Vultures and a mystery bird. (pic heavy)

Netskimmer · Mar 9, 2012

I was early for a meeting and found myself in a parking lot with nothing to do and I saw some Vultures flying overhead. So naturally I grabbed my camera and threw on the 70-200 and 1.7 TC and spent some time trying to get some usable shots. I wasn't having as much success as I would have liked and noticed a bird in a nearby tree and tried for a few of him/her but still didn't do as well as I would have liked. I'm not happy with the results but I guess for cropped, hand-held evening shots they aren't terrible.

Mystery bird: (anyone know what it is?)

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Vultures:

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Overread · Mar 9, 2012

I think your mystery bird is a European Starling - apparently (after around 5 mins of google) they were introduced to the USA because of some scheme to introduce the USA to all the birds of shakespear or somesuch project.

Also good results considering your range limitation and the fact that a few are probably fairly strong crops.

Netskimmer · Mar 9, 2012

European Starling eh, thanks for the info. They were cropped a bit, I would like a longer lens but a good one will probably run me more than I can afford at the moment. I definitely need to practice. I know where to find them, (the vultures) maybe I'll pay them another visit soon.

Overread · Mar 9, 2012

Maybe consider taking something with you - scraps or a dead chicken might be a suitable lure you could use to draw them in closer to a small hide setup of some kind.

Netskimmer · Mar 9, 2012

Those are some good ideas, I may try some of them but it could be a challenge. These birds are congregatating in some trees in someone's back yard near the edge of town, There are a few parkinglots but most of the land in the area is suburban housing. I don't want to go on anyone's property and it would look pretty strange of me to set up a blind in the parking lot. Since they are used to parked cars in the parkinglots I could just park there and hide behind the car but doing so would almost certainly earn me a visit from the cops. It wouldn't be a problem since I wouldn't be doing anything illigal (loitering maybe?) but they probably would take exception to me tossing scraps or dead chickens around.

I will see what I can come up with. I have seen some flying in the same spots in the more rural areas near me as I drive to work, I may try something there as well.

Overread · Mar 9, 2012

Shooting wildlife shots from a car is actually a pretty well used method - there are even supports/blinds etc... to fit into cars for hiding and holding a lens up. So you don't have to hide behind the car, just stay inside it, though muted colours and limited movement will of course help ( a wingshield cover would also help hide your motions inside).

On the cops front, depends on the area really and how "local" the police are but you could always try notifying them before hand (if you do make sure you write down whoever it is you talk to's name and rank/number just for a point of reference should any other police come up to question you).

Netskimmer · Mar 9, 2012

I'll look into the car blinds, my t-top might really come in handy here. I have heard of people contacting the police to give them a heads up and I think that would work well in this instance. The city police barracks is actually within walking distance of the site so I could just walk in and talk with them.

LaFoto · Mar 10, 2012

And as to the mystery bird (again): yes! I recognised this one as a (European) starling immediately, even without googling anything, as we get plenty of those here.
See? http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...birds-part-3-saga-today-starling-10-pics.html

Netskimmer · Mar 10, 2012

I wish my shots had come out half as nice as yours LaFoto. They are beutiful.

Forkie · Mar 10, 2012

Overread said:
I think your mystery bird is a European Starling - apparently (after around 5 mins of google) they were introduced to the USA because of some scheme to introduce the USA to all the birds of shakespear or somesuch project.

That's a dodgy manifesto for species introduction if ever I heard one; introducing many potentially desecrating species just because they like Shakespeare. Did they not consider the damage starlings can do to an indiginous population?!

Infinite_Day · Mar 10, 2012

A lot of things were brought to the New World before people ever considered the impacts of species introduction. Starlings are particularly aggressive toward other birds especially in nesting behavior and will try to drive other species away. They are also quite damaging to buildings when they nest. In fact, species introduction via ignorance/stupidity still occurs every day. It's why the Everglades are slowly being overwhelmed by reticulated and burmese pythons. Anyway - enough of the ecologist rant.

You didn't do half bad with your shots but they're obviously a little off. Birds in flight are typically hard to do without A LOT of lens. I have a very hard time getting them with 420mm of reach on a crop body. Keep at it!

Netskimmer · Mar 10, 2012

Infinite_Day said:
You didn't do half bad with your shots but they're obviously a little off. Birds in flight are typically hard to do without A LOT of lens. I have a very hard time getting them with 420mm of reach on a crop body. Keep at it!

Thanks, I definitely will. If I can nail down my technique I know I can get better shots. Practice, practice, practice...