Birds In Flight... Upload your photos.

[offshorebirder]

3 hours ago, Soukous said:

no problem, as long as you've got bright light and a fast lens

 

And if I don't have enough light - all the more reason to leave  IS turned on!

[offshorebirder]

For what it's worth @janzin - Steve Perry's example photos in his BIF video SMOKE those in Jan Wegner's video...

[janzin]

Not sure I agree with that @offshorebirder  Just about all of Steve Perry's shots are large birds...egrets, ducks, eagles etc. Much easier to shoot in flight than some of the smaller birds Jan has.  Anyway, they have two totally different styles. Both have something to offer.

 

[Soukous]

10 hours ago, janzin said:

Just about all of Steve Perry's shots are large birds...egrets, ducks, eagles etc

 

I did wonder about the prevelence of egrets in Steve Perry's tutorial. I put it down to the fact that if you can get the exposure on large white birds against dark backgrounds - and make the whokle photo look good - correct everything else is easy (ier)

[Soukous]

With the rain teeming down outside and the opportunities for local birding on hold I decided to go back and revisit photos from previous trips overseas.

In particular a trip to India in spring 2018. Just to make it interesting, I deleted all the jpegs I'd created and started again from the RAW files.

 

I only saw 1 Indian Skimmer on the whole trip. I expected to see more but they never showed up, so I was happy I grabbed lots of shots of this one, and its one pass along the river at Satpura. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Love the first one. Very unique!

[Dave Williams]

@Soukous Very nice Martin, only seen them once and they were past me before I had realised as they flew so low, must check out those shots again but I think they are beyond recovery!! They are high on my hit list whatever sub species they happen to be.

 

[Soukous]

Another outing yesterday. I'm making the most of the good weather as we keep being told it will end imminently.

I was hoping to see & photograph some Roseate Terns that have been spotted on a few occasions. For a few brief moments I thought I might have succeeded; but closer inspection showed that I had not. Just more Common Terns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was standing on a footpath between the area where they were nesting, which was out of sight, and the sea, which was also out of sight, trying to catch them as they flew overhead to feed.

Ideally I would have liked to catch them coming back with fish as that would have given me the best light, but there was a brisk offshore breeze that meant they were coming in too fast for me to pick them up in time.

Good fun though, and good practice.

 

There were some Sandwich terns in amongst them too

 

 

[PeterHG]

Excellent shots, @Soukous !

[Soukous]

After a windy and rainy day the late afternoon gave us some blue skies and an invitation to venture out.

North Warren is not far away and , although all RSPB hides are currently closed, there is a nice viewing platform overlooking the reed beds. In the late afternoon the sun is pretty much behind the platform so good for photos.

 

There was far less activity than I'd hoped for, but a pair of Marsh Harriers provided entertainment. They were a bit distant, so large crops needed, but the light was great.

 

first the female

 

 

 

 

then later on the male took to the air

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

Always a beautiful sight, these Harriers. Great shots in spite of the distance, especially the first photo of the male! Its head looks much darker than how I usually see them.

[Soukous]

On 6/23/2020 at 10:06 PM, PeterHG said:

Always a beautiful sight, these Harriers. Great shots in spite of the distance, especially the first photo of the male! Its head looks much darker than how I usually see them.

 

Thanks Peter. I haven't seen many males but I have been a little surprised how pale the heads of the females have been this year.

[PeterHG]

This morning I spent half an hour or so trying to capture a landing sequence of a juvenile Barn Swallow. Quite  a few times they decided to land outside my chosen pre-focused area, but in the end one or two obliged

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by PeterHG

[Soukous]

beautiful Peter, persistence pays off.

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful indeed.

[Soukous]

Photographing Birds In Flight

some tips from Melissa Groo

 

 

https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/pro-perspectives/melissa-groo/photographing-birds-in-flight/

[PeterHG]

She certainly has some great shots to back up her tips!

[pomkiwi]

A red kite (Milvus milvus) photographed in February at Gigrin Farm, mid-Wales where they have been feeding kites at the same time every day for several years. They are credited with much of the responsibility for the successful reintroduction of the birds to Wales.

 

 

[Soukous]

A bonus bird from this afternoon.

 

Kestrel, East Lane, Bawdsey, Suffolk

 

 

[Soukous]

My morning walks are producing fewer and fewer new species - as in none at all 

 

But I did see these 2 pass overhead.

 

Shingle Street, Suffolk

 

 

 

[Soukous]

It was a little bit far off, but it is recognisable

 

Curlew, flying over the marshes at Shingle Street

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

Gannets

North Berwick, Scotland

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

Lapwings flying over Fidden, Isle of Mull

 

 

 

[Soukous]

Buzzard (Common) 

Isle of Mull

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

Curlew

Pennyghael, Isle of Mull