Show your Bird Portraits

[Jack Douglas]

Had this sharp shinned hawk visit today and unfortunately for the downy woodpecker that had been visiting our feeder regularly, it became the hawks' supper. Amazingly, the hawk ate the whole bird - feathers, legs, and everything.

Very nice series.

Welcome to CR

+1 And that proves he was really hungry and not wasteful.

Jack

 

[AlanF]

Just spent 24 hours in San Francisco and now enjoying a 4h 20min delay in SFO for the next flight. Managed to get a couple of shots in the rooftop garden of the Fairmont. By coincidence, one was of a white-crowned sparrow, a species we don't see back home. It is quite a singer, unlike the European sparrows.

Alan, I often lament that one of my distant relatives brought the "English" sparrow to Canada, a rather despised bird. I know, shame on me for saying that.

A real beauty isn't she!

Jack

There were lots of English Sparrows at the Fairmont too. They have become rare in England, unfortunately, but they are a pest in the USA. Just arrived in Washington DC at 1 am after a 5 hour delay in San Francisco.
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?action=post;quote=594015;topic=1280.10215#

 

[Claudelec]

Mesange Bleue, cropped; in my garden. Eating sunflower seed.
70D, 100-400 II @ 400mm , 1/500, 6.3

 

[Jack Douglas]

Love "chickadees" and that's a beauty.

Jack

 

[Click]

Mesange Bleue, cropped; in my garden. Eating sunflower seed.
70D, 100-400 II @ 400mm , 1/500, 6.3

Nice picture, Claudelec.

 

[Freddie]

Just back from the Rio Grande Valley

The migration was starting to come through although we were just a bit early. This is a male Bronzed Cowbird in repose and then performing its mating ritual of hovering about 4-feet from the ground in front of the female of the species.

 

[quod]

Sony A7RII + Metabones T IV + Canon 500/4 II

 

[Jack Douglas]

Freddie, that second one is really interesting and extra nice.

Jack

 

[AlanF]

It was raining in Washington DC most of today. Last year, in bright sun I got a shot of a blackcrowned night heron using my SX50 at Rock Creek on the border with Georgetown. This afternoon, I got him again with the 100-400mm II on the 5DS R. He was barely visible with the naked eye and is only a tiny dot in the middle of the shot. Here are the SX50 shot and the 5DS R for a comparison, plus a mockingbird which perched for a few seconds. Not wonderful, but it shows you can get useful images at 1/80 s under poor conditions with decent IS.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Quite a contrast Alan. I could almost be tempted by a 5DSR but I can't get two cameras! Nice to have a camera on your travels.

Jack

 

[quod]

Alan, the National Zoo's bird area is full of wild Black Crowned Night Herons, especially now that chicks are being born. If you haven't checked it out before, you may enjoy shooting there. Get to the zoo early, as it has been getting bigger and bigger crowds as the weather has warmed.

 

[Click]

Re: Just back from the Rio Grande Valley

The migration was starting to come through although we were just a bit early. This is a male Bronzed Cowbird in repose and then performing its mating ritual of hovering about 4-feet from the ground in front of the female of the species.

Very nice shots. I especially like the first picture.

 

[GMCPhotographics]

A common Buzzard:

Canon 5DIII, ef 400mm f2.8 LIS, 1.4x TCIII

 

[AlanF]

Alan, the National Zoo's bird area is full of wild Black Crowned Night Herons, especially now that chicks are being born. If you haven't checked it out before, you may enjoy shooting there. Get to the zoo early, as it has been getting bigger and bigger crowds as the weather has warmed.

Quod, thank you so much - you really made my day! I went to the zoo this morning, very dull weather, but found loads of wild birds living there as well as the caged ones. The herons were phenomenal. Here's my best black-crowned night heron plus some grey catbirds.

 

[Click]

Very nice series, Alan. I especially like the 3rd picture.

 

[quod]

Quod, thank you so much - you really made my day! I went to the zoo this morning, very dull weather, but found loads of wild birds living there as well as the caged ones. The herons were phenomenal. Here's my best black-crowned night heron plus some grey catbirds.

Good deal. Glad to hear that it worked out for you. The bird area of the zoo is always awesome this time of the year. Some of the birds stick around outside of mating/nesting season, too.

 

[AlanF]

Quod, thank you so much - you really made my day! I went to the zoo this morning, very dull weather, but found loads of wild birds living there as well as the caged ones. The herons were phenomenal. Here's my best black-crowned night heron plus some grey catbirds.

Good deal. Glad to hear that it worked out for you. The bird area of the zoo is always awesome this time of the year. Some of the birds stick around outside of mating/nesting season, too.

Just got back on the overnight flight. There were some beautiful Northern Cardinals there, we don't get them here in the uK.

 

[Click]

Nice pictures, Alan.

 

[yragkeem]

Edit:
I miss-identified the bird as a Sharp Shinned Hawk. It is actually a Merlin, a member of the Falcon family.

 

[dpc]

American white pelicans on the South Saskatchewan River at Saskatoon yesterday afternoon,