neighborhood strolls etc. We don't have wildlife resorts here to walk around in. I have decided to return the lens and get the 100-400 IS II instead. This will allow me to continue practicing photography at long focal length. I will definitely revisit the superteles later. Right now my life situation doesn't allow me to go anywhere into nature away from civilization so buying the 300 F2.8 was probably not the best decision to begin with 
Ineptitude fucked around with this message at 11:08 on Jan 1, 2016 |
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Jan 1, 2016 02:21
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Thank you all for the recommendations re: binoculars. I'll have to look around and see what I can find, I'm not super keen on spending over $200 on it since it's money I'd otherwise be putting towards camera stuff. I'll spend some time reading through the stuff you guys linked.
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Jan 1, 2016 04:45
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If you're on a really tight budget, Ranger Shrikes are decent, and their ED glass bins are pretty good for a bit more.
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Jan 1, 2016 15:48
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VelociBacon posted:Thank you all for the recommendations re: binoculars. I'll have to look around and see what I can find, I'm not super keen on spending over $200 on it since it's money I'd otherwise be putting towards camera stuff. I'll spend some time reading through the stuff you guys linked. The Leupold Yosemite can be found for around $100 (And the very similar Kowa YF30 for less) and are excellent 8x30 bins for the price. They have some limitations in comparison to the models I listed above such as smaller apparent field of view (how big the circle of light you look at is) and further minimum focus distance, but they're sharp and high quality.
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Jan 1, 2016 18:56
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Nikon Monarchs are my standard entry level recommendation, and I've heard good things about the Vortex models too (as well as Leopold- I won a pair once and they were great). Aside from the big retailers (Amazon, Cabelas, B&H, etc), check out Eagle Optics and Optics Planet for a good selection.
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Jan 1, 2016 19:15
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Looks like an Anna's (black-chinned would only have the "color" feathers below the bill, not on the forehead). The color really depends on angle, and I think you just happened to catch this guy in a dark moment. Ah! I have shots of pretty much all angles of the bird, and iridescence is only visible at the base of the chin at one angle, but you're right about the forehead feathers.
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Jan 1, 2016 19:21
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 Snowy Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Snowy Owl by Tyler Huestis, on Flickr Snowy Owl by Tyler Huestis, on FlickrSame owl as the day before, completely de-saturated the red, purple, and magenta to remove the red spot on it's head.
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Jan 2, 2016 01:57
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Still getting the hang of flight shots. White-Tailed Kite by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr
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Jan 2, 2016 04:30
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 Red-Shouldered Hawk by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr Peregine by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr
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Jan 3, 2016 02:06
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Bubbacub posted:[ Nice round of Snowy Owl shots, neckbeard. I had to get up before sunrise to give someone a ride last Thursday, so I decided to make the most of it and go looking for bitterns at dawn. There was one crouching behind some willow sprigs right by the trailhead and I spent the morning stalking him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQAGvABRPSY I'm seeing a handful of Soras when I go to stake out the bitterns' reed beds during the evening. I think they may be fairly new arrivals because I didn't see any the last time the reed beds were flooded (March of 2014) and the local birders were surprised to find out that we had them at Arcata Marsh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqe7LOgnH4g
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Jan 3, 2016 23:25
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