For The Birds !

[Smithson]

Thanks for the tip, I am using Canon to that's helpful. How much post processing due you suggest? I do hardly any, maybe just a few of the auto options. Do you shoot in raw?

[Smithson]

Shot this in KY. Can anyone ID?

[VerbalKint]

Shot this in KY. Can anyone ID?

IMG_5995.jpg

That looks like a Blue and White Flycatcher

[Mousehound]

Thought you might like to see this one from khao yai. I tried hard to get a really ethereal look -it was a difficult shot - hand held in dense undergrowth.

Siberian Blue Robin

Edited March 11, 2016 by Mousehound

[Smithson]

Very nice. Do you get to KY often? I live on the southern edge, my only suitable lens is the Tamron 150-600, which isn't great in the jungle. I've been considering the Tamron 70 - 200 2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/539396-REG/Tamron_AF001C_700_70_200mm_f_2_8_Di_LD.html Any thoughts?

[Mousehound]

Very nice. Do you get to KY often? I live on the southern edge, my only suitable lens is the Tamron 150-600, which isn't great in the jungle. I've been considering the Tamron 70 - 200 2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/539396-REG/Tamron_AF001C_700_70_200mm_f_2_8_Di_LD.html Any thoughts?

I am not a great fan of zoom lenses. I do have one Tamron lens that is simply outstanding: the 180 prime macro. Fantastic for birds - if you are close enough and a great lens for insects, especially butterflies. If you have slow lenses you really need a full frame in the jungle. My preferred body for jungle work is the Canon 6D - surely the most underrated Canon camera. In low light it is simply superb. The Blue Robin shot and others at the same site were taken at an average of 6000 ISO. I hate flash so high ISO is a must. Out of the jungle and for flight shots I like the 7D2. This also gives me the 1.6 crop factor on my 400 prime.

[Mousehound]

On hols in Perth WA. Got this Bridled Tern with 400 5.6 Canon 7D2. Flight shots are way easier with this rig than with my 6D. However, the light was really strong. Even with allowances for the strong light I could not prevent the white on the breast blowing out a bit. But the underwing translucence is not bad. As you most likely know, with many Terns (not, in this case really) the best diagnostic feature is the "window" in the underwing and general grey pattern.

[sometime]

Almost a bird.

Small brown bird bigger than a sparrow just built and laid her first egg in our red palm.

Bird ID from the egg photo would be welcome, as the bird is too fast for me, and I don’t want to get too close.

Panasonic LF1

P1070175.jpg

This is a Streak-eared Bulbul nest in n my garden right now. Colors look a bit different than your egg, but that may just be the lighting as i took this photo late in the day. SE Bulbul are brown and pretty nondescript but easy to ID with a good look.

Thanks

managed to get a little peek at her from a distance.

P1070187.jpg

yellow-vented bulbul chicks doing well.

[samuijimmy]

Hazy sky made it hard to get a clear shot.... I see this bird fairly often but rarely does it sit long enough to get a picture....

The curse and the good of having unused electric wires along my property line! Birds tend to perch....

One day, I'll get a picture of a lovely blue bird and also a yellow bird that shows up occasionally.... always when camera not at hand!

[jack2964]

Looks like Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, fairly common but you may be well rewarded if you sight one in the forest, follow it as it frequently participates in bird waves.

.

Quite a few times I have seen them tagging along Woodpeckers and Laughing-thrushes. If you see one perched near or a couple of meters off the ground, look higher above where it is perched and if you're lucky you might spot a foraging woodpecker. I think the Drongo catches insects or grubs dislodged by the WP. Also known to steal prey from other birds.

[jack2964]

A winter visitor found at Doi Lang.

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

[garyk]

Paradise flycatcher.

I got this guy south of the border. I Taman Negara, Malaysia.

Fun to watch.

[jack2964]

A distant shot of a resident White-capped River Chat.

I have photographed this specie before and every time I blow out the white-cap! This was with a 7D in Manual mode.

Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park aka Fang Hot Springs.

[jack2964]

Silver-breasted Broadbill (f) from Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary.

[jack2964]

Most common Pitta.

Blue-winged from Kaeng Krachan.

[Smithson]

Some really stunning pics posted here over the past week or so. Great that people are adding technical info also.

[laolover88]

Can buy a lot of the living ones in Chatuchak!!

[Smithson]

Mousehound, do you ever get to Melbourne? The Werribee treatment farm is second only to Kakadu for bird life. Well worth a look if you get the opportunity.

Jack, when the rains start we have those Pittas in a garden every morning.

I was wondering if anybody can offer advice. My pics are OK, but not nearly as sharp as others. I am using a 650D with a Tamron 150-600. I always shoot in manual, never AV, generally at the lowest aperture, unless there is plenty of light. RAW is too slow on the 650D, so I always shoot in JPEG. In Photoshop I generally do as little processing as possible, just a little adjustment. Then I 'save for web' before posting, which drops sharpness quite a bit.

Soon I'll get a new camera, I am struggling to decide between the 7D 2 and the much cheaper 70D, the latter is much cheaper, with a few features that the former is missing. I'm also wondering if the 6D could be worthwhile?

[jack2964]

@Smithson:

I envy you, I need to travel hundreds of kilometers to get to good birding areas. The Blue-winged Pitta is a breeding migrant from what I learnt from books and the web.

Even being common, they are much sought after by birders.

Like you, my preferred shooting mode is Manual as I find it quick and easy to deliberately over or underexpose a shot. I also use back-button focus instead of 'shutter half press'. This allows focusing and re-framing the shot on the fly. Another habit I have is to hit the back button after every shot to re-focus just in case autofocus didn't get it right-which is often!

I would love to own the 7D2 but my budget doesn't allow it yet. MH owns the 6D and he says it is good for high ISO work which us bird shooters are often forced into to get decent shutter speeds.

Most of what I post which I consider passable quality are >75% taken from a hide or the bird(s) have been so accustomed to people they are very approachable. Of course I do get lucky occasionally when walking a trail and a bird pops up close enough to get a half decent shot. I always shoot in RAW as it allows lots of tweaking. I only use Adobe Camera RAW as I can't get myself to work Photoshop proper. Just too many tabs, drop down menus and layers for me to get a grip on.

[jack2964]

Sultan Tit cooling off on a hot day.

[samuijimmy]

quite well camouflaged ... on the hunt!

[jack2964]

Green Peafowl dusting off after finishing sand bathing.

[Philchumphon]

Olive-Backed Sunbird in my garden. Yellow on Yellow....

[VerbalKint]

[Mousehound]

Mousehound, do you ever get to Melbourne? The Werribee treatment farm is second only to Kakadu for bird life. Well worth a look if you get the opportunity.

Jack, when the rains start we have those Pittas in a garden every morning.

I was wondering if anybody can offer advice. My pics are OK, but not nearly as sharp as others. I am using a 650D with a Tamron 150-600. I always shoot in manual, never AV, generally at the lowest aperture, unless there is plenty of light. RAW is too slow on the 650D, so I always shoot in JPEG. In Photoshop I generally do as little processing as possible, just a little adjustment. Then I 'save for web' before posting, which drops sharpness quite a bit.

Soon I'll get a new camera, I am struggling to decide between the 7D 2 and the much cheaper 70D, the latter is much cheaper, with a few features that the former is missing. I'm also wondering if the 6D could be worthwhile?

Long time since I have been to Werribee (1985) Went for OB Parrot and then to the settling ponds at the sewage treatment works.

The 70D 2 is the best camera for flight shots and the 6D is best for low light - you can run a really high ISO on a 6D. very good for macro work as well. The 6D is possibly the most underrated of all the middle range Canon cameras. RAW will allow you to sharpen a good deal and on a full frame like a 6D you can sharpen a lot more than with a crop camera . I like the 7D2 a lot and use both the 7D2 and the 6D. A tripod or monopod will help. Also save your BHt for a prime - the 400 5.6 is the best value and a used one can sometimes be had.

[jack2964]

Red-billed Blue Magpie

[jack2964]

Red-headed Trogon

[Bredbury Blue]

Any chance you guys posting the photos could say where you took it/them; I'd find that very interesting.

[jack2964]

Any chance you guys posting the photos could say where you took it/them; I'd find that very interesting.

My last few were from Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary in Chaiyaphum.

The better ones were taken from a hide and some taken when birding along a trail.

[garyk]

Hornbill from Phu-khieo.

These guys were all over a fruiting tree in the park.