Show us some bird shots... 10

Two male mallards wer nicely resting in the grass:



but they didn't like visitors, so when I came nearer they walked away, quietly muttering:


Both pictures: Dynax7d, Minolta 50mm 1.7 at f/8, 1/500s, ISO200

A700 + Beercan, outside my bedroom window (shooting through it)

Special Delivery.





Edited by jpink - 26 May 2008 at 06:26

Jackdaws taken from the garden with 7D and 500/8

I have been shooting a fair number of bird shots lately, as we have had the pleasure of hosting a pair of bluebirds and their peeps on our deck this spring. Last year, swallows had taken up residence, and I had typically shot both pairs with my beercan or big beercan. I found it difficult to get a fast enough shutter speed with these lenses, to "stop the action", and had been resorting to using High Speed Flash to aid in this pursuit. This however, can hinder the realism of the shot, and I decided today to take ricardovaste's previous lead, and try shooting in natural light only. For this purpose, I left the beercans and flash in the bag, and pulled out the Minolta 100 2.8 Macro D. I ended up shooting at around f4.5, and 1/1000th of a second.

This is basically the first time I've used this lens for this purpose. I had such a GREAT time. With the 7D on continuous, I was getting so many shots, that it was amazing. I could get 5 shots in a single feeding session, where before I would have only gotten 1, (due to the recycling time of the flash,) and been lucky if it was decent. This was like fishing, when the fish are really, really biting. It was a blast. I think I've found my new birding lens when the subjects are relatively close. Here's a couple from this morning. I like the way the light looks much more natural than my previous post above.


Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.




Cleaning House.
Every so often, the mother would go inside the house, and come out with the "dirty diapers".





Edited by jpink - 26 May 2008 at 06:56

JPink,
these are great, fantastic colours!

I understand your fascination, I also got to know a heron colony not far from where I live and I had the same feeling, like fishing when the fish are biting (not that I am a fisher)- one can not believe ones luck...
best regards,
Bernd

A bluetit founds its way into the conservatory through an open window, so I recorded its visit before opening the doors.