Show your Bird Portraits

Jack Douglas said:
If you saw how many of these kind of stumps are around here you'd be calling for one. The poplars get old, the woodpeckers drill them and then the wind takes the top off leaving what I have, usually with holes in the lower section.

All my "natural" shooting was done by the pond where these stumps abound and now I know - go there and force suet into the holes! But that's for spring, well maybe not, but then they won't come to my deck. :(

Jack

Black Oil Sunflower Seed. That's all you need. You'll attract pretty much everything. You can smell that stuff through the plastic bag, it's so potent. It'll attract birds right to wherever you want them from miles around. Especially the chickadees, though...they LOOOOOVE the sunflower seed!
 
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Sturm und Drang, Part II. No, this juvenile Red Tail is not pursuing this blackbird. They were both perched and took off simultaneously with a resulting near-collision in flight.

5Diii, 400DO, ISO 400, M Mode, f6.3 @ 1/1250
 

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ID : Tiger Shrike
5D3 | 500L II + 1.4III


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Head & Shoulder Portrait

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Full Body​
 
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steven kessel said:
Sturm und Drang, Part II. No, this juvenile Red Tail is not pursuing this blackbird. They were both perched and took off simultaneously with a resulting near-collision in flight.

5Diii, 400DO, ISO 400, M Mode, f6.3 @ 1/1250

Great catch!

....

I'm enjoying the 'Stump antics', Jack, jrista and Don. One day I'll actually get a yard :/
 
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Today I spent about 11 hours wandering the northern section of Cuyamaca SP. The funniest encounter was with a Steller's Jay. "Shall I sing for you the song of my people?" - Red Shouldered Hawk call on repeat. Sometimes I think they even get confused at what sound they should be making. 5D MK III / 600 v2 w/1.4 1/400 : f/7.1 : ISO 400

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steven kessel said:
Sturm und Drang. Went out to look for hawks today and found this very athletic Red Tail doing an aerobatic maneuver.

5Diii, 400 DO, ISO 500, M mode, 1/1250 @ f6.3.

Wow, excellent shot with excellent quality! It's good to see some people using the 400 DO for BIF. Lot of people complain about the possible (but not always extant) "diffraction glow" that can be caused by the diffraction grating, but I've seen some shots taken with it, like this one, that show it can be critically sharp when used properly.

I hope Canon keeps pursuing DO technology. If they can figure out particle dispersion DO, they could have a real winner on their hands with an EF 600mm f/4 DO IS lens that is even smaller and lighter than the EF 600mm f/4 L IS II.
 
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ERHP said:
One day I'll actually get a yard :/
;D ;D ;D ... one day I'll get a place where birds at least exist, then I'll get a yard and then a stump ;D ... right now where I live I see a bird maybe 5 or 6 times a year. But at my office (my office room is next to a window ... I'm the only lucky guy in the office to have a window facing a tree) I do get a couple of Myna birds, a few Pigeons and a bunch of sparrows occasionally ... but now, we are moving into a skyscraper next month with absolutely no chance whatsoever of seeing a bird :'(
If I want to photograph some birds, I need to travel about 125 kms / 77 miles (one way), that too only for a little over 4 months (between November to March). So, I envy all you fortunate people and eagerly look forward to any new bird photos from the CR members.
 
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I guess we all envy some else's situation. I sure wish I had the opportunity to get some of these beautiful shots that have appeared in a flurry! On the other hand I'm very thankful I live on a small acreage in the country. This thread has produced an awful lot of nice shots and good information, thanks to all.

Jack
 
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Rienzphotoz said:
ERHP said:
One day I'll actually get a yard :/
;D ;D ;D ... one day I'll get a place where birds at least exist, then I'll get a yard and then a stump ;D ... right now where I live I see a bird maybe 5 or 6 times a year. But at my office (my office room is next to a window ... I'm the only lucky guy in the office to have a window facing a tree) I do get a couple of Myna birds, a few Pigeons and a bunch of sparrows occasionally ... but now, we are moving into a skyscraper next month with absolutely no chance whatsoever of seeing a bird :'(
If I want to photograph some birds, I need to travel about 125 kms / 77 miles (one way), that too only for a little over 4 months (between November to March). So, I envy all you fortunate people and eagerly look forward to any new bird photos from the CR members.

Reinz...the skyscraper I worked in for a decade had peregrine falcons nesting on the roof....maybe you'll be so lucky.
 
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Northstar said:
Rienzphotoz said:
ERHP said:
One day I'll actually get a yard :/
;D ;D ;D ... one day I'll get a place where birds at least exist, then I'll get a yard and then a stump ;D ... right now where I live I see a bird maybe 5 or 6 times a year. But at my office (my office room is next to a window ... I'm the only lucky guy in the office to have a window facing a tree) I do get a couple of Myna birds, a few Pigeons and a bunch of sparrows occasionally ... but now, we are moving into a skyscraper next month with absolutely no chance whatsoever of seeing a bird :'(
If I want to photograph some birds, I need to travel about 125 kms / 77 miles (one way), that too only for a little over 4 months (between November to March). So, I envy all you fortunate people and eagerly look forward to any new bird photos from the CR members.

Reinz...the skyscraper I worked in for a decade had peregrine falcons nesting on the roof....maybe you'll be so lucky.
Well, I can certainly dream ... but I know for sure I won't have such luck at our new office tower. :'(
However, since the past few weeks (until 2 Feb 2014), we are having Falcons and Hunting Festival here in Qatar ... this festival has falcons that are worth $ Quarter million, hunting for Pigeons ... I've been trying to visit that place but too much pending work in the office (after my recent 3 week vacation) is keeping me in the office during the time the festival is held :'( ... also its a 2 hour round trip drive in the desert and the only way to get there is if I deflate my car tyres to 15 psi and then re-inflate them at the end of the journey .. for all this and to take at least a few decent shots I need around 6+ hours of a day, which at the moment seems quite unlikely ... but I'll try my luck this coming weekend (hopefully). :-\
 
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