Show your Bird Portraits

[Northstar]

Willow tit, taking a break from nest building.
1DX, 600mm f4L IS II, 1.4xIII extender
1/1000s, f8,0, ISO200

Very nice series of a lovely bird, Eldar. It's always fun when people follow up on a bird.

Below is what I've been following for the past few days. As I have neither the skill nor the inclination for doing camo shots, I've been shooting from what I hope is a respectful distance of about 3 meters. This does mean I don't get to see the inside of the nest but it's the perspective we humans usually get anyway. I for one am just happy to see it at all.


Flickr: Japanese White-eye & New Brood
6D+Tammy f/6.3 600 1/1000 ISO 4000

Nice...must have been fun observing from so close!

 

[Kerry B]

Bit the bullet and traded in my 7d and got a mint 1d mk1v with very low shutter count. First photo taken will win no prizes but am very pleased with performance which is much better already than the 7D

 

[TheJock]

Rubbish day out exploring today, never really found anywhere good so here's a couple from the Dubai Falconry Centre.
The first is a lovely little baby Kestrel which I was offered for a mere 200 Dirhams ($50), the second is the remote planes for training the falcons (loving the German insignia), and last but not least, a Gry Falcon.....stuffed!!!! he was in a dark corner in the museum and this shot was using ISO 128000 on the 70D, I really need to find a living specimen of that bird, truly stunning creature!

 

[jrista]

Thanks Hank. Yours is a great shot. How do you manage to get so close, without scaring off the bird?

Thanks, Eldar. It helps A LOT that the Japanese White-eye is well-adapted to the urban park environment, and that the particular tree is right next to a walkway with people coming and going pretty much throughout the day. To them I was probably just another guy with a stick (monopod) standing next to a park bench...for a long time. My concern was less with disturbing the nest than attracting attention from passersby.

That explains it. The willow tit lives in the high mountain birch forrest and can live its entire life without being close to any human being, so they are easier scared off.

I have posted a couple on the BIF thread, but I am happy enough with them to also republish one here. The reason for chasing this little fellow was to get shots of just when it jumps off from the tree. When I bird jumps off, before it has retracted its legs, you can either get a very energetic take-off look or, in the other end of the scale, you get this hanging-in-the-air almost ballet like posture. This one is one of the latter. (The thing in its beacon is carved wood from the nest room his carving in the trunk, which he disposes of in safe distance from the tree).

It was very difficult to nail focus, because it is extremely fast. The 1DX AF never picked up the bird in the air, so I had to get the bird´s jump off within the focal plane I had set. I think I shot about 200 take offs and I managed to get an app. 10% keeper rate from a focus perspective and about 25% of these had a good posture. To me this was exactly what I was looking for and the bokeh is amongst the best I have ever managed to get, so I was happy

1DX, 600mm f4L IS II
1/4000s, f11, ISO4000

Superb shot, Eldar! Good to see your kind of dedication paying off.

 

[Cog]

Yellow-rumped Warbler:

All warblers were shot with 5DmIII + 100-400L

 

[dolina]

Grey-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes griseigularis) by alabang, on Flickr

Settings: 1/80 ƒ/5.6 ISO 1250 800mm

 

[jrista]

Meadowlark

I was out checking Cherry Creek to see what kind of birds may have still been around. I kind of missed the first part of the migration this year, as the ducks moved through when it was still rather cold (and I've been just so sick of cold, as it's been quite cold here in Colorado since late September...long time). While hiking around one of the small wetland areas, I almost stepped on this little guy. Not sure what he was doing on the ground, or why he didn't move when I got close (extremely close). His fearlessness gave me a chance to back off, get a nice vantage point, and get some excellent shots.

He sang for me the entire time, too! Really love the meadowlark song, very musical.

(NOTE: No setup of any kind here...completely natural, by-chance setting.)

Male Meadowlark
Cherry Creek State Park
Colorado

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 600mm f/4 L II
Gitzo GT3532LS + Jobu Pro 2

 

[Jack Douglas]

Jrista, now that's what makes it all the more pleasurable, lucky guy!

Jack

 

[jrista]

Meadowlark Headshot

Here is a headshot of this beautiful little bird. I love the colorfulness. Not many birds in Colorado are this colorful...most of them are brownish with some reds, and most of the time, color is a very small percentage of their plumage. Some of the few exceptions are the Yellow Warbler, American Goldfinch, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, and Western Meadowlark. These guys all have brilliant yellow feathers, although I think the meadowlark takes the cake for color and design. I love their blue beaks as well.

 

[Click]

Very nice series jrista. 8)

 

[jrista]

Thanks Jack and Click!

Cog, I really love your roadside shots! Especially the one of the warbler head-on....lol, love their spindly little legs.

 

[jrista]

Blue-Winged Teal

For most of the year, were Mallard-central here in Colorado. Mallards are everywhere all the time. They even hang out well into winter, and tend to get here sooner than any of the other duck species. One of the species I find to be quite beautiful are the teals, particularly the Blue-Winged Teals. A few of these beauties were racing (literally) around the Cherry Creek duck ponds...chasing food, chasing after each other, or just simply racing around for the fun of it.

It was actually a rather entertaining show, and they didn't seem to mind my proximity (I set up RIGHT on the edge of shore...I actually ended up creating a puddle where I sat, as the pond is right into the water table, and there is always a muddy shore). A few of the males came right up to me while chasing after tasty morsels of food, so I was able to get some nice shots with a low perspective.

Ah, I have to say, after the long and very cold winter here in Colorado, it's really nice to have some warm weather where I can hang out with the birds without shivering to death.

Blue-Winged Teal, Males
Cherry Creek State Park (Cottonwood Creek)
Colorado

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 600mm f/4 L II
Gitzo GT3532LS + Jobu Pro 2

 

[Jack Douglas]

"Ah, I have to say, after the long and very cold winter here in Colorado, it's really nice to have some warm weather where I can hang out with the birds without shivering to death."

You've got that right, Jon.

I was just out wandering in the bush without the camera (kinda chilly at around 0 C). +17 one day, 0 the next ugh. We're behind you relative to spring but there are ducks showing up daily and I got a far shot of a cinnamon teal the other day as well as a northern shouveler. And this goose with the 1D2, 300 X2. Oh to have this frame rate with a better camera!

Jack

 

[dpc]

Male American white pelican yesterday afternoon on the South Saskatchewan River

 

[jrista]

"Ah, I have to say, after the long and very cold winter here in Colorado, it's really nice to have some warm weather where I can hang out with the birds without shivering to death."

You've got that right, Jon.

This was a pretty brutal winter. We didn't have as much snow as we've had in the past...but the cold was killer. I had two months where my heating bill (just to keep my house at 63°F) was over $250 (my "normal" bill is $75, and usually around $100-110 in the winter).

Really glad the cold is gone.

I was just out wandering in the bush without the camera (kinda chilly at around 0 C). +17 one day, 0 the next ugh. We're behind you relative to spring but there are ducks showing up daily and I got a far shot of a cinnamon teal the other day as well as a northern shouveler. And this goose with the 1D2, 300 X2. Oh to have this frame rate with a better camera!

Hmm! When did you get a 1D II? I bet that frame rate is nice! I have too many photography-related hobbies to plop the cash down on a 1D X, as much as I know I'd love it's frame rate and AF system. I'll be getting a 5D III soon here, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss having 8fps. But, with the money I'll save by not getting a 1D X, I'll also be able to get a nice high quality astro CCD imager and a few upgrades for my mount.

Anyway, great flight shot of the goose! The detail is excellent. Your 300mm lens is ideal for BIF...I have a pretty hard time with BIF using my 600 unless the birds are a good distance away (although that usually results in lower IQ due to waver vapor and evaporating water warping things.) I'm not sure if you cropped that...if you did, I recommend pulling the crop out more...it is a bit too tight. I think it is best to leave a decent amount of negative space around the bird, with more ahead of it's direction of flight than behind.

 

[jrista]

Willet

Shorebirds are some of my favorite birds. I always loved seeing them when I visited a few beaches known for attracting them in California when growing up. Last year was pretty much the year of the shorebird, we had more of them, and more variety of species, than I'd ever seen before. That was thanks to the extremely hot summers and mild winters of the two years prior (2012 and 2013), which created unprecedented mud flats and sandy shores around Cherry Creek reservoir, which created prime shorebird feeding grounds.

Between the deadly rains we had last September (it literally rained non-stop for over a week, no wind, the rain just fell vertically out of the sky at a high rate for days, flooding everything), and the hefty snow pack in the mountains this winter, water levels at Cherry Creek are some of the highest I've seen. Water is backlogged right back through the wetlands, and a couple days recently it was flowing backwards out of the lake because water levels were so high. Without much in the way of shores and mud flats, I don't expect to see as many shorebirds this year.

Thus, it was pretty nice to see a Willet meandering up and down one of the shores of Cottonwood Creek's wetland (a flow control system just south of Cherry Creek reservoir.) Willets are a bit larger shorebirds, larger than most pipers, slightly larger than Solitary Sandpipers. They are pretty bland at first look, but on closer inspection their gray is actually a number of colors and patterns, including gray, white, black, and some shades of brown and tan. They have fairly beefy bills compared to most sandpipers, more akin to a Godwit or Snipe.

Willet
Cherry Creek State Park (Cottonwood Creek Wetland)
Colorado

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 600mm f/4 L II
Gitzo GT3532LS + Jobu Pro 2

 

[Jack Douglas]

Up here it's Kijiji that has all kinds of used stuff and the 1D2 caught my attention as soon as posted - at $250 I figured it'd be worth it just to fool with, and 3 good batteries to boot. The frame rate is addictive after holding the 6D. No AFMA, which it may need. And so heavy - I'd love a 1Dx but I have neck/shoulder problems.

All birds are beautiful in one way or another. I'm glad you're out enjoying shooting.

The last shot was pretty much uncropped and not a lot I could do (tricky with 780 reach). Same with this one.

Jack

 

[jrista]

The last shot was pretty much uncropped and not a lot I could do (tricky with 780 reach). Same with this one.

Oh, I missed that you were using the 2x TC. I guess you kind of need the TC with the pixel count of the 1D II...but generally, I'd drop that and just use the 300 bare with a little bit of cropping if you can get away with it.

 

[jrista]

Killdeer

One of the most ubiquitous shorebirds in the US, the Killdeer is hard to miss. Between their incessant "injured bird" act and fast antics as they spurt about along shores and around grasslands in their "dash-pause" manner, they are also probably the most well known plover. They are larger than a lot of other plovers, like Piping or Semipalmated, and have longer legs. They have two slightly different plumages...one with two white bands around the neck during breeding season, and one white and one cream colored band during the winter season.

They have a very persistent technique for protecting their nests and their young by playing the injured bird...with a high pitched, lilting chirp, flipping one wing out at an oddly-cocked angle, and showing off rusty-red colored underfeathers that look like they might be covered in blood, they play the hurt card until your close, then jet off with a broken, jerky flight a dozen or so feet out in front of you. Get close again, and they keep drawing you away from whatever it is they don't want you to find. Clever little bastards.

Based on the ruckus last year every time I got near a throng of Killdeer, I'm sure they breed in Cherry Creek. I have not yet found any nests or chicks. Unlike the more common beaches where shorebirds are most often found breeding, Cherry Creek is FULL of hiding places, and finding baby birds is near impossible...even if you spot one, they skitter about and disappear into the brush without a trace, never to be seen again. Maybe this year I'll manage to glimpse some baby shorebirds.

Killdeer (Plover)
Cherry Creek State Park (Cottonwood Creek)
Colorado

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 600mm f/4 L II
Gitzo GT3532LS + Jobu Pro 2

 

[HankMD]

Thanks Hank. Yours is a great shot. How do you manage to get so close, without scaring off the bird?

Thanks, Eldar. It helps A LOT that the Japanese White-eye is well-adapted to the urban park environment, and that the particular tree is right next to a walkway with people coming and going pretty much throughout the day. To them I was probably just another guy with a stick (monopod) standing next to a park bench...for a long time. My concern was less with disturbing the nest than attracting attention from passersby.

That explains it. The willow tit lives in the high mountain birch forrest and can live its entire life without being close to any human being, so they are easier scared off.

I have posted a couple on the BIF thread, but I am happy enough with them to also republish one here. The reason for chasing this little fellow was to get shots of just when it jumps off from the tree. When I bird jumps off, before it has retracted its legs, you can either get a very energetic take-off look or, in the other end of the scale, you get this hanging-in-the-air almost ballet like posture. This one is one of the latter. (The thing in its beacon is carved wood from the nest room his carving in the trunk, which he disposes of in safe distance from the tree).

It was very difficult to nail focus, because it is extremely fast. The 1DX AF never picked up the bird in the air, so I had to get the bird´s jump off within the focal plane I had set. I think I shot about 200 take offs and I managed to get an app. 10% keeper rate from a focus perspective and about 25% of these had a good posture. To me this was exactly what I was looking for and the bokeh is amongst the best I have ever managed to get, so I was happy

1DX, 600mm f4L IS II
1/4000s, f11, ISO4000

So the 1DX doesn't automatically focus and snap the shots while the photog yawns and scratches his back?? That should dissuade a few folks from upgrading Seriously that's a great shot, the kind that makes it all worthwhile. I for one would love to try "behavioral camo" sometimes: pretending to be part of the environment, appearing uninterested in the subject, slowly moving close, etc.