Birdmania Practice

Was enjoying dinner at a favorite drive-in on Lake Ontario and thought I'd squeeze off a few practice shots for Birdmania. ; Using the 28-300VR lens which worked pretty well for the close flying "rats".

Fly-by


Head on


Hovering


Pole sitting


Hope to get in more this weekend.

 

Scott #3 is perfect. ; ; ; ; ; ; great exposure and sharpness

 

Nice ones Scott! ; I really like the in flight ones, the body is sharp and the wings have just the right amount of blur!

 

Thanks, guys! ; Haven't done much tracking of birds lately. ; Planning an outing this weekend to re-sharpen the skills needed for Forythe in 9 days!

 

I can always use practice too and lots of it ;
from this morning

 

I like your test subjects better, Howie.

 

don't let the gulls hear you say that. ; their revenge is too terrible to think about

 

Re: Re: Birdmania Practice

or I will steal your french fries, pizza and hot dogs and then poop on you
I used to get bombed walking the boardwalk beat.

 

Re: Re: Birdmania Practice

oh yea getting gull poop on the uniform is real lucky

 

Yesterday I went to a better location: Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. ; Or so I thought. ; They are making a lot of changes there which they say will make it better in the future. ; However, right now it is not as photographer friendly as it has been in the past. ; With the Main Pool drained, most of the wildlife was along a river that borders the refuge. ; This is where I photographed this seemingly vain Great Blue Heron.

I could almost hear him say, "Damn, I look good."

Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 1100, EV +0.3, 400mm FL

The Cross Over.

Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 1100, EV +0.3, 400mm FL

The Strut.

Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 1400, EV +0.3, 400mm FL

He eventually got himself a nice sunfish. ; However, he had his back to me when he did. ; Models!

 

A photographed a new bird, Savannah Sparrow. (Heavily cropped.)


Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 2000, EV +0.3, 400mm FL

Oh, and a mammal ran right past me. ; Didn't see him until he was next to me as I was watching a heron.


Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 500, EV +0.3, 400mm FL

Have I mentioned how green it looks up here?

 

and he does look good at the hands of the master photographer

 

as green as Ireland

 

Great shots Scott! ; Wont be able to be there for bird photo shooting, but gonna try to make the moonrise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You're too kind, Howie. ; I am looking forward to learning from you next week.

Hope you make it, John!

 

Scott, if anything I will learn from you. I sure hope the activity picks up there

 

Hanging around the river were five immature bald eagles. They didn't do much but look for carrion. ; A couple tried to fish in the river to no avail.

All photos cropped as needed.


Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 900, EV +0.3, 400mm FL


Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 2800, EV +0.3, 400mm FL


Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 2800, EV +0.3, 400mm FL


Nikon D700/80-400VR, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 2800, EV +0.3, 400mm FL

 

Watched an Osprey hunting and got one of the dive sequences. ;



He came up empty this time but did get a fish on his fourth attempt which was too far away to photograph. ; Seemed to be my luck on this day.