BIRD IN FLIGHT ONLY -- share your BIF photos here

[Jack Douglas]

Alan, nice shot. No close ups?

Jack

 

[DominoDude]

Black-Necked Stilt. Very rare here. Last one seen 34 years ago.

Photo taken in small pond on a horse farm. It is a minor miracle I got any clear shots as the horses were following me around nuzzling me for pats.

Great Stilt, Jeff!

 

[AlanF]

Alan, nice shot. No close ups?

Jack

Jack, these birds are smaller than American Robins and swoop around at high speed, snapping insects from the air. Here are three shots, the first from me with 800mm/5DIV and the lower two from my wife with the 100-400mm II at 560 on the 5DSR. The birds are tiny, tiny and these small crops don't stand up to enlargement. If we had persevered we might have got better shots but it would be like you trying to get your pileated in midflight in midair. I wouldn't normally post these.

 

[geonix]

Jack, these birds are smaller than American Robins and swoop around at high speed, snapping insects from the air. Here are three shots, the first from me with 800mm/5DIV and the lower two from my wife with the 100-400mm II at 560 on the 5DSR. The birds are tiny, tiny and these small crops don't stand up to enlargement. If we had persevered we might have got better shots but it would be like you trying to get your pileated in midflight in midair. I wouldn't normally post these.

Hello there
It is truely difficult to photograph european bee-eaters in flight. I haven't managed to get a good shot of them yet. You'll need a good positioned hide, near to a colony to get really close-up shots. Or a lot of luck. But they are not that tiny. Bigger than most swallows, about as big as a blackbird, but with larger wings that allow them to glide well.

 

[AlanF]

The average bird in flight in this thread is a big slow moving heron or a bald eagle, or a cormorant like this, just taken in Portugal. Small erratically flying birds aren't easy.

 

[AlanF]

Or a blackwinged stilt, or maybe a sandwich tern in a predictable flight.

 

[Click]

Very nice series, Alan. Well done.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Don't worry Alan, I know you're just an amateur struggling to hold the camera!

And, doing a lot better than me! I tried shooting swallows in flight and didn't succeed at all. I think a cot on the ground might help and to boot, I've got a chronic whiplash neck injury so ...

Alan, you're doing fine.

Jack

 

[rpt]

Alan, nice shot. No close ups?

Jack

Jack, these birds are smaller than American Robins and swoop around at high speed, snapping insects from the air. Here are three shots, the first from me with 800mm/5DIV and the lower two from my wife with the 100-400mm II at 560 on the 5DSR. The birds are tiny, tiny and these small crops don't stand up to enlargement. If we had persevered we might have got better shots but it would be like you trying to get your pileated in midflight in midair. I wouldn't normally post these.

Wow! You got bee eaters in flight! Fantastic!

 

[serendipidy]

Alan, nice shot. No close ups?

Jack

Jack, these birds are smaller than American Robins and swoop around at high speed, snapping insects from the air. Here are three shots, the first from me with 800mm/5DIV and the lower two from my wife with the 100-400mm II at 560 on the 5DSR. The birds are tiny, tiny and these small crops don't stand up to enlargement. If we had persevered we might have got better shots but it would be like you trying to get your pileated in midflight in midair. I wouldn't normally post these.

Great bee-eater series, Alan! I've never seen one in person, but I think that they are really beautiful birds. It looks like the 1st one has a bee in it's beak.

 

[AlanF]

Alan, nice shot. No close ups?

Jack

Jack, these birds are smaller than American Robins and swoop around at high speed, snapping insects from the air. Here are three shots, the first from me with 800mm/5DIV and the lower two from my wife with the 100-400mm II at 560 on the 5DSR. The birds are tiny, tiny and these small crops don't stand up to enlargement. If we had persevered we might have got better shots but it would be like you trying to get your pileated in midflight in midair. I wouldn't normally post these.

Great bee-eater series, Alan! I've never seen one in person, but I think that they are really beautiful birds. It looks like the 1st one has a bee in it's beak.

Thanks. It does indeed have an insect in its beak. On the two previous occasions I have seen bee eaters, in January a year ago in Mysore India and six months or so before that in Barcelona, I could bees in their beaks. Not good shots, but great fun for me. These are 100% crops, with the birds occupying only a few hundred pixels.

 

[serendipidy]

Alan, nice shot. No close ups?

Jack

Jack, these birds are smaller than American Robins and swoop around at high speed, snapping insects from the air. Here are three shots, the first from me with 800mm/5DIV and the lower two from my wife with the 100-400mm II at 560 on the 5DSR. The birds are tiny, tiny and these small crops don't stand up to enlargement. If we had persevered we might have got better shots but it would be like you trying to get your pileated in midflight in midair. I wouldn't normally post these.

Great bee-eater series, Alan! I've never seen one in person, but I think that they are really beautiful birds. It looks like the 1st one has a bee in it's beak.

Thanks. It does indeed have an insect in its beak. On the two previous occasions I have seen bee eaters, in January a year ago in Mysore India and six months or so before that in Barcelona, I could bees in their beaks. Not good shots, but great fun for me. These are 100% crops, with the birds occupying only a few hundred pixels.

So cool! 8)

 

[Mikehit]

nice shots, Alan

 

[Camera nut]

Long time since I have posted so don't know if this will post or not.

Eagle getting ready to grab a fish from the water.

 

[Click]

Eagle getting ready to grab a fish from the water.

Great shot.

 

[serendipidy]

Long time since I have posted so don't know if this will post or not.

Eagle getting ready to grab a fish from the water.

Wow! Fantastic

 

[Jack Douglas]

Long time since I have posted so don't know if this will post or not.

Eagle getting ready to grab a fish from the water.

Wow! Fantastic

+1 Lighting, framing and water color makes it special.

Jack

 

[2n10]

Well done Alan.

Jack, swallows and swifts are most infuriating to photograph. They seem to turn on dime and leave change.
Keep at it you will get some. Try to find an area where they are flying in a circle or up and down a stream or river. This will give you your best chance as they will be more predictable.

 

[lion rock]

Super shot, Camera nut!
-r

Long time since I have posted so don't know if this will post or not.

Eagle getting ready to grab a fish from the water.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Well done Alan.

Jack, swallows and swifts are most infuriating to photograph. They seem to turn on dime and leave change.
Keep at it you will get some. Try to find an area where they are flying in a circle or up and down a stream or river. This will give you your best chance as they will be more predictable.

Yes, thanks. I have a nest box in my driveway and I would fall over dizzy before I could even get one in the viewfinder! One issue is I always try to have the longest lens and that tends to be counter productive but I only like super impressive photos so ... Enemy #1 - me.

I'm hoping the stump in the pond once again gets used by the tree swallows since it's more strategically placed and more photogenic and flight paths a little more predictable. Trouble is I was in hip waders with poor stability with 300 2.8 II X2.

Jack