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Tdgraves big-ish year 2015


Tdgraves

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Welgevonden 11/9/15

 

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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 800, f 6.3, 1/250

 

Lazy cisticola (we believe, but happy to stand corrected...)

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And the last of the new species at Welgevonden (well, that I can find at present...), another lifer, again for the guide as well, only having seen them once before...

 

Welgevonden 12/9/15

 

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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 640, f 7.1, 1/1000

 

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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 640, f 6.3, 1/1250

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 500, f 7.1, 1/2500

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 500, f 7.1, 1/3200

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 400, f 7.1, 1/1600

 

Denham's bustard

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Just seen a sparrowhawk take a small bird from one of my bird feeders, right in front of the window! Have only seen one fly over once before, this was pretty cool. Ran out into the garden with my camera but it had already made its' escape....who needs to go to Africa to see a kill?

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And so on to the "old" ones from Welgevonden

 

12/9/15

 

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Canon 5D mark III, 100-400, ISO 1250, f 7.1, 1/500

 

Golden-breasted bunting

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Welgevonden, 11/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 250, f 8, 1/1000

 

Black-shouldered kite

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Welgevonden, 11/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 250, f 7.1, 1/400

 

Emerald-spotted wood-dove

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Welgevonden, 12/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 250, f 7.1, 1/800

 

Cape white-eye (actually is a new one...)

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Welgevonden, 12/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 400, f 7.1, 1/800

 

Cardinal woodpecker

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Welgevonden, 13/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 2500, f 7.1, 1/640

 

Red-capped lark

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Welgevonden, 13/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 250, f 7.1, 1/1000

 

Groundscraper thrush

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Welgevonden, 13/9/15

 

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Canon 7D 100-400 ISO 320, f 7.1, 1/1000

 

Striped kingfisher

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Just seen a sparrowhawk take a small bird from one of my bird feeders, right in front of the window! Have only seen one fly over once before, this was pretty cool. Ran out into the garden with my camera but it had already made its' escape....who needs to go to Africa to see a kill?

 

~ @@Tdgraves

 

I have no idea where you live, aside from it being in Cambridge, UK.

If your home is within the town, that's remarkable.

If it's in the surrounding countryside, it's still remarkable!

I've never seen a sparrow-hawk at work.

The only comparable sighting I've had has been a shrike hunting birds in the Hong Kong Wetland Park.

BTW: Lovely Denham's bustard images!

Your ‘Big-ish Year 2015’ has been mightily entertaining throughout.

Tom K.

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@@Tom Kellie we live in a village outside of Cambridge, so it would count as countryside. However, in the nearly three years that we have been here, I have only seen one before and not at such close quarters. I imagine it'll be a long time before we see one again.

 

Another rare visitor is the bullfinch, which on average I see once a year. The male appeared last weekend, but I was not quick enough for the camera. Still, I guess a have a few more weeks to catch him.....

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@@Tdgraves love that cardinal woodpecker. That splash of red is so eye catching. And that cape white eye is so prettily framed by the buds. I'm always amazed how you can remember all those names. Great respect for you, peter and michael for those hundreds of bird names!

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@@Kitsafari ok I admit it, I have had to resort to keeping a list while we're away....does that make me a twitcher?!?!

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@@Tom Kellie we live in a village outside of Cambridge, so it would count as countryside. However, in the nearly three years that we have been here, I have only seen one before and not at such close quarters. I imagine it'll be a long time before we see one again.

 

Another rare visitor is the bullfinch, which on average I see once a year. The male appeared last weekend, but I was not quick enough for the camera. Still, I guess a have a few more weeks to catch him.....

 

~ @@Tdgraves

 

From their images in European or British bird field guides — my former students bring such books to me from Europe — I've long wanted to see a bullfinch.

Bright pinkish-red male bullfinches must be striking to see firsthand.

Yes, it does sound as though you may have quietly slid across the line into twitcher territory.

I asked myself if I was becoming a shutterbug, to which my teaching assistants heartily responded that the transition had been made long ago!

Tom K.

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@@Tdgraves i love it because I've got experts to ask for ID! I'm terrible at identifying and then remembering the names. So to know I've got a fantastic back up in you, Michael and Peter is hugely comforting.

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@@Tdgraves i love it because I've got experts to ask for ID! I'm terrible at identifying and then remembering the names. So to know I've got a fantastic back up in you, Michael and Peter is hugely comforting.

As I have mentioned before, I am not nearly as clever as you guys seem to think. I cheat horribly.

1) I normally don't even try to identify birds while out in the field. If I already know it, great, otherwise, I just try and get a photo.

2) Once back home, I use one or more of my three bird guides, as well as Warwick Tarboton's excellent website to try and ID the bird.

3) If I am still stumped, I stick my photo on SA 4x4 Community Forum's Bird ID thread, and somebody a lot cleverer is bound to come up with an ID quite quickly.

4) To prevent me from forgetting, I key-word the photos in Lightroom...

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As I have mentioned before, I am not nearly as clever as you guys seem to think. I cheat horribly.

 

1) I normally don't even try to identify birds while out in the field. If I already know it, great, otherwise, I just try and get a photo.

2) Once back home, I use one or more of my three bird guides, as well as Warwick Tarboton's excellent website to try and ID the bird.

 

~ @@Peter Connan

 

Well, well, well...we're far more alike than I might have supposed!

What you've written above is more or less exactly the same as my approach.

I've told Anthony, @@armchair bushman, @@Peter Muigai. and Chinese students who visited Kenya with me, I'm far, far, far less interested in field identification of any species but correspondingly far, far, far more interested in obtaining a usable shot!

Tom K.

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As the end of the year is nigh, I thought I'd better look a little closer to home. Firstly some rarer ones, which I needed the motion camera to capture....

 

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Jay

 

Edited by Tdgraves
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9/11/15

 

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Magpie

Edited by Tdgraves
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Just noticed that the more recent camera trap photos do not have the time/date/temperature strip at the bottom - no idea why....22/10/15

 

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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 2000, f 6.3, 1/2500 (through a window) 31/7/15

 

Wood pigeon

Edited by Tdgraves
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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 1600, f 7.1, 1/160 28/7/15

 

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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 1250, f 6.3, 1/200-250 31/7/15

 

Greater spotted woodpecker

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It really liked the idea of this suet block and perfected the art of vertical take off, grabbing on for dear life, flapping away like a lunatic, before being able to peck off a few morsels. I guess she was just trying to keep up with feeding the youngsters....

 

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Canon 5D mark III 100-400 ISO 1600, f 6.3, 1/320 (through a window) 31/7/15

 

Blackbird (female)

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And a couple from our brief trip to California, for my brother-in-law's wedding

 

Calistoga Ranch, California, 5/10/15

 

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Canon 5D mark III 50mm lens!!! ISO 400, f 7.1, 1/1250 (clearly was not set up for birds - I was taking photos of people....)

 

Female rufous hummingbird (I think)

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