Birding and Bird Photography

Supposed to be 1/2 decent for the next 2 weeks anyway , 55F here today

 

Yeah, I figured. More a comment on the limited range of birds, or maybe an indirect comment about how separation by geographic distance is no longer a burden to communication between people, even though they live so far apart that the local birds are completely different.

 

Yep , ospreys in summer / fall too , there is an osprey nest near my house and they fish in the bay near me so I get to see them pretty much every day I'm at home in the summer too

Oh , yeah , the Turkey Vultures and Tree Swallow arrival here is the beginning of spring for me , I have a little journal for the birds around my yard and in the birdhouses I made for my yard , last year the Tree Swallows arrived March 17th

 

Osprey are the latest comeback bird here. Still only a few nesting pairs in MO. Before that it was peregrines, before that it was bald eagles and way before that it was turkeys. I still haven't seen an osprey here, but they're around apparently.

 

Can't mistake their call

 

We get plenty of Osprey down here, but i must say i have never ever seen a bald eagle, atleast one that is not in a zoo. Some of the common raptors i see are redtail hawks and crested caracaras.

 

Not pro pics but you get the idea.

I have a Hummingbird nest right next to my back door of my house. Momma and i believe a baby, i see the hummingbird go out for 5 to 10 mins and returns back i see the bird nodding her head down and then flying back out few mins later, maybe feeding the little.


Nest


Hummingbird and nest

 

$1,000 Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001542X64/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1394784440&sr=8-3&pi=SX200_QL40

Was thinking of getting this sigma 150-500mm to increase my depth. Anyone else have this lens of had experience with it? Reviews say its heavy and that around 500mm the clearity is kina soft, but i expect that. I dont wanna spend 2 grand on the nikon lens if this one does just as good. What do yall think?

 

I can't wait to get it, just came out about a week ago and a few have gotten theirs by my order status is pending at B&H. Yes with a firmware update it will pass AF and metering info on the newer lenses. This one is recommended to use with F4 lenses and you loose a full stop with it. Pictures posted with it so far are fantastic using F4 lenses so really looking forward to matching with my 300mm F4, soon to be a 420mm 5.6. Can't help but wonder how it work with a Sigma 500 f/4.5 or Pentax 460mm... Talk about spendy though!

Love those pictures with your new lens Ben. Ian is right think it would be hard to send it back! Yeah that sharp shinned hawk has been around my place for 2 years and I hardly ever actually see it especially when trees have leafs on them. Now that I know my 300 was backfocusing I know why this picture worked somewhat



AF hit the branches in front of him so caught him in focus behind them. Now to just get him back out in the open again... I like what you said before, that unless it is a good picture it really doesn't count. I feel the same way.

 

For 2 weeks I have been trying to capture an owl that I hear on a ridge near me every morning and evening. Learning that raptures are more elusive than any big game animal I have ever stalked too. This morning I drove up an hour before sunrise and walked in and he shut down so couldn't locate him once again. Be glad when the snow and hard noisy crust is gone. Been shooting targets of opportunity in low light to get practice in case he does give me a shot someday. This morning it was a small herd of deer at a distance well before dark. Every time I learn a little more about camera settings (and lightroom).



I happened to catch an outline in a tree near me, first pair of doves for the year. Spring is coming after all! Almost had some bird porn the male mounted her twice but by the time I could bring the camera up he was done, talk about a quickie! Makes sense when your often on the menu for other birds though. With the naked eye they were just silhouettes.

 

Ill have to send some more dove your way lol. I have seen literally thousands in the trees the last month. I went out yesterday for about an hour and saw many white wings and mourning but no euro collared strangely enough

 

Good stuff, guys!
Oz, how long have you been keeping track of your spring arrivals? Are you sending that data anywhere or something? I definitely need to start recording that stuff more...
Choppersx, that's so cool that you had a hummer nest so close! They're so insane and adorable.
Mark, I think my friend has that 150-500 on his T2i. He uses the crap out of it, especially in the field. I'll ask him what he thinks of it on Monday.
Good stuff, Mike! Yeah forest raptors are tough. When you go up to one and they hush up, try staying still for like 30+ minutes. That's what I've learned from various John Young info. He says that it takes roughly 30 minutes for the birds to get back to baseline after you've disturbed them. Here in Davis they go back to normal after like 5 minutes because they're so habituated to people, but I'll bet that where you are they're pretty wary of people.
One time on my sit spot that I did last quarter (September-November) I noticed some powdery stuff floating down around me and looked up to see a big female Cooper's ripping apart a Rock Pigeon just 15 feet above me. It was crazy! Unfortunately I didn't have any sort of camera other than my phone and I didn't want to move much to dig it out because I didn't want to scare her off.

 

I started writing it down just 2 years ago , mostly to track which bird houses I've put out get used and the ones that don't get used after a couple seasons I take down and move

 

Hey thanks kevin, if you would, ask him how it does at the 500 range and how fast it focuses. I will be putting it on my Nikon D90.

 

You know I believe you are correct (but of course ;-) Not sure why I was convinced that he is a sharp shinned at the time. All the more reason to keep trying for a better picture!

I will be glad to see them Mark! Until recently I thought a dove was a dove

I have never read any works by John Young however will have to say he (and you) are correct. When archery hunting for big game or any type of hunting in the morning and evening is when they are most active. Never been much for sitting in a tree stand so always got to a spot I had planned out at least half an hour ahead of time. After 10-15 minutes the woods start to get noisy again with life and movement but 20-30 minutes is a safer bet. And your movement is key, just as you stated. I never could sit still for more than an hour and would start still hunting taking over an hour to cover 100 yards sometimes. Any fast movement at all is an alarm and unnatural. I've had grouse and turkey roost right above me in the evening not knowing I was there. But a hawk eating dinner, that would be quite the experience! I wanted to stay longer this morning but it was 12 degrees out (at least it was above zero!) with winds gusting up to 30 mph. Only had a pair of jeans on and after 20 minutes I was shaking like a leaf. Already have the long johns laid out for tomorrow morning, hopefully the Great Horned will cooperate. Supposed to be sunny and less wind although colder, going to head out later too and see if I can shoot a snowy owl before they head back to the tundra. I'll be happy to just see one though.

 

Subbed can't believe I've not seen this. I'll post some pics later.

 

Earlier in this thread at the time I purchased my camera I asked about the Sigma 150-500 also. Someone replied that it didn't focus well with their Canon and they returned it. The reason I asked is that being retired military I can still purchase from the Military Exchange and they had it for $699. Turns out it was because they were clearing them out and by the time I decided to get it they were all gone.

I've done a lot of research since then. At the time the reviews I looked at were on Amazon and they lump all camera brands together so it is harder to find reviews for your specific camera and that makes a big difference in AF. B&H has the reviews split out much better. I've seen some great pictures with my model camera and this lens since then. But they do require a lot of light. Being in the South as you are that isn't so much an issue as it is for me in the North. You certainly want to check the reviews out for people that have it with your camera to see how well it functions. There is also the Bigma Sigma 50-150 which is reported to be a little bit sharper but also $500 dollars more.

Tamron is soon releasing a 150-600 for $899 and a lot of people are excited about it. It is only going to be made for Canon and Nikon so it is not an option for me. From what I understand none of these are going to be as sharp as the OEM equivalents but unless you are going to print or crop heavily many say it isn't a big deal and well worth it. Of course the Tamron isn't out yet so hard to say on that one.

 

Happy customers today. First of these Brown-Headed Nuthatches of the year.

 

Spotted a pair of red tail hawks earlier today, no owls, and got fairly close to them. As usually with me and hawks the branches in front of them got in the way of focus.



As they flew away I was able to pick up one in flight, not perfect and by the time I focused he was a ways out.



Not the kind of start I was looking for. Headed to the river to see if I could find some eagles. Found some but most were on the other side of the river at first.



Did find some birds moving back. Ducks are common here, gulls not so much.



Right after that a Great Blue Heron flew by me, a strange sight considering how much ice is left in the river.



Eagles did finally get closer and I also moved around to several spots up and down the river.

 

Thank you for the kind words Ben. I was really surprised I got that close to him all the others flushed from far away. I really want more lens now LOL.