PeterHG’s sixth. Wherever it may take us.

[xelas]

More of the high quality stuff coming from @PeterHG! My Pick Of The Day is the Spoonbill in the Rain.

[Soukous]

15 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

our record shot of the dotterel is the standard of my photos.

 

don't talk rubbish Kit, your shots have improved beyond measure in the past 2 years.

[Kitsafari]

59 minutes ago, Soukous said:

 

don't talk rubbish Kit, your shots have improved beyond measure in the past 2 years.

 

thank you, but you haven't seen the 99 out of 100 shots left in the rubbish heap!  

[PeterHG]

2 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

thank you, but you haven't seen the 99 out of 100 shots left in the rubbish heap!  

And you haven't seen mine either...:)!

 

[Kitsafari]

7 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

And you haven't seen mine either...:)!

 

 

 

LOL. 

[Soukous]

17 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

 

thank you, but you haven't seen the 99 out of 100 shots left in the rubbish heap!  

We've all got plenty of those, don't worry

[Galana]

1 hour ago, PeterHG said:

And you haven't seen mine either...:)!

I may have a nice new EBC button on my camera but the Delete button is nearly worn away by over use.

[PeterHG]

Back at the local patch I heard that a Whiskered Tern had been sighted. Due to the bad weather just a handful of people were out there looking for this rare tern and fortunately it could be spotted among the Common Terns fishing in the distance. There are said to be some 25 breeding pairs in the country and I know an area that probably will allow closer views, but that is a rather long drive from here. I was glad to be offered this opportunity.

 

149 / NL 149. Whiskered Tern. Arkemheen, 17/5

 

[PeterHG]

When I took a longer walk there the next morning I couldn't find the tern again, but, surprisingly, I did get great views of a Ruddy Duck. I had already seen it on our trip to the north, but much more distant.

 

[PeterHG]

Last Thursday the predictions were rather good for a change, so I decided to drive to a wetland reserve in the middle of the country, som 45 minutes from here. That is a reliable spot to see Black Terns and several reed-dwelling warblers and I always pay them a visit somewhere in May. I got there by 6:45 i  the morning and there was a dense fog, that lasted until after 9. We heard a lot of bird songs, but we couldn't see anythin. Once the sun was out , though things became much better. Artificial nesting islands are put in the water each spring and the terns return to them every year. From a photographic point of view those 'islands' (with mesh wiring around them to protect the nests are, of course very uninteresting, so I always try to catch the terns in flight. That is quite difficult as they tend to fly close to the reed, causing the camera to miss focus all the time.This is one of the occasions where I often get the feeling that I haven't really mastered flight shots at all and that it's time to start looking for a new hobby. However, once I deleted all the failures, fortunately I always end up with some shots I am happy with. So I'll probably try again next year 

 

150 /NL 150. Black Tern. Zouweboezem, 20/5

 

[PeterHG]

To my surprise I found that a pair of White-winged Terns had also taken up residence in the area. They are even rarer than the Whiskered Tern and breed on and off in our country with just a few pairs. They are quite beautiful with white shoulder and red legs. Although they had claimed one of the nesting islands, they were not welcomed at all by their black cousins. We'll see if they actually stay.

 

151 /NL 151. White-winged Tern. Zouweboezem, 20/5

 

 

[xelas]

Great terns in flight shots!

[Galana]

Excellent and exciting finds.

Your in flight shots are envious.

[shazdwn]

More fabulous shots - I really like your black tern

[Soukous]

15 hours ago, PeterHG said:

This is one of the occasions where I often get the feeling that I haven't really mastered flight shots at all and that it's time to start looking for a new hobby.

don't be ridiculous 

[Tdgraves]

Lovely terns

[Dave Williams]

Those Tern shots are outstanding Peter ( although I wouldn't have spotted a difference between the two species) and very enviable sightings of which I have had very few indeed. You only need a couple of crackers so it doesn't matter what ends up in the recycle bin to get there however as far as your flight shots are concerned it seems that the problem is common with mirrorless cameras.  I am more than happy with my R5 but it struggles with cluttered backgrounds even on stationary subjects like a bird in a bush where my DSLR doesn't, in other areas though it excels and overall I'm happy with it.

[Soukous]

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the time do you add the 2x teleconverter. Obviously is greatly extends the range but presumably makes focusing a wee bit harder, especially on moving subjects.

 

[PeterHG]

1 hour ago, Soukous said:

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the time do you add the 2x teleconverter. Obviously is greatly extends the range but presumably makes focusing a wee bit harder, especially on moving subjects.

 

For flight shots I really prefer to use the lens without the converter. As you rightly state, it makes focusing harder and needs an even higher shutter speed. Although it is certainly possible to take good flight shots with the converter, the number of keepers is very much lower than with the bare lens. So perhaps I use it in 10-15% of the flight shots

[Zim Girl]

Another stunning collection of birds, Peter.  Love the Spoonbills!

[michael-ibk]

Agree, the Spoonbill is beautiful. Also love the WW Terns! Very rare migrants here but I've only ever seen them in the Danube Delta. 

[TonyQ]

Those Terns are beautiful. Excellent flight shots. The number of deletions doesn’t matter- you only need one good shot!

[PeterHG]

12 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

than happy with my R5 but it struggles with cluttered backgrounds

That is interesting info and it may well be the case with my Olympus, too. Like you, though, I am quite happy with it.

[Kitsafari]

Beautiful terns and excellent shots, as always. i see what you mean about the wire meshes. what are the predators there? 

[PeterHG]

22 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

see what you mean about the wire meshes. what are the predators there? 

It is not so much protection against predators, but it prevents the numerous greylag geese from accessing the islands and squashing eggs and chicks.