Photography throwdown: Yardbirds

[ElinL]

Inspired by Dave Watkins wonderful images of birds in his yard. I live beside a park that I consider my back yard and now, in these corona days, I choose to spend my allowed one hour outside time there. Here spring has finally come after a long and hard winter so for the birds this is party – time from four in the morning until midnight. Having the chance to enjoy their celebration of life is such a blessing.

This is a redwing, common in all the Northern Hemisphere and the most common bird in the park – always lovely to look at and listen to.

[Charmaine Joubert]

Knysna Loerie. 

[ElinL]

Great shot Charmaine – very exotic looking bird by our bird-standards.

[Dave Watkins]

I agree with Elin. Great shot and very exotic looking compared to the birds in my neighborhood. Hope to see more.

[Tobie]

Lovely shot of one of our most beautiful birds in South Africa Charmaine!

[Kristi]

I love the vibrant color of this bird, beautiful shot!

[Patrick]

Great idea for a thread 🙂 , LOVING  both photos you posted really beautiful shots and both such great colours.

Sitting on my backyard step i seen this buzzard fairly far away and high up floating on the air current , not very close sorry .. it was actually a surprise to see it i haven’t stop looking since lol.

12 months today i started taking photos .. love it 😉

[ElinL]

Great minimalistic shot Pat, love it. I have said it before and will say it again, probably not the last time, you have such a great eye, enthusiasm, playfulness and phantasy that being allowed to follow you path in photography is a joy to thank for ! Keep going and sharing 🙂

[Patrick]

Thank you so much Elin , I do remember what you wrote and i paid attention to your advice and so glad i did , from the shark tank to chit chat this community will always help guide folk in the best way .. Credit to each and everyone of you ..cheers.

[Dave Watkins]

Nice one Patrick. Happy anniversary! 🙂

[Patrick]

Why many thanks Dave , can’t wait to get cracking for year 2 once safe to do so mate 😉

[Kristi]

Great perspective!

[Dave Watkins]

Very nice color palette with the Redwing shot Elin. The “fanned” out branch makes for a great composition. Wonderful Idea for a throwdown.

[Dave Watkins]

Female Hairy Woodpecker searching for insects.

[ElinL]

That is a very determined looking woodpecker Dave ! Beautifully patterned plumage – goes well with the lichen and moss on the tree. Lovely !

[Dave Watkins]

Determined looking is the perfect description. 🙂

[Tobie]

Luvit!

[Patrick]

lovely bird yet again Dave , you have some stunning  lichen on your trees and i love the sunny moss position ;).

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. I’ve heard that healthy lichens in the area is a sign of good air quality.

[Kristi]

Great crisp shot.

[David Chesterfield]

Pheasant Coucal in breeding plumage, often hangs around in my palm trees.

A large ‘pheasant-like’, ground-dwelling cuckoo, the Pheasant Coucal has a long tail and short rounded wings.

 

[ElinL]

Majestic bird – bird of pray ?

[David Chesterfield]

No, believe it or not. These guys feed on the ground on large insects, frogs, lizards, eggs and young of birds and, sometimes, small mammals.

[Tobie]

Love all the patterns in its feathers! Beautiful bird overall!

[Tersha]

Beautiful bird, love the colours and patterns, great shot David!

[Kristi]

He has an almost evil look in his eye, I love that the branch seems to be grayed out and the birds details really show. Nicely done.

[David Chesterfield]

Butcher Bird on the deck hand rail.

 

[ElinL]

Is it related to magpie ?

[Patrick]

I was thinking the same , they do resemble magpie.

Both very nice birds , nice work David.

[David Chesterfield]

Yes! They are closely related to magpies.

 

[Tersha]

Cool shot, do they raid nests like a magpie?

[Kristi]

Great closeup shot, I love seeing the details in the feathers.

[Beaky]

Red Eared Fire Tail Finch

 

[ElinL]

Lovely little guy. The colour palette is definitely more varied in Australia than here in the north.

[Dave Watkins]

A pretty cool looking bird there Beaky. Nice job.

[Patrick]

Amazing eye marking , lovely photo 😉

[Tobie]

What a beautiful bird! Nice shot!

[Tersha]

Such a bright little bird, beautiful!

[Kristi]

Seems as though this birdie would normally blend in pretty well, but really stands out in this shot. Nice work.

[Tersha]

wren

[ElinL]

Looks similar to ours, the Eurasian wren. Very quick movements – extremely difficult to capture.

[Dave Watkins]

The little ones don’t ever stop for long. Especially when they’re on the ground.

[Kristi]

Appears he is on a mission. Great shot!

[Tersha]

greater spotted woodpecker

[ElinL]

Lovely Diane.

[Dave Watkins]

Looks a lot like our Hairy woodpecker. This one seems to be confused between the difference of a tree and a fence post. 🙂

[Patrick]

Great seeing and lovely photo , i have yet to see one 😉

[ElinL]

Common redpoll

 

[Dave Watkins]

Seems to be enjoying the sunshine.

[Patrick]

Lovely bird , this is another bird i don’t think i will get to see for real.

Nice seeing 🙂

[ElinL]

Thanks Pat, you should be able to see them if you look for them. They are quite small with a reddish brown patch on the forehead.

[Patrick]

I was not sure if they visit here , was ages ago i thought i read they stayed further south while winter visit ? i will look up some local bird info for these 😉

edit : I have done a little reading and my best times for seeing are between October and April.

October is my target 😉

[Kristi]

Great shot, I like that the background is blurred out just enough.

[Dave Watkins]

Female purple finch.

[Patrick]

Smashing shot Dave , nice markings on these little finches lovey to see them doing so well for such little things.

Nice share 😉

[ElinL]

Beautiful shot Dave. You got him posing for the perfect background.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick and Elin. No shortage of subjects for this throwdown. It’s sure been fun. 🙂

[Tobie]

Love the eye contact and composition! 👌

[Kristi]

This is an excellent picture, I love the crispness of the bird and the whole branch.

[Patrick]

The ever dependable Rocky Robin always up for a photo 🙂

[ElinL]

That is a beauty !!! We rarely see them here and definitely not in my backyard. Wonderful image Pat.

[Patrick]

They are very sociable little chaps , great defenders as well , thank you Elin 😉

[Dave Watkins]

Nice one Patrick. Beautiful color scheme. 🙂

[Tobie]

It looks so soft! Nice one!

[Patrick]

A couple more from today.

[Dave Watkins]

I’ve always liked that metallic sheen on some starlings. But I DON’T like them when a large flock shows up and takes over the feeders. 🙁

[Patrick]

Ha you do see some commotion when they get together , love watching them in Murmuration.

[ElinL]

Greetings to yours Pat from their Icelandic relatives

[Dave Watkins]

Another starling. Ugh. Just kidding. 🙂 I like that B&W with the frame filled with branches.

[Patrick]

Fantastic starling photo Elin 😉

[Kristi]

That b&w shot is stunning. I love how you’ve famed it.

[Dave Watkins]

Male California quail. Perched on top of a pile of branches left over from pruning an old, neglected apple tree in our yard.

[Patrick]

Very cool looking headdress and patterns , nice share Dave

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick.

[ElinL]

Beautiful. One can wonder about the purpose of some of those appendages.

[Dave Watkins]

I looked it up. The male quail’s “top knot” helps to attract a mate. I guess ZZ Top was right.  “Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man.” Even in the bird world.

[Tobie]

What a unique bird! Love ‘the’ feather!

[chris pook]

[ElinL]

Exactly Chris, hit me the other day 🙂

[chris pook]

I’m glad you were there! 🙂

[Patrick]

He must be in a huff lol.

[Dave Watkins]

Running on empty. 🙂

[Patrick]

LOL , he be back 😉

[ElinL]

Nah would not say so after seeing some of the salmon he manages to land her in NIceland.

[Patrick]

Wow , don’t think i have seen a salmon that big in many years caught on rod and line , nice fishing 😉

[Dave Watkins]

White-crowned Sparrow.

[Patrick]

Impressive shot Dave, what lovely looking cap he wears 😉

Nice one mate.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. 🙂 We’ve had a couple of different varieties of birds stop by recently. This is one of them. Got our bird bath up and running the other day too. Birds are loving it.

[ElinL]

Great catch Dave. The weather seems to be alright too.

[Kristi]

Beautiful shot all the way around.

[Jim Collins]

This is a subject I want to improve at, for sure. These are all wonderful shots and great inspiration.

My backyard is only in the barest of beginnings to attract birds. Hard to get stuff when you have to depend on Amazon right now. Long delays as bird seed doesn’t really qualify as “essential.”

Here’s my one recent shot that is OK. The ubiquitous mourning dove (at least around here) and usually pretty easy to shoot.

[ElinL]

Lovely bird Jim. Which lens did you use ?

[Jim Collins]

Thank you, Elin. my longest – 100-300mm. This is cropped, of course.

I tried for a catchlight and got it with another shot one second later, but I like this one as he seems to be examining the hole.

[Patrick]

Nice share Jim  lovely birds they are ,

My own garden has very little in the way of a attracting birds but i have started to change that as best i can for now , i put some perches up ( old dead branches ) and am in the process of building a reflecting pool .. My sister also has some young flowers and a few other bits and bobs on the go for me i can add these to my yard in pots, hoping to attract some insect life 😉 .

Thanks for posting Jim

 

[Jim Collins]

Thanks Patrick. Yes, it’s a process for sure. I just now finished watching a webinar on backyard bird photography from Tamron. Some terrific photos, of course, but also a lot of good info.

[ElinL]

The weather has been a beast the whole week so no bird-shooting here. Have to resort to older photos. I love starlings, but not the fleas they carry with them, nasty bites. Clever birds, mischievous and noisy. Our now deceased house cat, Harry, was an avid bird hunter. We tried to interfere by letting him carry a collar with  a bell. He always managed to scratch it off. More than once I observed a group of starlings tease him by diving, one after the other, to just above his head. He tried to catch them but gave up in the end and walked away, his male pride wounded. He did not take it lightly.

[Patrick]

Four cheeky chaps probably planning the next raid 😉

[Jim Collins]

They do seem to have rather smug looks. 🙂

[Tersha]

worm dinner

[Patrick]

Nice capture Tersha , i love how they flip their heads to the side when they have a mouth full looking for more worms amazing eyesight and hearing.

[Dave Watkins]

Spotted Towhee. Cleaning up the left overs under one of the feeders.

 

[Patrick]

Lovely colours and what an eye , lovely capture Dave

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. Yep. That red eye sure adds a point of interest to the photo. 🙂

[Jim Collins]

Very nice shot, Dave, of a pretty bird. I have yet so see one of these around here.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks for the comment Jim. I think they’re fairly common in the western Americas. Beyond that I don’t know.

[Dave Watkins]

Male purple finch.

[Patrick]

Lovely lovely bird , sweet capture Dave your flying with your fantastic bird shots mate love them all .

I had to include one of the locals 😉

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. Beautiful coloration on this Dove? We have similar looking birds but ours don’t have that pastel blue head and neck. Very stylish. 🙂

[Patrick]

Thanks mate , this fella is a wood pigeon … lots of them about here very nervous birds so easy to spook.

[ElinL]

Lovely shot Dave.

[Tobie]

Can never go wrong with a finch, hey? Beautiful!

[Tersha]

worms again.

[ElinL]

Impressive how many lives a small beak can hold. Great photo.

[Tersha]

Thanks Elin, they’re collecting all day and become less and less shy!

[Patrick]

They are great at this job that’s for sure , nice shot Tersha 😉

[Tersha]

Thanks Patrick, we have one out the front of the house, and one in the back garden, both spend all day collecting worms, and every now and then jumping in the bird bath!

[ElinL]

Flies for dinner

[Beaky]

Love this shot Elin, little fella couldn’t get anymore flies in his beak! 🙂

[Patrick]

Cracking Photo , looks like good hunting ground 😉

[Beaky]

Magpie asking Mr Galah if he can join him for a feed! Always entertaining watching the Maggies and Galah’s argue over who has the rights to the feed bowl 🙂

[Patrick]

Lovely photo , i really like the expression on the magpies face it has fantastic eyes.

[Tersha]

Such contrasting birds, cool shot.
Your magpie looks different to ours over here ( UK ), ours has a lot of white on it.

[ElinL]

Funny looking bird Mr Galah, beautiful colours. Must be fun having those guys hanging around in the backyard, intelligent and mischievous – you never know what they are up to.

[Tobie]

Amazingly unique colours, beautiful!

[Kristi]

King of the dish. Great shot, it tells a story.

[Tersha]

Male pheasant in full colours …

[ElinL]

Wonderful portrait – fantastic creatures – no gender equality there….

[Beaky]

Wow how cool is he!

Birds are such awesome creatures.

[Jim Collins]

Wow. Look at those colors. Great shot!

[Patrick]

10 /10 😉

[Dave Watkins]

Fantastic colors. Rather regal looking in all his finery. 🙂

[Tobie]

Beautiful too!

[Tersha]

Siskins

[ElinL]

Cuteness overload – lovely shot. What is it that you feed them ?

[Tersha]

Thanks Elin, we feed them on sunflower hearts.

[Jim Collins]

What a great shot of two cute birds. They remind me of parakeets.

[Tersha]

Thanks Jim.

[Patrick]

Lovely colours 😉

[Tersha]

Thanks Patrick, they’re males, the females are less bright, more green.

[Dave Watkins]

Pretty birds. Look similar to our American Goldfinch. And what a great tube feeder.

[Tersha]

Thanks Dave, they also look a lot like a Yellow Hammer. Our Goldfinches only have yellow stripes on them. Here’s a photo from a few years ago, I haven’t got a decent one yet this year.

@pentaxfan

[Jim Collins]

American crow. One of three cruising around my backyard the other day.

[Patrick]

Nice shot  , crows are awesome to watch real smart.

[Jim Collins]

Thanks Patrick. Indeed they are.

I would have had a great shot of one of them with wings out for a sudden direction change fairly close to me, but this stupid bush jumped up and blocked half the view. 🙂

[ElinL]

Cool shot Jim. We have no crows here but their cousins, ravens, in abundance.

[Jim Collins]

Thank you Elin.

Mr. Poe’s good friend. Thank you for your comment. I just did some research as a result and discovered we have a raven here too. I don’t believe I’ve seen one in my neighborhood, but I did go back and look closely at my photos to be sure I had not mis-ID’d it. Definitely a crow.

[Tersha]

Very cool shot Jim, it’s not so easy getting them in flight! We have crows, jackdaws and rooks cruising over, waiting for us to go in so they can come down and eat all the bird food in the feeders!

[Jim Collins]

Thanks Tersha!

[Tobie]

Literally snapped this rare visitor on top of my lapa a few moments ago. A Brown-hooded Kingfisher. The red-ish tint in its beak indicates that it’s a semi-adult, probably just a few weeks old.

In spite of its name and the family it is part of, it only lives on insects.

[Dave Watkins]

Great shot Tobie. The Jimmy Durante of the bird world. 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Dave! Interesting analogy! 😄

[Jim Collins]

Wow, what a gorgeous shot, Tobie.

[Tobie]

Thanks Jim! 🙂

[Patrick]

Really nice Tobie , very interesting they are insect only.

[Tobie]

Thanks Patrick. Yes it is! It ‘s to our advantage though, as it means we get to see them quite far distances from water – and hunting insects in your yards so we get to photograph them!

They are usually within about a mile from a stream but they never fish.

[Tersha]

How lucky you are Tobie, such a lovely bird and a great shot!
Just curiosity, what’s a ‘lapa’?

[Tobie]

LOL! I should have checked whether this word is known internationally @tersha! 😀

I think wiki sums it up quite well:

A lapa is a structure that is popular in South Africa. It usually consists of a thatched roof supported by wooden poles. Lapas are commonly used as semi-open entertainment areas.

[Tersha]

Thanks! 🙂

[Tobie]

I noticed that a certain lot of trees in my yard were attracting a lot of birds this year. Closer investigation showed that they were after some fruits (this is the first year that these trees are bearing fruits).

Cape White-eye.

[ElinL]

Two gorgeous shots Tobie. Your and Beakys bird shots give me the feeling  that I am living on the wrong side of the planet.

[Tobie]

Thanks @elax, you’re way too kind! 😉

[Dave Watkins]

I really like the color scheme throughout the image here. Amazes me at the positions birds sometimes get into for a meal.

Also thanks for your comments. 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Dave!

[Patrick]

Brilliant markings , nice shot mate.

[Tobie]

Thanks Patrick!

[Tersha]

I love these birds, great shot Tobie!

[Tobie]

Thanks @tersha!

[Tersha]

chaffinch

[Patrick]

Gorgeous little birds , love the slate grey on the head.

[Tobie]

Nice one, reminding strongly of our house sparrows.

[Tersha]

Thanks Tobie, our sparrows are shades of brown.

[ElinL]

Beautiful bird – lovely shot !

[Tersha]

Thanks Elin.

[Tersha]

Thanks Patrick, they are very pretty!

[Jay Ward]

Eastern Screech Owl,showed up two days running in my backyard sea grape tree.

[ElinL]

Lucky you Jay – one of my favourite birds. Hope this gives you the opportunity for some more nice shots.

[Patrick]

Lovely share mate , stunning big bird that 😉

[Tersha]

Bad hair day

jackdaw

[Patrick]

Lol poor soul , if looks could kill , great capture 😉

[Tersha]

Jay

[ElinL]

The jackdaw looks as if he got up on the wrong side of the branch that morning. Funny expression on his face 🙂 Superb shot of the jay – beautiful bird !

[Patrick]

I love these birds as well , not liked by the other birds for good reason , the little flash of blue really is fantastic , thanks for posting and nice work 😉

 

[ElinL]

From the extended backyard

Looking for nesting place:

Hmm maybe

Nah

Mating game in sunset – two gents and a lady common loon, – remarkably peaceful and joyful

[Patrick]

Very lovely photos Elin , the sunset warmth creates a very peaceful atmosphere.

I think all our wildlife has an added extra calmness about them at the moment as if they know there is not many people moving about .. I Hope this all leads to a great breeding season for every creature large and small.

Thanks as always for sharing 😉

[ElinL]

Thank you Patrick :).

[Tersha]

Love these Elin, the sunset lighting creates lovely colours. The red eyes and patterns on the Loons is quite striking!

[ElinL]

Thanks Diane.

[Dave Watkins]

I like all three of these. 🙂  Male Mallard in the first two standing guard while his mate searches for the best nesting site. Color scheme from foreground to back works very nice. The light and red eyes of the loons offset by the surrounding darker shades of the water in the third pic is a winner. Thumbs up Elin.

[ElinL]

Thanks Dave.

[Anne Hornsby]

Lovely idea, Elin.  I’m not sure what this is, perhaps a wren.

 

[ElinL]

Thank you  Anne. Great combo of bird and flowers, lovely, thanks for posting. The bird looks similar to the wren Diane posted the other day.

[Patrick]

I think it may be a house sparrow , nice capture Anne 😉

[Tersha]

Lovely photo Anne, I agree with Patrick, I think it’s a house sparrow.

[Anne Hornsby]

Thanks, folks.  And also for correctly identifying the bird, Patrick & Diane.  You can tell how much I know about birds…    Wonderful images in this topic.

[Tersha]

Blackbird in the birdbath …

[Patrick]

Cracking capture , great expression 😉

Evening Flight

Four Mallards Flyby 

[ElinL]

Great capture Diane – love the expression on his face 🙂

[Tersha]

Thanks Elin!

[ElinL]

Very nice minimalistic shot Patrick. Good eyes on you to identify them as mallards.

[Dave Watkins]

That’s funny. Could be an Angry Bird.

[Tersha]

Thanks Dave, he has got a very strange look about him!

[Dave Watkins]

Our first sighting of a grosbeak this year! I think he’s telling me its time to scrub the algae out of the bird bath. But on the bright side the color of the algae and bird feathers kind of work together. 🙂

[ElinL]

Gorgeous colours – love the soft brown combined with the black mask on his face.

Works very well with the colour of the algae – they can be poisonous cant they ?

[Dave Watkins]

Hi Elin. These grosbeaks are one of the more colorful birds to come visit so far this year.

The algae is a definite sign it’s time to clean the birdbath but it’s not toxic like the blue/green algae blooms that you read about. That said it’s still something that should be avoided. The only thing a stagnant, algae holding bird bath is good for is raising mosquitos.

Also birds poop in them which is not healthy so they really should be cleaned and refilled every few days. Something I neglected to do and hope not to repeat.

[Tersha]

Lovely colourful little bird Dave, nice shot in the bird bath.

[Patrick]

Another fantastically coloured bird  , lovely capture Dave 😉

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Diane and Patrick. The bird’s bath is looking a lot better now. 🙂

[ElinL]

Testosterone splendour

[Tersha]

He certainly is irresistible Elin, lovely shot of a beautiful bird!

[Patrick]

Gorgeous capture Elin 😉

[ElinL]

Thank you Diane and Patrick 🙂 Here is another from this morning of the eider lady and her entourage

 

[Patrick]

Brilliant shot , you make me want to go out now looking for stuff 😉

[ElinL]

Sounds great Patrick. There are several small lakes in and just by the city – a lot of hormonal fun happening there right now – guess the same is going on where you are. Look forward to your pics !

[Dave Watkins]

Love that first shot. Couldn’t ask for a nicer background. Beautiful image.

[ElinL]

Thanks Dave. Have to rework the last shot, I can see now – just found the situation with the bored looking female followed by a row of extremely keen males so hilarious.

[Patrick]

We may be getting some easing of restrictions we find out next week , fingers crossed , right now i have just this cheeky fella 😉 i did spot a common buzzard up over the fields next to home ..

 

[Jim Collins]

Ha! Cheeky indeed, Patrick. Nice capture!

[Patrick]

Thank you Jim

[Dave Watkins]

🙂 Not at all shy about showing what he thinks of you Patrick. 🙂

[Patrick]

😉 all i done was open the window.

[ElinL]

You sure got yourself a good looking friend there Patrick, bet his song is to die for ! Great shot.

[Dave Watkins]

Dead end.

[Patrick]

Gorgeous shot mate , lovely details as always Dave.

[ElinL]

Beautiful shot Dave !

[Tersha]

Nice shot Dave, lovely colour bird!

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks all. That brilliant red sure is an eye catcher. 🙂

[Kristi]

Forgive me, I couldn’t pick just one. I have been trying to capture hummingbirds lately so here are a couple of my favorite shots.

Above, Rufous hummingbird

Black chinned hummingbird passing through

Rufous hummingbird. I love his happy eyes in this shot.

 

[ElinL]

Hummingbirds are fascinating but difficult to shoot – they move so fast. Nice shots !

[Kristi]

Isn’t that the truth! There are a lot that didn’t turn out. Thank you!

[Tersha]

Cool shots Kris, I’ve only ever seen a hummingbird on tv or photos of them, they must be fascinating to watch.

[Kristi]

Thank you, they are very fascinating!

[Patrick]

Lovely work , i like them all thanks for sharing 😉

[Jim Collins]

Wow, wonderful shots, Krist. Difficult to get the wings anything but a blur.

[Tersha]

Rook … loads of these come down and raid the bird feeders

[ElinL]

Mischievous looking guy, must scare off smaller birds. Do they raid nests ?

[Tersha]

Hi Elin, I’m pretty sure they raid nests , like crows and magpies. Magnificent to look at, but pests in the garden …. about a dozen of them in the morning on all the feeders!

[Patrick]

Nice visitor Tersha , there is something about the crow family we see them often but for me i nearly always stop and look at them with curiosity , they are always up to something Mischievous as Elin said or something else that reveals how smart these birds are.

Looks in great condition as well thanks for posting 😉

[Jim Collins]

Very nice shot, Tersha. There are occasional crows in my area but, so far, they have not discovered my feeders. Of course, not much else has yet either. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

A beak to be proud of. Your Rooks are my Starlings. Birds that show up in large numbers and hog the feeders.

[Rob Eyers]

For a few weeks these two have been frequenting our pool. They’re now spending a lot of time on our cul-de-sac hanging out on everyone’s lawns. They let me get fairly close as they swam the other day. Not sure where the nest is yet, but I’m thinking that must be the reason for their hanging around.

 

 

[ElinL]

Lovely visitors – great crisp shots, –  when time comes you may be so lucky as to have a regular group of small guests. Hope it does give you too much work in terms of pool-cleaning.

 

[Patrick]

Lovely photos Rob , cool story as well you might find a load of youngsters soon doing lengths of the pool 😉

[Dave Watkins]

Love that color blue. Really makes these mallards stand out from the background. Thumbs up.

[ElinL]

Watchful – horned grebes

 

 

[Patrick]

Smashing colours in this light , looks like a rest period 😉

[ElinL]

Thank you Patrick – more watching out for the enemies.

[Patrick]

Hooded Crow , shot this with 105 macro f3,5  1/250 lens as a random test.

[Jim Collins]

Interesting idea to shoot with a macro lens. Came out quite nice. First time I’ve ever seen a hooded crow photo. Thanks.

[ElinL]

They like sitting high, clever birds.

[Jim Collins]

California scrub jay. I’m pretty sure he’s the resident bird in my juniper bush/tree.

[Patrick]

Lovely capture Jim , such a stunning little bird.

[Jim Collins]

Thanks Patrick. Though they’re very common here, they are one of my favorites.

[Dave Watkins]

Purple finch tired of waiting for his turn at the feeder. “Watch my six. I’m going in.”

[ElinL]

Tomahawk

[Dave Watkins]

🙂 Love it!

[Tersha]

Full of movement, great shot Dave!

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Diane. 🙂

[Tersha]

These come into the garden for a short while ….
male bullfinch

female bullfinch

[Patrick]

Sweet captures Tersha , great to see so many smaller birds making an appearance in all out gardens ;).

[Tersha]

Thanks Patrick, they arrive for a few days each year, as you can see, they are eating the dandelion seeds in the lawn … the bonus of having a scruffy lawn! 🙂

[ElinL]

Beautiful birds Diane. Are you happy with the Tamron 150 -600 ? I am considering to either buy an extender to my Canon or sell it and buy the Tamron. I tried it the other day and found it a bit heavy.

[Tersha]

It’s a pretty heavy lens, I only use it on a tripod, with a Wimberly gimbal head, it’s easy to use then. At full extension the bokeh can be a bit iffy with a busy background, but that can be worked around. Plus it’s a bit noisy in low light, but that might just be my camera, which is known for being noisy …Canon Eos 7D.
Ive been considering a full frame, any thoughts?

[ElinL]

Regarding noise its probably the Canon, more noise on high iso than f ex NIkon or Fuji. I try to avoid underexposure when shooting with Iso higher than 800 on my Canon 5d IV, reduces noise considerably. The reviews of 6d mark 2 have generally been very positive, I think I would have bought that if the 5d IV had not been available much sooner. The 6d 2 is considerably cheaper and is almost as good as the 5d IV. I am very satisfied with my camera, but if I were to buy a new one now, staying with Canon I´d also consider their new mirrorless full frame R or 6d 2. Some of the die hard full frame Canon people in the local photo club are moving over to the R. I tried it for a day last year and found it easy to use and the images were great.

[Patrick]

Much appreciated for the info Elin , Tersha 😉

[Jim Collins]

Thank you both for an enlightening discussion. I have the 7D also and, as a birthday present, just bought the Tamron 150-600 G2. It arrives tomorrow. I look forward to learning how to control the noise.

[Dave Watkins]

Pretty birds. We don’t have Bullfinch here but they look similar to our Black-headed Grosbeak. See below. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Black-headed Grosbeak.

[Jim Collins]

Great shot of a beautiful little bird, Dave.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Jim. 🙂

[Patrick]

Stop it lol , smasher photo mate i see little in the way of bright bold colours like this in our birds , great shot Dave

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. 🙂 One of the more colorful birds we have around here. A relative of theirs, the Evening Grosbeak, has been stopping by recently. They’ve got some great color as well. Hoping to get a nice shot of one of them soon.

[Author]

Posts