Bird ID Pt. IV

[paulnj]

These are indeed TV's

Nice kestrel too Mike!

[mjs1973]

Thanks. I see dozens of these birds when I go out driving around the country side, but they are always on power lines, or other man made objects. My goal is to get a print worthy shot of one of these falcons on a natural perch.

[paulnj]

Ah yes.... the bird on the wire that never lets you get it's image They are getting rare in NJ in the last 5 years due to lack of nesting areas I would think?

Well not to brag, but here is an image I took in 35 MPH wind at 500mm on film about 4-5 years ago. I have tighter shots of it, but this is the frame I have scanned in on my HD. My film scanner hit the trash about 2 years ago

The slide is PERFECTLY exposed, but the scan is BAD.

[Knight]

I havent been able to get a good shot of a Kestrel yet , even on a power line hehe. They wont stay still long enough for me to setup lol. Good capture on the TV`s LL

[paulnj]

The reason I could walk up on this kestrel(yes I walked 150 feet through a mower lawn very slowly) was due to the wind blowing so hard. It was facing into the wind as all birds do ;) When the wind would die for a few seconds he would shift to see what I was, then the wind would pick up again. I bet he was also tired from fighting the wind all day too .

I got as close as 15 feet from it, but this image is at about 25-30 feet I bet.

Kestrels are some of the hardest birds to get images of to me, due to them flying as soom as I slow down!!!!

[Lava Lamp]

I posted one of these a while back. Here's a better photo of one. I shot it yesterday with a Nikon 500mm mirror lens I was trying out. Exposure on my Nikon D70 is manual and a little hit or miss, but I got better shots than I thought I would.

[Lava Lamp]

Here's another mirror shot of a spoonbill.

[paulnj]

You went to the zoo ... cheater ;)


The blue winged teal is GREAT!

[Lava Lamp]

One should know that you can't fool the master....

Does it count if the birds are wild animals that choose to live in and around the zoo? The blue-winged teals are. The spoonbill, of course, is not.

By the way, the other spoonbill I posted a while back was wild.

[Lava Lamp]

Is this a Northern or a Loggerhead? Either way, it's a first for me. Saw him on a power line, pulled over, got the camera out of the trunk, opened the sunroof and drove along a service road until I was underneath him.

[Lava Lamp]

I was photographing the shrike when this guy flew by. My lucky day.;)

[OldSchool]

Is this a Northern or a Loggerhead? Either way, it's a first for me. Saw him on a power line, pulled over, got the camera out of the trunk, opened the sunroof and drove along a service road until I was underneath him.

Very nice and crisp. Did you use a flash?
Tim

[Lava Lamp]

Very nice and crisp. Did you use a flash?
Tim

Thanks. I tried some on camera flash, but this shot was without it.

[Lava Lamp]

I got a D50 yesterday and it seems to be a better camera than my D70 in most repsects. I took this photo this morning using the D50, Sigma 50-500mm and Sb800. It helped that the bird was REALLY close.

[OldSchool]

I got a D50 yesterday and it seems to be a better camera than my D70 in most repsects. I took this photo this morning using the D50, Sigma 50-500mm and Sb800. It helped that the bird was REALLY close.

The SB800 has an impressive reach, doesn't it. I really like that flash.

I asked about the flash in the first shot because there looks to be a little "catch light" in the shrike's eye.

Just curious about what you like about the D50 over the D70. Do the images come off needing less PP work? Had you downloaded the D70 firmware update (that brought it closer to the D70s)?

Cheers,
Tim

[paulnj]

Not too bad for a NIKON ;)

HAHAHA... I debated getting one, but the SD card made me think.... NOPE ;)