Shitting birds, for n00bs, using camera

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InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

neckbeard posted:

A couple of Pine Grosbeaks from this morning, once the sun came out properly they all seemed to disappear

Pine Grosbeak by tylerhuestis, on Flickr

Nice! I haven't seen these guys around except near Jasper.

I checked out that park in Leduc you pointed me to today. Looks like a great spot! I didn't realise the lake/pond there was so big...in a couple of weeks once the ice clears I'll be out there in my kayak trying to sneak up on waterfoul.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2012 00:11

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 09:09

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Edmonton goons. Since there are several of you in this thread, I'll just post it openly. I'll be there on Tuesday and will hopefully find some time for a little bird-watching. I can find very little in the way of information on good places to go. My only real source of info is this thread and Alberta birding listserv which is really heavy on Calgary posts and very light on Edmonton ones. I'd really like to see some owls, but I'm not sure how much of a chance I have. Northern Hawk-Owls would be awesome. A Great Gray would be unimaginably awesome, but I'm not holding out a ton of hope on that. Do any of you have any ideas for places within driving distance that I might try? Also, are there any places that might have moose?

My usual hunting grounds are in Elk Island park about 20 mins east of Edmonton. Apparently there's around 250 species of birds that either live or fly through there. So far my super stalking skills have got me pictures of about 30 species so I'm not exactly an expert on the subject. Bonus is the bison/elk/moose/deer that are abundant in the park if you're there around sunrise/sunset.

If that's too far for you to travel another nice place to try are the walking trails near snow valley, just off the Whitemud (map). Lots of really human-friendly birds there if you bring some birdseed, and I've come across a moose or two on occasion early in the day.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2012 15:53

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Thanks for the tip. I hit up Elk Island yesterday and while I totally believe they get 250 species at some point, it certainly isn't now. It was like silent spring out there, not so much as a tweet. The one time I did think I heard a bird, I walked into a bunch of trees and discovered it was just a squirrel. Fortunately I spooked a Roughed Grouse out right next to the squirrel so that saved my day. I believe I only had five bird species in the park itself in almost 6 hours. I did see a moose right after sunset though, so that pretty much saved my day.

Sorry to hear about your rotten luck there. Once the water opens up I'm sure there will be birds aplenty. Just today I noticed the sky was full of geese, gulls, ducks, and other migrating birds.

I managed to get out for a few hours today:

# ¿ Mar 29, 2012 02:07

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

theflyingexecutive posted:

If anyone's interested, the Peterson iOS app is down to five bucks: http://www.appshopper.com/reference/peterson-birds-of-north-america

Perfect, thanks for the link!

I have been stalking a Hairy Woodpecker nest I found over the past week and finally got a shot of the bird in the nest:

There were hundreds of waxwings around as well, but the bastards wouldn't come down from the tops of trees and this is the best I could do:

# ¿ Apr 4, 2012 15:36

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

I finally got a chance to head outside yesterday. Got a couple of firsts for me which was nice.

I don't know what kind of hawk this is, anyone know?

Mountain Bluebird:

Robin:

American Kestrel (heavy crop):

This little bastard lead me on a one hour tour and seemed to know exactly how close I wanted to get -- always flying away just before I could get close enough for a decent shot. After an hour I finally managed to approach him, the lighting was perfect, and a drat magpie came and chased him away. This is sadly the best shot I could get.

# ¿ May 13, 2012 15:27

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

neckbeard posted:

Looks like Swainson's Hawk based on the chest pattern. Pablo Bluth, Red-shouldered Hawks don't come to western Canada.

Also, InternetJunky, apparently there's a Bald Eagle's nest somewhere on the east side of the city in the river valley

Thanks for the ID and the nest info. I think I've found another baldy nest at Elk Island as well, or at least I've found the general area. Haven't actually seen the nest yet but I've observed a pair of eagles flying into the same area of trees several times now.

Yesterday I had the kayak out for the first time this year. I went out to a lake that has an island loaded with nesting seagulls, so I have about 300 pictures of gulls to sort through. For now, have a couple of shots of this American Avocet that I was very happy to be able to sneak up on in my boat:

There were four of them at the lake, and these are the first I've seen that are semi-close to Edmonton.

# ¿ May 14, 2012 13:59

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Pablo Bluth posted:

Kayaking as a photography platform sounds like something I'd like to try, but southern England really is not the place. So much of our decent water-bird habitat is in nature reserves where you'd be burned as a heretic if you turned up with a boat.

That really sucks. In Canada there's a lot of places where you can't boat with a gas motor, but kayaks and electric motor boats are welcome everywhere I've been. Wildlife is far less wary about a human in a kayak than they are normally, so it's an awesome platform for photography.

# ¿ May 14, 2012 20:18

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BetterLekNextTime posted:

owl_eating_robin 220 on Flickr

Lovely owl shots, but poor robin

I went out in the kayak again yesterday. Got some firsts for me:

Semipalmated Plover:

Lesser Yellowlegs:

I also chased some horned grebes all over the lake I was on but without any decent shots. Little bastards!

# ¿ May 21, 2012 17:27

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Fart Amplifier posted:

Frustrated that I missed this shot due to the sun searing the eyes from my skull

DSC_2782.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr

I don't think you missed the shot here. Crop/clone out that left bird and you've got a very pleasing scene imo.

Now this is a missed shot:

Some others from yesterday:

# ¿ Oct 5, 2012 15:57

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

I drove 1.5 hours out of the city last night with my car loaded up with astrophotography gear, and on the way saw a great horned owl and a snowy owl -- both posing on the top of poles during the golden hour of sunset. Last winter I drove thousands of kilometres everywhere hunting for a snowy owl (unsuccessfully).

Of course I didn't have any normal photography gear. :argh:

I'm going back today with full gear so here's hoping!

# ¿ Nov 18, 2012 15:22

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

InternetJunky posted:

I'm going back today with full gear so here's hoping!

7 hours of driving, but I got my first owl!

# ¿ Nov 19, 2012 03:12

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

ExecuDork posted:

A few more Tasmanian birds, including one endemic:

I've been enjoying your bird pics from Tasmanian. That place is high on my bucket list.

neckbeard posted:

Went to the Calgary Zoo yesterday:

I went to see the penguins earlier this year. The zoo really made a great exhibit although one of the little bastards pushed its body half over the glass and shot a stream of water my way that almost soaked my camera.

neckbeard posted:

You're in Edmonton, right? Check around Nisku/Leduc and the airport. My dad works primarily out of Nisku and said that last winter there was a snowy owl hanging around this one same spot all the time somewhere in the park. I've seen Snowy Owls along the chainlink fence by the airport.

Thanks for the tip. Are they usually out in the day? I went driving for four hours on every country road between Nisku and Devon yesterday without luck though. I did see a hawk on a pole, which was surprising since I thought they all migrated. The only bird I got a shot of yesterday was this big bird:

# ¿ Nov 26, 2012 16:05

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

The only time I think I've taken exception to people feeding birds for pictures was when a whole bunch of people were taking snowy owl pictures on another forum and they were all the iconic "snowy with wings spread and legs out a split second before grabbing its prey" shots. I later learned they had been buying mice at a pet store and releasing them for the snowy. I think that same owl was hit by a car later in the year on top of it all.

It's just my person opinion of course, but I think learning they had baited the owl really ruined those shots for me. Birds at a bird feeder isn't exactly in the same league.

ExecuDork posted:

On a related topic, how do people feel about carrion eaters on roadkill? I'm seeing tons of ravens (almost certainly Forest Ravens, Corvus tasmanicus) on and near the roads here, because there's lots of roadkill. They take off as soon as I slow down, so I have little hope of getting a picture of one in these circumstances, but I was wondering if other people had opinions on the subject.

You could make a pretty good argument that you're capturing natural behaviour.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2012 02:28

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

All that driving finally paid off. Found not one but two snowys today!

He (she?) flew off before I could move to get the sun in a better spot. I'll take it regardless.

The next one was down in a field, but stupidly I left the car running when I took this shot so the vibrations carried through to my lens.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2012 00:46

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

neckbeard posted:

Very nice, I'm hoping to go out looking for snowy owls on Friday, provided it does stop snowing by then and the clouds go away.

You're in Edmonton as well, right? Highway 21 and Township Road 540 seems to be where the two I found yesterday hang out. Some bird watcher list I signed up for mentioned them there 3 days ago and since they were still there yesterday I assume they're in the area for the winter. Good luck though -- that's still a lot of country road to cover in that area!

# ¿ Nov 28, 2012 17:40

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

neckbeard posted:

Cool, I was going to check around the airport this week, but I'll probably check that area out next week, looks like there's hawk owls in the area too

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/bird/map?&fLat=53.6096&fLon=-113.2119&zl=13

Staring out the window at work about 15 minutes ago, there were some mapgies trying to chase away a bald eagle flying around the Hotel MacDonald

I found a bald eagle today in the area where I had found the snowys a few days ago.

Not the best picture but he didn't give me long to set up.

I would love to find different types of owls but don't really know the first thing about tracking them down other than looking for the bones/fur of their victims at the base of trees.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2012 00:07

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BeastOfExmoor posted:

Northern Hawk Owls are probably going to be your next best option for photographing owls since they hunt in the daytime. Not particularly common that I know of, but you might get lucky. I drove around an entire day looking for owls this spring when I was up there for work and found nothing Short Eared owls also hunt in the day. Northern Hawk Owls will be perch hunters and Short Eared Owls will fly around constantly looking for meals.

Great Horned, Great Gray, and Barred owls are also found in Alberta this time of year (according to eBird), but I believe they all hunt almost exclusively at night so unless you stumble upon their sleeping spot you probably will have a hard time finding them. There was a Barred the was seen frequently in some park I'm too lazy to look up and someone posted photos here last winter. Might still frequent the area.

Thanks for the info. I went out in the same spot as my snowy yesterday and found him again, but I think I'm going to have to just hope to get lucky for any other owls at this point.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2012 16:32

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Decided to take a break from Snowy hunting today so the wife and I went on a cold nature walk instead.

This one was a first for me: female Pine Grosbeak

I also found some very cold-looking waxwings

# ¿ Dec 3, 2012 00:53

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Someone from a local nature society posted this yesterday:

quote:

Everyone know what a Borsch Bird is?

It's something dirt common, everyday, same old same old.

Looks like Snowy Owls are turning into this winters borsch bird.

In other words, look forward to a million more shots of snowys from me because I'm going out every day to shoot them.

ExecuDork posted:

Gull Tryptich by Execudork, on Flickr

I've got decent (to my standards) shots of the other two species, but I haven't ploughed through those photos yet. Not that they're spectacularly unusual, gulls of one species or another seem to be pretty common most places, and willing to not disappear over the horizon at the first sight of a big front element.

Speaking of "borsch birds", gulls get a bad rap in this regard. There's a lake near me where thousands go to breed on a small island in the middle and I just sit in my kayak watching them for hours. I love gulls.

torgeaux posted:

Also, on the "feeding on carrion" thing, I've posted these before.

Turkey vultures, eating a dead banana rat.

ratvultures2 by torgeaux, on Flickr

Turkey vultures eating a dead cuban boa.

vuleatsnake by torgeaux, on Flickr

How flighty are vultures? A close-up of one landing would make an awesome shot. They are beautiful birds even if they do get into some nasty stuff.

I just spent hundreds of dollars on bird feeders and bird feed this week. Took less than a day to get noticed.

These are shot through a window -- if I try with an open door the heat shimmer from the house ruins the shots worse than the window does.

All these bastards are going to eat me out of house and home. The magpies especially, as they come non-stop for the peanuts and stash them in their hidden vaults all over the place.

[edit] It's interesting to see how crappy my processing was, especially in that Flicker shot. All three birds on the same perch and the perch looks different in each.

InternetJunky fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Dec 7, 2012

# ¿ Dec 7, 2012 17:43

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

I drove more than 10 hours today and the temperatures were below -30, but still managed to get a keeper shot of the Northern Hawk Owl:

# ¿ Dec 9, 2012 03:05

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BeastOfExmoor posted:

That's an awesome shot. Also, I hate you (if only for the fact that you live in an area that appears to be in perpetual magic hour this time of year)

Thanks! The trade-off to perma-magic hour is that we get 7 hours of sunlight and -30 temps.

Casu Marzu posted:

There was a huge flock of gulls feeding on the river this afternoon and I stopped quick to see if I could get some interesting photos. Dummy me forgot that I should be shooting birds at like 1/1000 or so. I managed to save a few, but so many blurry birds.

Nice gull shots. I have lost so many shots because of the wrong settings (most of my Hawk Owl shots are crap because I had my AF on servo and was focusing on the eyes and recomposing

). The gull with the blurred wings is actually a pretty nice effect, intended or not.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2012 18:19

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Hover-bird!

# ¿ Dec 13, 2012 02:27

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

My wife and I sat in -10 temperatures today for a few hours trying to capture a Prairie Falcon or Gyrfalcon feeding on pigeons at a grain terminal and ended up with lots of crappy pictures of crows and pigeons. Solidly frozen, we then decided to go driving looking for snowy owls, and a few hours later that was a failed mission as well.

On the way back home my wife spotted a snowy on a light pole on the busiest road in town, and while doing a turn at an off-ramp to go back she then spotted a great horned owl. After a few crappy perches he finally came to rest on a lower perch right at golden hour:

We never did get to the snowy.

ExecuDork posted:

A while ago I thought I'd turn some of my photos into bookmarks - I should be able to fit a set of them on a single 8x12 print, then cut them out.

SD 109 Southernmost 62 by Execudork, on Flickr

This is a great idea that I'm shamelessly stealing.

Ghost Cactus posted:

And a male Northern Harrier that I spooked right after this picture

DSC_1575 by Ghost Cactus, on Flickr

Nice pictures, but do what you can to get some eye contact if possible. It's a shame that harrier spooked as that is a dreamy background and cool sign post it was on.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2012 01:53

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

A couple of snowys from today. I saw 3 in total, including one on a natural perch that I couldn't get to :argh:

, but so far I have yet to see an all-white male. I've driven on every country road I can find.

There are a group of guys going around banding the snowys right now, and when they catch one they paint the head red so they know it has been banded. Very annoying if you're trying to get a nice photo!

# ¿ Dec 19, 2012 00:25

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

ExecuDork posted:

SD 110 Tasmanian Highlands 50 by Execudork, on Flickr
Black Currawong (doing a Superman impression, with bonus obnoxious noises)

This shot is awesome! It really does look like it's doing a Superman impression.

ExecuDork posted:

SD 111 Styx River 27 by Execudork, on Flickr
Pink Robin, which my guide book describes as "elusive".

I've enjoyed seeing all the different varieties of birds you've been posting that don't usually get seen that often -- this is the first I've even heard of this bird and now I want to see more. There's something about it that makes it look like it was copy/pasted from a Disney cartoon.

Casu Marzu posted:

Had a pileated woodpecker hanging out in my tree all day

Nice shot! I've been after a decent picture of this guy for a few years. I found a nest last year, forgot the exact location, and never saw it again.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2012 14:41

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

My wife and I went driving south of Devon today also looking for owls. She spotted a hawk owl at the top of tree in the middle of a field south of Devon today. As I pulled off to the side of the road, I noticed a weasel in the field hunting. The weasel was between my car and the hawk owl.

It was my first time seeing a wild weasel, and as I was scrambling to get my camera ready the hawk owl swooped down from its perch and looked like it was going for the weasel. Unfortunately I missed what would have been a pretty great shot, and the hawk owl missed (I thought) the weasel. The owl came to rest in a tree near my car and when I finally got my lens on it I could see it eating a vole. I can only assume the weasel flushed a vole out of hiding and the owl was waiting. The weasel continued hunting in the field next to the owl, and the owl was watching, but it did not go after the weasel.

I had just finished packing up the car with my frozen fingers when a raven came in the area and immediately went for the hawk owl. Initially the owl held its ground but the raven got more aggressive and eventually flushed it from the top of the tree. It then proceeded to go after the owl for several minutes in what looked like a very vicious assault. I did not see the outcome unfortunately as a couple of farm dogs scared me away from the area.

Pretty exciting day.

My wife's shot:

The crow attack:

I have a bunch more pictures to post but I need to let my fingers and toes recover first. Bloody cold today!

neckbeard posted:

Snowy Owl still eludes me, but found a Barred Owl today, it was nice having some really good light at 2pm today, but the temp was hovering around -17 with a -30 windchill

Barred Owl by tylerhuestis, on Flickr

Oh man those are all lovely! That male grossbeak is beautiful -- I still haven't been able to track down a group since I saw the bunch of females. Where on earth did you find the owl?

# ¿ Dec 22, 2012 02:01

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

[edit] ^^^ really great shots!

neckbeard posted:

Thanks, owl is in Hawrelak Park, originally I was going to go to the CN Rail grain terminal and look for falcons, but there's no wind protection there. There were actually quite a few male Grosbeaks at the park yesterday, at least 4. 2 of the other photographers who were out managed to get a Brown Creeper.

I was at the terminal last week for a few hours. I froze to death and didn't see a single falcon (I've seen pictures of prairie falcons and gyrfalcons taking pigeons there in the last few weeks). I think I need to find a better vantage point for the terminal, because where I tried (across the tracks to the south) was a very long distance from any potential action.

quote:

Those attack shots are awesome, one of the guys who I was talking to showed us this picture he had taken of a Short Eared Owl having a face-to-face standoff with this squirrel which was pretty awesome, he doesn't have Flickr or anything so can't link it

Thanks. I would love to see that photo of the short eared owl -- I thought mice and squirrels were their main food source.

# ¿ Dec 22, 2012 17:11

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

neckbeard posted:

owl is in Hawrelak Park

Thanks for this info, by the way. My wife and I went to the park today to try and find any owl, and after freezing our asses off and giving up we passed another photographer who pointed out the barred owl for us (impossible to find those things, even if you know where they are!).

The owl was very accommodating:

# ¿ Dec 24, 2012 03:15

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

What better way to spend Christmas than to go birding. I have a million shots to process as it was a successful day, but here's a first for me -- Great Gray Owl:

Merry Christmas!

InternetJunky fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Dec 26, 2012

# ¿ Dec 26, 2012 03:01

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BetterLekNextTime posted:

I'm definitely imagining you did the dance in your avatar after nailing this shot. Congrats!

You are pretty drat far towards being able to make a 12 month owl calendar.

I have to admit I was really hoping I could get a shot of that great gray mid-flight. Something about their face while flying that is very human-like and mystical.

As for an owl calendar, it's a goal but there's only two species left around here in winter that I haven't seen yet (boreal and pygmy) and they are not easy to get. Summer time means a few more species, but all of them are much harder to find.

I finished processing the rest of my great gray shots:

# ¿ Dec 26, 2012 22:51

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

I feel like I'm hogging this thread, but shooting owls has lit a fire in me to go out and shoot birds whenever I can.

I rented a 4 wheel drive for the weekend so I can run down some logging roads that were impassible before. I'm after more hawk owls. I also got invited to go along Sunday with some raptor banders who are going to be trying for some short eared owls. I'm trying to process a backlog in shots because I'm expecting hundreds more soon.

I don't think I've posted these yet:

# ¿ Dec 29, 2012 05:12

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

BetterLekNextTime posted:

My sense is that we'd rather have good photos of captive birds than blurry brown cellphone pics of a wild bird.

Pretty much, although I'd be happy seeing blurry brown cellphone pics at this point if it meant I wasn't posting more owl pics again.

See, there I go again.

Yesterday I saw 8 owls and took 26 pictures. Today I saw 4 and took 1000. Oh what a difference a bit of sun makes.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2012 03:27

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Trambopaline posted:

New Zealand Dotterel

This is getting dangerous, I keep looking at longer lenses now that I've had a couple of goes and the kit telephoto is just not even remotely cutting it.

I really love this shot. You've got a great panning effect going on that really makes it look like this little guy is running a race.

Aquila posted:

Birds! From Australia even. This is my first time posting pics I've taken here so if they're too big/small or otherwise improper please let me know.

Keep em coming!

quote:

Wild Cassowary! With Baby! One of the many heartbreakers of this trip, I missed the focus on this shot, and it was the only one not completely black due to operator error. Still, perhaps, my favorite photo of the trip.

The person that invents a camera AF system that can detect you're trying to take a picture of a bird in a bunch of vegetation and lock onto the birds eye automatically will make a fortune I bet.

Some nice bird photos. The herons are an interesting shot because it's an angle you never see usually.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2012 14:40

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Oh look, more owls:

# ¿ Dec 31, 2012 18:01

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Change of pace from owls --

Hoary Redpoll:

Common Redpoll:

Okay, maybe one owl too (I still have so many to post :ohdear:

)

Dread Head posted:

You guys made me want to try and find some owls, was able to find a few short eared owls. Unfortunately there was a number of dogs out at the same time so didn't get the photos I really wanted but got a few.

This is a gorgeous shot and I love the huge perch. Am I mistaken, or are you in Calgary? I'm going this Saturday near Calgary to find some short-ears since there seem to be a bunch hunting during the daytime right now, even if they are 3 hours away.

Trambopaline posted:

I'll third that I guess. You guys get some amazing shots. I feel like I really shouldn't be posting such naff photos in this thread... so I'm trying to make it a bit more interesting this time around with a more uniquely New Zealand bird, even if the shot itself is a bit average.

It's a Tui

Is this a heavy crop already or do you have room to get closer? You've got him on a great perch and I'd love to see closer if possible.

BeastOfExmoor posted:

I have been literally speechless by your recent photos. Jealous would be far too weak of a word. Finding the Northern Hawk Owl and Great Gray Owl is awesome in of itself, but your photos have been incredible.

I feel like I should post the exact opposite thing for some reason. Perhaps a series of Gull photos explaining what separates a Herring, Western and Glaucus-Winged Gull or something.

Thanks for the compliments! The truth is that both types of owls were pretty easy to find once someone pointed me in the general area, and once you find them they are tolerant enough to let you get into a decent position for photos. Also, I'd love to see those Gull photos. Ever since I found an island in a nearby lake where gulls breed by the thousands (and watched them from a kayak for hours) I've gained a new-found respect for them. They are incredibly interesting birds to photograph and it's sad most people's exposure to them is when they're grabbing dropped fries in a McDonald's parking lot.

Alpenglow posted:

Best heron day ever.

Great photos! Karate-kid egret is awesome. I love herons and would kill for a heron-filled day like you had.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2013 16:42

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Dread Head posted:

You are mistaken, I am on Vancouver Island. There were 4 owls at this location and I am guessing they will be there for some time so I am hoping to go back.

Nice! Go back and shoot some more so I'm not the only one spamming owl shots.

Speaking of which, here's some more from Ridiculously Photogenic Owl:

# ¿ Jan 4, 2013 18:33

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

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.

Link for more pixels.

Thanks for the closer look. Turns out it's a pretty colourful bird.

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

DSC_5727.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr

DSC_5733.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr

DSC_5716.jpg by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr

Looks like you got some great action shots already. That is pretty great timing to capture that interaction. Around here I've only ever seen the owls run away from the ravens. I hope you get a pigeon lunch action sequence!

# ¿ Jan 6, 2013 15:30

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

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).

http://mag.audubon.org/multimedia/2012-photo-awards-top-100-0

Bit of a weird collection. Some of these are magnificent while others are pretty crappy (obvious processing, horrible crops, missed focus, etc).

Casu Marzu posted:

Time to go price out a 100-400

The 100-400 is an amazing lens. It is also like a gateway drug into the world of expensive gear.

ExecuDork posted:

Fairy Wrens
Dusky Robin

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.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2013 17:31

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

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.

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.

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.

Edit: Still need to sit down and upload some Gull photos.

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.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2013 21:29

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 09:09

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

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:

# ¿ Jan 9, 2013 00:05

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Shitting birds, for n00bs, using camera

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