Show your Bird Portraits

[jrista]

Long-billed Dowitcher

The Cottonwood Creek area is really starting to heat up. A number of duck species are still hanging around, at this point I suspect for the whole summer. The shorebirds are starting to show up in larger numbers as well. One of my favorites is the Dowitcher, the long-billed dowitcher to be specific. They are one of the more colorful shorebirds, with colorful golden-fringed back feathers and buffy breats, and beautiful streaks around their faces.

Managed to capture a few shots of a trio of dowitchers just at sunset. My vantage point allowed the fresh new greens of spring and the old dried browns of last years growth to produce colorful OOF reflections and blurs, which nicely complimented and contrasted with the bird's own colors.

Long-billed Dowitcher
Cottonwood Creek Wetland
Colorado

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

 

[crb595]

Mourning Dove couple

 

[Eldar]

Long-billed Dowitcher

The Cottonwood Creek area is really starting to heat up. A number of duck species are still hanging around, at this point I suspect for the whole summer. The shorebirds are starting to show up in larger numbers as well. One of my favorites is the Dowitcher, the long-billed dowitcher to be specific. They are one of the more colorful shorebirds, with colorful golden-fringed back feathers and buffy breats, and beautiful streaks around their faces.

Managed to capture a few shots of a trio of dowitchers just at sunset. My vantage point allowed the fresh new greens of spring and the old dried browns of last years growth to produce colorful OOF reflections and blurs, which nicely complimented and contrasted with the bird's own colors.

Long-billed Dowitcher
Cottonwood Creek Wetland
Colorado

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

Very nice indeed! A good commercial for the 7D!

 

[Click]

Long-billed Dowitcher

Lovely. Beautiful series.

 

[Eldar]

Tufted duck, mail
1DX, 600mm f4L IS II + 1.4xIII
1/500s, f5.6, ISO320

 

[Eldar]

Tufted duck, female
1DX, 600mm f4L IS II + 1.4xIII
1/500s, f6.3, ISO500

 

[Eldar]

"P... off!"
Great Crested Grebe on her eggs, not to happy with the company.
1DX, 600mm f4L IS II + 1.4xIII
1/500s, f6.3, ISO320

 

[Jack Douglas]

Eldar, were you boating to get these shots? - very nice.

Jack

 

[jrista]

Beautiful shots, Eldar! That 1D X is a creamy background machine...man, what I would give to have that kind of SNR.

 

[Eldar]

Eldar, were you boating to get these shots? - very nice.

Jack

My second hobby is flyfishing. The waders come in handy also for photography

 

[Jack Douglas]

Eldar, funny I was just thinking of buying hip waders for shooting but wondered how safe they are for gear if you stumble??! Any good stories?

Jack

 

[Eldar]

Eldar, funny I was just thinking of buying hip waders for shooting but wondered how safe they are for gear if you stumble??! Any good stories?

Jack

He he, the advantage of being a flyfisher is that you are used to balance on slippery rocks. Best advice is probably to have a wading stick. That way you always have an extra support on the bottom. I try to not go in too deep though. Luckily I have no fun stories to tell, meaning all my equipment have survived so far

I would strongly recommend wading pants though. You can get fairly good ones fairly cheap.

 

[Eldar]

Beautiful shots, Eldar! That 1D X is a creamy background machine...man, what I would give to have that kind of SNR.

Thanks Jrista.

Yes, the 1DX is a phenomenal machine. Every time i use it and I don´t have to crop too much, I wonder what more I could possibly need. The biggest prints I do are 1x1.5m2 and, provided it is not a very high ISO shot and limited cropping, they look very good.

 

[scottkinfw]

Feeding Cardinal

 

[jrista]

Eldar, funny I was just thinking of buying hip waders for shooting but wondered how safe they are for gear if you stumble??! Any good stories?

Jack

He he, the advantage of being a flyfisher is that you are used to balance on slippery rocks. Best advice is probably to have a wading stick. That way you always have an extra support on the bottom. I try to not go in too deep though. Luckily I have no fun stories to tell, meaning all my equipment have survived so far

I would strongly recommend wading pants though. You can get fairly good ones fairly cheap.

I wish I could wade in the waters around me. Most of our lakes are part of wetlands, which means they don't have rocky shores or rock covered bottoms...it's all decaying plant matter, which ultimately results in this soft black muck that is several feet deep. Step in it, and at the very least your going to lose your shoe...try to actually walk through it, and you might actually lose yourself as well, and certainly your gear. :\

 

[Orangutan]

I wish I could wade in the waters around me. Most of our lakes are part of wetlands, which means they don't have rocky shores or rock covered bottoms...

There are also small, personal-sized floats for flyfishing. They're a bit like an inflatable chair, but have holes in the "floor" for your wading boots. I've never used one, but it appears you can lightly walk the bottom, or keep a small paddle on-board.

 

[Eldar]

Jrista, Most of our bird waters are like that too. But some areas are accessible. Another good alternative is, as was pointed out, a belly boat. Also found in flyfishing stores. You paddle with flippers and you sit fairly close to the water, so shooting angle is good.

 

[jrista]

Feeding Cardinal

I am actually fairly certain that is a bird with a severely diseased, deformed beak. A few of the house finches each year around here end up with corrupted, diseased beaks like that. It's kind of sad. It usually happens to the birds that become malnourished due to an injury or lost eye during a fight (house finches can get pretty brutal during mating season).

 

[jrda2]

Northern Flicker

 

[Cog]

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.

Thanks!