Birds of the Philippines

[Warhorse]

Man!
You got a lot of beautiful bird shots.

 

[dolina]

Thank you Warhorse

Philippine Serpent-Eagle Spilornis holospilus Endemic by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

 

[dolina]

Thank you Jeff


Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

This is the national bird of the Philippines

 

[dolina]

Wandering Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna arcuata) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

If I were to redo this shot

- ISO 2,500
- f/6.3
- 1/125

I'd also lower down the tripod some more so the background isn't the water but the other side of the pond

Thank you

Jeff

 

[dolina]

Grey Heron (Ardea cinera) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

Thank you Jeff

 

[dolina]

Olive-backed Sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

Thanks jeff

 

[jeffashman]

These are some very good shots! The Philippines has a wonderful variety of birds.

 

[dolina]

Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

I flew a total distance of 565.38 km (351.31 mi) to take a photo of a bird I see 5 meters away daily.

Thanks Jeff!

 

[dolina]

Philippine Pied Fantail (Rhipidura nigritorquis) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

 

[dolina]

Thank you Jeff


scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

 

[dolina]

Thanks Jeff


Philippine Duck (Anas luzonica) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr

 

[jeffashman]

Very nice, but the watermark is right on top of the duck.

 

[dolina]

Very nice, but the watermark is right on top of the duck.

Thank you for the feedback.

There are a number of Filipino bird watchers who tend to copy paste my work hence the rather aggressive watermark.

They do this for "fund raising" and "awareness"

I rarely see photos of birds in flight with that sort of angle and composition of the subjects. This prompted me to develop a new watermark to dissuade thieves from copy pasting my work for their personal fortunes.

My apologies for the lengthy monologue as this is a rather touchy subject to me as these IP thieves think they "own the birds". And as "owners" they tend to be heavy handed to people like me from any legal interactions with wildlife. Hence their aggressive recruitment campaign that comes off as a bit cult-ish due to their years-long persistence.

These Filipino bird watchers are often loud about hunters, poachers and businesses they think they can take on for the purpose of media millage and news clippings to show to sponsors & perspective new members. It makes them appear to be doing "something".

Unlike Sir David Attenborough they turn a blind eye to groups of persons who create overpopulation out of fear of losing members who are religious conservative that make a bulk of their organization & conservative sponsors who finance their operations.

To me each additional carbon foot print born beyond 2-4 or more births per woman is what is driving accelerated habitat loss out of reasons of supply & demand. "Evil" big business just caters to demand hence the need for raw materials.

They seldom, if ever, speak about that.

During my 1st 2 years of bird photography I was sent 1 dozen invites lobbying me to join them but I politely not reply as I did not take up bird photography to be exposed to these people as they tend to impose their behaviors onto other peoples' lives.

Why spend a fortune on photo gear and trips to be caged by Filipino bird watcher rules & regulations adapted from rich countries whose key concerns are not illegal loggers & illegal mining that last occurred there nearly a century ago?

On average I spend more than 2 days out of the week for nearly a decade to photograph birds & not for the purpose to be in that close proximity to truly awful persons.

If they happen to be at the birding site at the same time I and my group are then my side is polite enough to say "hi" and "hellos" and small talk about the day's activity. Beyond that I'd rather eat somewhere else.

 

[jeffashman]

Thank you for the feedback.

There are a number of Filipino bird watchers who tend to copy paste my work hence the rather aggressive watermark.

They do this for "fund raising" and "awareness"

I rarely see photos of birds in flight with that sort of angle and composition of the subjects. This prompted me to develop a new watermark to dissuade thieves from copy pasting my work for their personal fortunes.

My apologies for the lengthy monologue as this is a rather touchy subject to me as these IP thieves think they "own the birds". And as "owners" they tend to be heavy handed to people like me from any legal interactions with wildlife. Hence their aggressive recruitment campaign that comes off as a bit cult-ish due to their years-long persistence.

These Filipino bird watchers are often loud about hunters, poachers and businesses they think they can take on for the purpose of media millage and news clippings to show to sponsors & perspective new members. It makes them appear to be doing "something".

Unlike Sir David Attenborough they turn a blind eye to groups of persons who create overpopulation out of fear of losing members who are religious conservative that make a bulk of their organization & conservative sponsors who finance their operations.

To me each additional carbon foot print born beyond 2-4 or more births per woman is what is driving accelerated habitat loss out of reasons of supply & demand. "Evil" big business just caters to demand hence the need for raw materials.

They seldom, if ever, speak about that.

During my 1st 2 years of bird photography I was sent 1 dozen invites lobbying me to join them but I politely not reply as I did not take up bird photography to be exposed to these people as they tend to impose their behaviors onto other peoples' lives.

Why spend a fortune on photo gear and trips to be caged by Filipino bird watcher rules & regulations adapted from rich countries whose key concerns are not illegal loggers & illegal mining that last occurred there nearly a century ago?

On average I spend more than 2 days out of the week for nearly a decade to photograph birds & not for the purpose to be in that close proximity to truly awful persons.

If they happen to be at the birding site at the same time I and my group are then my side is polite enough to say "hi" and "hellos" and small talk about the day's activity. Beyond that I'd rather eat somewhere else.

Thanks for the information!

 

[dolina]

Thanks for the information!

Your welcome!

If I could go back to before 2009 when I got my EF 800 & EF 300mm bird lenses I would have chosen to never have done bird photography.

Instead I would have

- Finish my MBA
- Get married to a MBA classmate
- Create multiple start-ups
- Have 1-4 kids birth spaced out by ~50 months
- Consider birding nearing year 2050 so all virtue signaling "good guy" Filipino bird watchers would disband by that time

I made a computation of how much I spent on birding gear & trips and it is equivalent to 4,000 $AAPL shares bought on 20-Jan-2009.

Those bought shares would now have a post-split number of 112,000 $AAPL shares that is currently valued at US$149.68/share.

For the past decade I'd have quarterly div that peaked at $0.23/share with an annual div of $100,800.00.

Given a choice of inspiring dozens of Filipino bird photogs to buy themselves a super zoom point & shoot or dSLR + long lens then be subjected to crazy Filipino bird watcher

vs my privately enjoying a $AAPL portfolio of more than $16.76 million I'd choose the later.

Not because I do not care about the environment but because I'd avoid obnoxious Filipino bird watchers who have a habit of liberating my IP for the purpose of "saving the environment".

Philippine Duck (Anas luzonica) by Paolo Dolina, on Flickr