Alex & Zvezdana Big Year 2017

[PeterHG]

What a beautiful collection of Namibia birds you have shown us, @xelas! A joy to browse through every time. Excellent photography throughout!

[xelas]

1 hour ago, Soukous said:

what a stunning collection of photographs @xelas, a very fruitful safari.

 

Thanks, @Soukous! Indeed it was a very fruitful safari ... and we were lucky enough that each one was interesting one !

[xelas]

54 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

What a beautiful collection of Namibia birds you have shown us, @xelas! A joy to browse through every time. Excellent photography throughout!

 

Thank you, @PeterHG ... and thanks for the help with ID. 

[Dave Williams]

Remind me again, was Zevezda using a D500 and a 200-500mm? I am amazed at how many close ups she managed and also the number of species you saw. A lot more than I did and I was supposed to have been there  at peak birding season!

Well done both!

[xelas]

3 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

Remind me again, was Zevezda using a D500 and a 200-500mm?

 

Zvezda used D7200 + 200-500. Coming from D90+70-300 and then D7100+300f4+TC14, I am amazed by how well this combination works, and how much photos can be cropped, without losing too much of details. I should post pre- and post- photos next time around.

 

D500 does have better AF system which is useful with BIF but majority of her photos were perched birds, so better AF is not that much needed (specially not for the difference in price?.

 

One never knows how lucky one gets! Multiple visits increase the chances .

[xelas]

17 hours ago, xelas said:

 

Nope. The bird came alone to where the lovebirds and sparrows and pigeons were feeding, in the garden of the Ameib ranch. So it is not a canary, that is based on the shape of the beak. On Wikipedia they have a photo of Lesser Masked Weaver female that is similar to our ex-Yellow Canary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_masked_weaver#/media/File:Lesser_Masked_Weaver_female_RWD.jpg so let me corrected it according to Michael's directions:

 

BY 229 / NAM 153

Village Weaver - Ploceus intermedius

 

 

 

By rechecking all names I have found this mistake; just to keep the record correct.

 

BY 229 / NAM 153

Lesser Masked Weaver - Ploceus intermedius

[Galana]

3 hours ago, xelas said:

BY 229 / NAM 153

Lesser Masked Weaver - Ploceus intermedius

Noted. but I am sure you do have a photo of Yellow Canary somewhere in your files so dig it out and use it.

But don't forget that plane on Sunday.

[Peter Connan]

I must agree with Dave. We were in similar areas at a similar time, and my count for Namibia is less than half yours...

 

Excellent stuff!

[xelas]

3 hours ago, Galana said:

Noted. but I am sure you do have a photo of Yellow Canary somewhere in your files so dig it out and use it.

But don't forget that plane on Sunday.

 

 

I did my part of the deal, viewed again all 9000+ photos, and below is the selection of most likely candidates. Now, @Galana, please tell me if any of those are indeed Yellow Canary, and if not, what are they:

 

Candidate A / Ameib ranch 30 April

 

Candidate B / Hoba, 13 May

 

Candidate C / Hoba 13 May

[Galana]

18 minutes ago, xelas said:

please tell me if any of those are indeed Yellow Canary, and if not, what are they:

I think #2 is possibly a Male (assuming the out of focus twig is obscuring a yellow belly.) and I could make a case for #3 being female.

I really do wish you had not posted #1.

[xelas]

Why, @Galana? Is it another hybrid? 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, xelas said:

Why, @Galana? Is it another hybrid?

No. It is yet another Southern Masked Weaver. Possibly a very young one as the rump has no colour.

 

[xelas]

As per @Galana expert advice and mentoring, we are able to add one more bird to Namibia 2017 collection. 

 

 

BY 231 / NAM 155

Yellow Canary - Serinus flaviventris

 

(see Candidate B and Candidate C photos above)

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by xelas

[Dave Williams]

@xelas   I see you have settled for 155 species for Namibia Alex, three more than I got although there might , like yours, be some I haven't noticed. We must have got a fairly high combined score though because ou seemed to have seen lots of species that i didn't!

[xelas]

Probably due to different travel time, @Dave Williams

[xelas]

This year our Big Year progress is not as smooth as it was in 2016 . Yet we are still enjoying it, and here is one bird I was hoping to get a better photo but now, chances are slim to none, so I will just post this EBC, taken near our house way back in January. Distance was huge, and so is the crop, almost 100%!

 

 

BY232 / SI028

Common Kingfisher - Alcedo atthis

[xelas]

Revisiting Škocjanski zatok Wetland Reserve on my own, I was able to grab a couple of new birds. It was still April:

 

BY233 / SI029

European Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis

 

 

BY234 / SI030

Marsh Harrier (Western) - Circus aeroginosus

 

 

BY235 / SI031

Wood Sandpiper - Tringa glareola

Edited September 19, 2017 by xelas

[xelas]

The month of June started with a few days of "balcony birding":

 

 

BY236 / SI032

Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros

 

 

 

 

BY237 / SI033

Blackcap - Sylvia atricapilla

 

 

BY238 / SI034

European Greenfinch - Chloris chloris

 

 

BY239 / SI035

European Serin - Serinus serinus

[xelas]

One more photo from April visit to Škocjanski zatok; those 1st and 2nd winter gulls are so tough to ID  but with a little help form my friends ...

 

BY240 / SI036

Herring Gull - Larus argentatus

 

[xelas]

And one more photo from June balcony birding; also this ID with a little help form my friends .

 

BY241 / SI037

Linnet - Linnaria cannabina

[xelas]

When @PeterHG stopped in Slovenia, where else to rake him and his wife then to Škocjanski zatok. This time it was Zvezda having the camera.

 

BY242 / SI038

Little Tern - Sternula albifrons

 

 

BY243 / SI039

Common Tern - Sterna hirundo

Edited September 21, 2017 by xelas

[xelas]

BY244 / SI040

Little Ringed Plover - Charadrius dubius

 

 

BY245 / SI041

Common Redshank - Tringa totanus

[xelas]

 

BY246 / SI042

Little Bittern - Ixobrychus minutus

 

 

BY247 / SI043

Squacco Heron - Ardeola ralloides

 

 

[xelas]

BY248 / SI044

Common Shelduck - Tadorna tadorna

 

 

BY249 / SI045

Short-toed Eagle - Circaetus gallicus

 

 

[xelas]

BY250 / SI046

Great Spotted Woodpecker - Dendrocopos major

 

BY251 / SI047

Grey Wagtail - Motacilla cinerea (race feldegg)