Yardbirds 2022 Act II

[Dave Watkins]

The first yardbird 2022 started by Elin was getting pretty long so have decided to start a new one.

This is an Anna’s hummingbird in our blueberry bush.

[Patrick]

Beautiful photo Dave , thanks for starting this new thread mate is it still same rules as in can we branch out from the yard ?

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. Same rules mate. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing some more bird shots from you and others as well. And if the weather cooperates a bit around here more from me too. 🙂

[Patrick]

Thanks for the info Dave 🙂

[Patrick]

Going away for a couple of days in the morning hope to get a few shots at the place i am headed and hope to get some long exposure water shots as well 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Looking forward to seeing what you find. Good luck.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Pics or it didn’t happen. 😉

[Patrick]

Lol 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Sweet little bird and beautiful photo Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Dahlia. 🙂

[Patrick]

Pochard (Male)

[Tobie]

Nice one Pat!

[Patrick]

Thanks a lot mate 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Great portrait of this bird Patrick. Love the colours and details 🙂

[Patrick]

Thank you very much Dahlia 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Great shot Patrick. Quite the handsome fellow. I think the blue background works great in showing off the colors of the head and eye.

[Patrick]

Hi mate , he had his lady friend with him but she kept cleaning her feathers so i just zoned in on that eye while she had her head lowered ,thanks so much much mate ..i have some more shots i will add as soon as i process them i still feel tired i done a lot of walking because it was a nature reserve and no cars allowed but the weather was good and i loved the fresh air 🙂

[Patrick]

Swallows

Sedge warbler ( A first for me )

House martins nest building

[Dave Watkins]

Thumbs up Patrick. Especially like those first two. Looks like the trip paid off. I’m sure there’s more to come.

[Patrick]

Thanks mate 🙂

That House martin image had no editing on it was just so tired haha

[Dave Watkins]

Been there. 🙂

[Tobie]

Nice! I specially love that double story swallow house! never saw that before!

 

[Patrick]

Thank you mate 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Great set of photos Patrick 🙂

[Patrick]

Thanks so much for the lovely comments Dahlia 🙂

[Ken Scheepers]

 

A Western Bluebird on her way to the nest in the birdhouse.

[Patrick]

Nice one Ken , thanks for sharing and joining in 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Good shot Ken. The western bluebird population in my area of Oregon had dropped to scary low numbers a few years ago. But thankfully they’ve been making a comeback. Always nice to see photos of them.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Lovely shot Ken and beautiful bird 🙂

[Patrick]

Beedy eye of the tufted duck

[Dave Watkins]

Nice work Patrick. The water here makes a great background.

[Patrick]

Thank you Dave 🙂

[Patrick]

[Ken Scheepers]

Nice and sharp, beautiful shot Patrick.

[Patrick]

Thanks Ken , i was walking to a hide and someone had put seeds on a number of fence post along the walkway and i stopped for a shot or 2 lots of goldfinch and chaffinch about but they were very flighty this little tit was busy cleaning itself and was happy to stand for a bit while took some photos

[Tobie]

Nice shot of a beautiful bird – even trying to show you a leg – or is it a sign? 😂

[Patrick]

🙂 maybe a sign haha

[Patrick]

Pochard (female)

[Dave Watkins]

I like both of these last two. I like the colors and the bird’s “pose” of the first one and of course I like the B&W treatment and background of the 2nd. Nice work Patrick.

[Patrick]

Thanks very much Dave 🙂

[Tobie]

Grey Hornbill mom & dad looking checking out the world from a garden tree. Of course ‘she’ is the one wearing lipstick.

 

[Patrick]

Beautiful photos Tobie and as always thank you for sharing and joining this thread mate 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Patrick – aaaah, bird photography is my passion after all so I love coming here!

I would have loved to come here more but I get bogged down by work most of the time (doing web design & maintenance on the side line as pensioner).

[Ken Scheepers]

Awesome shots Tobie

[Tobie]

Thanks Ken!

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Wow! I love the photos Tobie. Very beautiful 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Dahlia!

@dahliaambrose

[Dave Watkins]

Two really nice shots Tobie. Always enjoy seeing the exotic (to me) bird photos you post.

[Tobie]

Thanks Dave. Yea these look like they’re coming out of the dinosaurus era, don’t they?

[Patrick]

[Dave Watkins]

Nice one Patrick. Looks like our Tree Swallows. We put a Bluebird nesting box in our pasture but the Tree swallows beat them to it.

[Patrick]

Thanks a lot mate , i was sitting in a hide watching these birds for an hour resting my feet 🙂

[Ken Scheepers]

Great photo Patrick, they are tough to capture, especially in flight as they as so quick.

[Patrick]

Thanks Ken , yes they are very tricky to get a clean sharp frame that new z9 you have should have some nice tracking capabilities that might help 🙂

[Tobie]

Lovely shot. It looks very similar to our Barn Swallow here in South Africa.

[Patrick]

Yes mate , thanks very much 🙂

[Ken Scheepers]

A Cassin’s Kingbird in an Oak tree eating a Wasp taken with my new Z9

[Patrick]

Nice little bird mate looks like is not letting that feast go 🙂

[Tobie]

I’m not a big fan of aloes but during flowering times it has huge benefits in terms of the birds it attracts. These were taken within 10 minutes.

It was much darker than it looks below so I couldn’t bring the ISO’s down to my liking.

Cape White-eye

 

Black-capped Bulbul

 

White-bellied Sunbird in non-breeding colors.

[Dave Watkins]

Really nice vibrant colors in all three. Noise a bit more noticeable in the last one but doesn’t bother me. 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Dave. I guess I could have removed some noise if only time allowed! 😉

[Dave Watkins]

Oops. Thought you were referring to the bit of noise when you said you couldn’t use as low an ISO as you would have liked. 🙂

[Patrick]

Superb set mate like all these a lot 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Patrick.

[Patrick]

This one caught me out i was a bit long on the zoom and i just noticed it when it was closing in on my position so a bit close on the edges , could have maybe selected a better SS as well Not great but oh well 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

🙂 🙂 🙂 Great shot Patrick. Love the angry bird staring right at me. No doubt a little more space at the bottom would have been a plus but I’ve attempted BIF photography occasionally and things can happen fast. You got the entire bird in the frame so high fives are in order. I also like that the feathers show motion. The head/eyes are sharp. You nailed it. The only minor distraction I would mention is the branch. Completely gone or more evenly spaced between the wings might have been better. But sometimes we can’t control everything. 🙂

[Patrick]

Thanks a lot Mate , i thought about editing out the branch but decided not to bother , the action happened and i was just not ready for it although i completely agree with you on what you said , it detracts from the shot and would be so much better if it was not there at all , bit of a 50 /50 shot lol ,  i guess that is how we learn by looking at the bad points and remembering to eliminate then next time , A step left or right could be all that is required sometimes 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

The branch was a bit of a nit-pick. You still came away with a really good BIF shot. Something I tried a few times but did not have much success. Just gave up on trying. I’ll have to rethink that and maybe give it a go again. 🙂

[Patrick]

Yeah mate i know BIF can be harder than it looks the hardest part for me is trying to keep the Single center focus point on the bird so i try group focus from 5 , 9  and 21  , i don’t do a whole lot of BIF and it is something that needs practice over and over again i think  , i mostly look for a bird on a stick With a distant background lol.

Keep going mate you will get what your after i am sure about that 🙂

[Ken Scheepers]

That is an amazing shot Patrick, I just love the angle of attack proving just how nimble these birds are. Great job!

[Patrick]

Thank you so much Ken 🙂

[Tobie]

If one intends to shoot flying birds then it a good idea to zoom out a litte (where your images are usually sharper, as an added advantage). But if it surprises you then you take what you can get. Not bad at all!

[Patrick]

Thanks a lot mate and you are right , the branch area was what i was orig zoomed in on as i was catching the birds perched on it before they left and then this one entered the frame and had zero time to adjust .. Will remember your tip for next time though 🙂

[Ken Scheepers]

Experimenting with a 2x teleconverter on the 100-400 lens, this shot is at 800mm, f/11, 1/3200 sec & ISO 2500. I was sitting on the ground at a local lake, about 20 yards away and watched this pair of Barn Swallow’s collecting mud I assume to building their nest.

[Patrick]

Nice shooting mate , they are beautiful little birds 🙂

[Tobie]

Hindsight is always easy (specially from the sideline) so I reckon you could have gotten away with f/8 and 1/1000s in favor of less ISO but hey, you got the shot to prove that you saw it!

[Ken Scheepers]

I agree Patrick. However I seem to have a problem making an adjustment in the heat of the moment, especially when split seconds count 🙂 Here are two more from the sequence.

[Patrick]

Great crested grebe  , drying in the wind

[Tobie]

Shot mate!

[Patrick]

Thank you so much always nice to hear your feedback 🙂

[Patrick]

[Tobie]

Nice and sharp Patrick, well done!

@patrickw

[Patrick]

Thanking you Sir 🙂

[Patrick]

Pied wagtail

[Dave Watkins]

Love the frame and strong diagonals. Very artistic. Thumbs up.

[Patrick]

Much appreciated mate thank you 🙂

A little Dunnock , was going to delete but i tried to rescue it the best i could , i think it only has one leg but it never seemed to be bothering it , i have seen a few starling with one leg missing over the years but never a Dunnock.

[Tobie]

About 5 years ago I planted an acacia tree in the garden. After some time I saw that it has bark that looks like scales and I thought to myself ‘perfect for woodpeckers’. Well, today I was honored with a first-see for me in the garden (in that tree): a Golden-tailed Woodpecker.

It was quite dark under the canopy of leaves so high quality was not an option. I just HAD to take the shot, regardless!

[Tobie]

Demonstrating where its name came from.

[Tersha]

Wow, lovely woodpecker Tobie, it must feel so special to see one for the first time in your garden. Hopefully now they’ve found it, they’ll be back! The woodpeckers in our garden come back every year and breed, they’re so lovely to watch!

[Tobie]

I’m sure they will be beck @tersha. They are kind of creatures of habit so they like to patrol a specific route every day. The difficulty is knowing when it’s spending a minute or two in MY garden! 😀

[Tobie]

Another first-see for me in the garden today: a Double-collared Sunbird. Attracted by a flowering aloe.

[Patrick]

Such a beautifully colored bird Tobie , lovely shot mate 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Patrick.

@patrickw

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Vibrant colours. Love the photo Tobie 🙂

[Tobie]

Thanks Dahlia.

@dahliaambrose

[Ken Scheepers]

Ah, that is stunning Tobie. Love it.

[Tobie]

Thanks Ken!

@kens

[Tersha]

Beautiful bird, and a great photo Tobie!

[Tobie]

Thanks @tersha.

[Mistyisle]

Very eye catching and interesting bird, Tobie. Great catch! 🙂

 

[Tobie]

Thanks Misty!

@mistyisle

[Dave Watkins]

Wow! Such great colors Sunbirds have. Nice catch Tobie.

[Tobie]

Thanks Dave!

@pentaxfan

[Tersha]

Woodpecker chick …

[Patrick]

Lovely photos Tersha , still looking for a shot of a woody myself 🙂

[Tersha]

Thanks Patrick, we are lucky, they are in the garden every year and have chicks every year! Before I lived where I am now, I’d hardly ever seen one.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

So beautiful Diane 🙂

[Tersha]

Thanks Dahlia!

[Dave Watkins]

I like the looks of woodpeckers. The youngsters look a little scruffy but still. Three terrific shots here. Like Patrick, I’m still in search of one myself.

[Tobie]

Shot @tersha! It may be a chick but it obviously has the right idea about finding food!

[Dahlia Ambrose]

A spotted dove!

[Tobie]

Shot Dahlia! I love the crop you’ve decided on here!

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Thank you very much Tobie 🙂

[Patrick]

Such beautiful markings , lovely bird and thanks for sharing 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Thank you very much Patrick 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

A well spotted, spotted dove. She blends in well with her surroundings. Agree with Tobie. I like your composition here.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Thank you very much Dave 🙂

[Tersha]

Blackbird chick, just resting in the grass …

[Patrick]

Lovely shot and such cute birds tersha 🙂

[Tobie]

Beautiful @tersha. It looks very similar to our European Starling.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Sweet photo and bird Diane 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

I like the feather detail. Hope the neighborhood kitties didn’t find it. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Turkey vulture taking an afternoon break on our fence.

[Patrick]

Gorgeous mate love the feather details and the lovely composition and that little catchlight on the eye , super frame Dave thanks for posting 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. A few times I’ve seen one at a distance with its wings spread in the morning sun. Would make a great photo but haven’t been able to get close enough for a decent shot. Took this one from my front porch and cropped quite a bit.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Wow! That’s a great photo Dave. I like how the patterns on the wings stand out! 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Dahlia. 🙂 Their heads are a brilliant red, but I ended up liking the B&W better.

[Ken Scheepers]

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo, usually heard but seldom seen according to Merlin! A first for me and thanks to the Merlin app by playing its call, he came looking for the intruder so I shot him!

[Dave Watkins]

A great looking bird. Fantastic that you got it to come to a call you played. 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Beautiful bird and photo Ken 🙂

[Patrick]

Glad you got the photo it is a nice bird , on a side note and personal opinion using bird calls to draw birds in on a false basis is actually frowned apon by many birders .. The call on Merlin app is only so you can idenify a bird in a given area using it to draw them in is only confusing them.

[Dave Watkins]

American Goldfinch on a thistle sock. They love this feeder. When it’s full sometimes there are 7 or 8 of them hanging on it at the same time. 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

A beautiful and curious looking bird Dave 🙂

[Patrick]

Beautiful mate , lovely color 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Dahlia. Thanks Patrick. These finches are the only ones visiting lately.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

 

The Oriental Pied Hornbill

Earlier  this year we had three pied hornbills nesting in the trees of the stadium when it was quiet for a few months. Photographed from the balcony 🙂

 

[Patrick]

Beautiful capture Dahlia , such a striking frame ..thanks for posting 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Thank you very much Patrick 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Terrific image Dahlia. What a great looking bird. Have never seen an image of one before. You’ve captured it in the classic “Phoenix rising from the ashes” pose. 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Thank you very much for your comment Dave 🙂

[Robert Apple]

Lots of great shots here, I don’t pay as much attention to the bird photos as I probably should, my wife literately has 31 bird feeders out , I counted them last night , I call her a Bird Brain, between the chickens, her pet society finches, and all the wild birds she brings in I am a bit overloaded on the aviary side, I was watching the cat hunting sparrows last night and rooting for the cat.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

We get those Indian Minors that basically chase every other animal away. I root for the cats against those guys.

[Dave Watkins]

Molting or sick? I don’t know. Have never seen a Goldfinch with such icky looking feathers.

[Patrick]

It most likely is the time of year after breeding … They all look very scruffy and re new the feathers soon after mate , i would not worry too much i have seen a lot of European goldfinch look that way over here  , lovely bird btw 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Yep. Probably molting. They usually molt in September here so most likely this one just got started a little early. 🙂

[Patrick]

Could be mate the seasons seem a good few weeks out of sync over this way

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Sweet photo Dave. The bird looks cute but as you say a bit sad. Hope nothing is wrong 🙂

[Author]

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