L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
On Friday went out for a walk with my furry little princess and I tried my luck for some birds shots but didn't have a lot of expectations, the weather was duller than BoJo's chances to be PM again 
I was welcomed by the usual, flock of Sparrows living in the bushes by the train tracks and fields.
If I sit still long enough they will do a fly-by very close to me, so close in fact that I can't get them all in focus at f 6.7 or f 8. In large numbers, they fly like Starlings flocks in fluid-like blob motion. (It's better explained here:
)
Once we reached the 2nd field bast the small patch of forest on the hill I am greeted with my first sighting (in a long time) of not one but two Egrets:
They were quite far away in the field (for a 500mm lens) and they were happy to chomp on whatever bugs they would find.
It was lovely to see they "crossed" each other for a cute composition but it was no Swan Love Heart Necking
One of them got spooked and flew across the field to my right side about 500 meters farther than where I was.
I managed to get a bit closer to the other one for a few minutes before it got spooked as well. (PS: DAMN YOU SONY AND YOUR NO TC FOR YOUR BUDDIES TAMRON AND SIGMA POLICIES)
And it took off on me as well, I noticed that Sony a7 Mark IV struggled to keep the Lock-On AF on both birds while flying, keeping the focus on their back legs instead of the head, at f 6.7 the DoF wasn't enough and legs are sharp but the heads are softer.
I moved on to another (but smaller) field and it's one of my favourite spots because it's filled with a wide variety of birds (being just next to the edge of the town there are more food opportunities). And found quite a large groupy bunch of Magpies, picking on other birds if they try to land anywhere near them.
And out the corner of my eye, I noticed my little buddie (he's been featured here before): The Kestrel. At this point, I am 99% sure that this field is his main/usual feeding area so I can come back to see him more reliably than looking for other fields for large birds of prey.
He was looking for dinner (around 16:30), sitting on tall perches "listening to the grass" and swooping down every few minutes. I watched him for about an hour, making mental notes of his preferred landing spots to see where I can get a good angle on him hunting and landing/taking off.
He was approaching one of the (too) many electric poles in the area, I cloned out the power lines in the two pictures above to see if I can get a more majestic (and untangled) frame of it.
Else it would look something like this.
He didn't have much luck on catching his dinner while I was there, so I moved position to higher ground (on side of the field is on an elevated ground about 7 meters higher) with an overview of the field.
But he kept trying, bless his little heart. Fast Food for birds has a different meaning than Just Eat does for UK
Taking a break after landing on the power lines, it's easier to keep track of the bird from this position but I get more "lines" in my frames than I would have preferred.
But he switches to the trees now and I have a different kind of lines now (winter lines )
I definitely want to go back and try to get some diving action when I can. Mornings don't get the best of light because of the tree line and the houses block the sunrise, but sunsets do have a chance to peer in and flood the place with warm light, but only the top area, the grass will stay in the shade unfortunately.
One thing that I haven't mentioned is that I forgot the camera metering to Spot (can't remember why I had it on in the first place) and it was a great success in getting the best exposure for the birds thus far. And I think I will continue to shoot birds exclusively with Spot Metering though I need to remember to dial the EV Compensation down when shooting completely white birds (like the Egrets) to preserve more details on the feathers. On the darker backgrounds, I can get some pretty crazy ISO values as consequence.
This was the last take-off before I went home, my furry little princess was getting quite angry with me for sitting still for almost an hour.
The occasional Magpie-Fly-By ... they are so difficult to photograph because of the incredible contrast between the dark head and half the wings but bring wingtips and chest, difficult to get the exposure right.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I was welcomed by the usual, flock of Sparrows living in the bushes by the train tracks and fields.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
If I sit still long enough they will do a fly-by very close to me, so close in fact that I can't get them all in focus at f 6.7 or f 8. In large numbers, they fly like Starlings flocks in fluid-like blob motion. (It's better explained here:
Once we reached the 2nd field bast the small patch of forest on the hill I am greeted with my first sighting (in a long time) of not one but two Egrets:
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
They were quite far away in the field (for a 500mm lens) and they were happy to chomp on whatever bugs they would find.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
It was lovely to see they "crossed" each other for a cute composition but it was no Swan Love Heart Necking
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
One of them got spooked and flew across the field to my right side about 500 meters farther than where I was.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I managed to get a bit closer to the other one for a few minutes before it got spooked as well. (PS: DAMN YOU SONY AND YOUR NO TC FOR YOUR BUDDIES TAMRON AND SIGMA POLICIES)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
And it took off on me as well, I noticed that Sony a7 Mark IV struggled to keep the Lock-On AF on both birds while flying, keeping the focus on their back legs instead of the head, at f 6.7 the DoF wasn't enough and legs are sharp but the heads are softer.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I moved on to another (but smaller) field and it's one of my favourite spots because it's filled with a wide variety of birds (being just next to the edge of the town there are more food opportunities). And found quite a large groupy bunch of Magpies, picking on other birds if they try to land anywhere near them.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
And out the corner of my eye, I noticed my little buddie (he's been featured here before): The Kestrel. At this point, I am 99% sure that this field is his main/usual feeding area so I can come back to see him more reliably than looking for other fields for large birds of prey.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
He was looking for dinner (around 16:30), sitting on tall perches "listening to the grass" and swooping down every few minutes. I watched him for about an hour, making mental notes of his preferred landing spots to see where I can get a good angle on him hunting and landing/taking off.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
He was approaching one of the (too) many electric poles in the area, I cloned out the power lines in the two pictures above to see if I can get a more majestic (and untangled) frame of it.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Else it would look something like this.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
He didn't have much luck on catching his dinner while I was there, so I moved position to higher ground (on side of the field is on an elevated ground about 7 meters higher) with an overview of the field.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
But he kept trying, bless his little heart. Fast Food for birds has a different meaning than Just Eat does for UK
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Taking a break after landing on the power lines, it's easier to keep track of the bird from this position but I get more "lines" in my frames than I would have preferred.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
But he switches to the trees now and I have a different kind of lines now (winter lines
)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
I definitely want to go back and try to get some diving action when I can. Mornings don't get the best of light because of the tree line and the houses block the sunrise, but sunsets do have a chance to peer in and flood the place with warm light, but only the top area, the grass will stay in the shade unfortunately.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
One thing that I haven't mentioned is that I forgot the camera metering to Spot (can't remember why I had it on in the first place) and it was a great success in getting the best exposure for the birds thus far. And I think I will continue to shoot birds exclusively with Spot Metering though I need to remember to dial the EV Compensation down when shooting completely white birds (like the Egrets) to preserve more details on the feathers. On the darker backgrounds, I can get some pretty crazy ISO values as consequence.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This was the last take-off before I went home, my furry little princess was getting quite angry with me for sitting still for almost an hour.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The occasional Magpie-Fly-By ... they are so difficult to photograph because of the incredible contrast between the dark head and half the wings but bring wingtips and chest, difficult to get the exposure right.
