Friday, August 6, 2010

Garden birdwatch II

Oh no, I feel this is developing into a new expensive hobby - shooting birds with my camera! I was out in the garden yesterday and again this evening, spotting birds with Nikon + 70-300 in hand.

 

While in the house, I had heard a loud bird calling non-stop just outside so I grabbed the camera and went looking for it. It was a small and dark-colored bird, looked like a parrot of some sort. Alas, it flew off beyond the reach of my lens.

 

So I walked around the house and waited patiently till I spotted a pair of black-winged flycatcher-shrikes (Hemipus hirundinaceus) that flew down to a small tree near me. They made no movement and no sound as I walked about photographing them from below. One was perched close to the tip of a small branch and the other a bit higher up but then flew down to join its friend.

 

Black_winged_flycatcher_shrike_4 

It was getting dark and luckily for me, they had chosen this tree to roost for the night.

 

Because of the fading light, I had to up the sensitivity to ISO1600 to get some decent pics. The photos were then cropped to center on the subject.

 

Having shot a few photos of birds, I now feel the Nikon 70-300VR to be severely limited in range. I sure hope I don’t develop another expensive hobby and end up buying a whole bunch of lenses and converters!! Already I feel like the D700 or its replacement should be my next camera. Oh no oh no oh no! Maybe a few more bird shots and I’ll get bored and move on. lol

 

Meanwhile, here are more photos. As usual, click each for larger size:

 

Black_winged_flycatcher_shrike_2

 

Black_winged_flycatcher_shrike_1 

 

Black_winged_flycatcher_shrike_3 

 

Black_winged_flycatcher_shrike_5 

 

Black_winged_flycatcher_shrike_6

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