Wide variety of birds today

[Aloicious]

Was out at the waterfoul preserve today, everything is still really iced over and cold, but I did see several varieties of birds out that I thought were interesting...I only got there about an hour before sunset, so light faded fast, had to push the ISO a bit too much on several of these, and the IQ suffered due to that and the need to crop alot on several of them. but these are some of the better ones from the visit.

There are quite a few pics, I'm not really looking for C&C on every one or anything like that, just sharing them, if you have C&C for a specific one or something, feel free to post it up, I'm still learning wildlife and birding.

Hawks:
1:

2:

Owl:
3:

4:

Eagles:
5:

6 (and great blue heron):

7:

Great Blue Herons:
8:

9:

10:

11:

sorry for the image heavy post, it was just a fun couple hours out shooting and looking at all the different birds, I'll have to visit this spot again once the lake starts to thaw and they can really go out fishing, I hear this is a hotspot for bald eagles during mid february, so that'll be fun.

 

[WesternGuy]

These are very nice captures. I like 4, 5, 8 and 9 with the BIFs. No. 7 with the two baldies looking the same way is a wall hanger.

WesternGuy

 

[sm4him]

I'd be absolutely thrilled with my day if I came home with just ONE shot like any of the above!
The first two almost look like paintings (and I mean that in a good way).

And I agree, that photo of the two eagles together--if I'd taken that, it would be going on my wall.

 

[Aloicious]

Thanks guys,

#1 is probably the sharpest shot I got all evening, it was one of the first birds I saw so it was still light enough out, and I could keep the ISO down, most of the others were at ~ISO3200 which normally isn't bad when you have room to downsize, but when its a large crop it really degrades the IQ...like on the pic with the 2 eagles together, that's almost a 100% crop...I still really like the image, but you can tell the IQ is down on it. I find that I'm continually telling myself that its not a studio shot, and not to expect the same level of IQ...I'm just too much of a perfectionist...but regardless I'm still really stoked about them....especially the owl, even though it could be better, that's the first owl I've ever seen in the wild, let alone photographed...this is partly why shooting wildlife is theraputic for me, its very rewarding to see and image these magestic creatures in their natural habitiat.

I also got a great series of shots of a prarie falcon eating a mouse it caught, but its pretty gruesome heh...

 

[Aloicious]

here's another GBH I got....with a Hawk eating a fish in the background (I tried to move to get the reeds out of the way of the hawk, but I couldn't get a good angle)

 

[MSnowy]

Really nice set.

 

[coastalconn]

Nice set! The last picture is actually a Northern Harrier in the background. Looks like you have found THE spot!

 

[Aloicious]

oh thats good to know, I couldnt get a clear enough view of it to make any kind of ID...

Thanks guys...actually this spot is supposed to be 'low activity' during this time of year, when the lake starts to thaw the eagle population is supposed to skyrocket (I saw 5 different baldies during that trip, other people have reported 30+ once the lake starts to thaw and they can get better access to the fish) before they migrate again, and around march-may during migration there is just supposed to be a huge variety of wildlife and birds there...so I'm looking forward to going again...it's called 'Farmington Bay bird refuge', its on the southeast bank of the great salt lake.

I found a few other places locally that are supposed to be really good too, I need to go check them out, there are quite a few wildlife or bird refuge areas (like 5+ that I know of) within an 1-2 hours drive from my house...so I'm pretty stoked, up until now, I was just driving around back roads in the country looking for birds on poles or fences or whatever...

 

[matthewo]

wow, you got nice nature spots, deffently if that is a "slow" time. seems like your getting very involved in wildlife photography, its addicting isnt it?

i need to work on getting closer. and waiting for them to fill the frame. i really like #10, very interesting capture there.

if your like me winter kinda doesnt do it for me around here unless i get a very interesting picture or perspective. colors just are not there for me usually.

 

[matthewo]

also could you tell me which way your drop in filter faces. im sure it probably doesn't matter, but I was just kinda wondering.

 

[Aloicious]

wow, you got nice nature spots, deffently if that is a "slow" time. seems like your getting very involved in wildlife photography, its addicting isnt it?

i need to work on getting closer. and waiting for them to fill the frame. i really like #10, very interesting capture there.

if your like me winter kinda doesnt do it for me around here unless i get a very interesting picture or perspective. colors just are not there for me usually.

yeah its really addicting, and this is the off season for the motorsports I'm normally shooting, so wildlife is excellent to hone skills, if you can pan while shooting a bird, you sure can do it for a car, or plane. heh

I need to get better at stealth too, most of these were taken just from the car...I hate winter...well, actually, let me rephrase that, I hate the cold...it was around 12*F when I was shooting these, but I can't shoot with gloves, too restrictive, so my hands were freezing...

also could you tell me which way your drop in filter faces. im sure it probably doesn't matter, but I was just kinda wondering.

I'll have to check when I get home, I haven't really messed with the drop in filter quite yet, I don't use many filters as is though. I'm at my night job right now, remind me if you don't hear something before tomorrow evening.

I have been working on the AF fine tune though, its hard to tell with these shots since the high ISO degraded them a bit, but I think it helped out. I used a graduated straightedge, since my Reikan FoCal software just gives gibberish numbers each time I try to use that...I still need to go through all my other lenses and body though, right now I've only done the 300 and 300+1.7 on the D800 body.

 

[Aloicious]

also could you tell me which way your drop in filter faces. im sure it probably doesn't matter, but I was just kinda wondering.

I've got mine so the filter sits away from the camera body, but I don't think it matters, at a quick inspection it looks like the holder is designed to keep the glass of the filter in the center, so regardless of which direction the holder is inserted it should be the same distance from the body.

 

[cwcaesar]

These are just awesome!!!

 

[carlos58]

great series, beautiful shots and great variety

 

[shefjr]

WOW! That's a great days work! I'm lucky if I capture once mediocre image a week. Well done, I like them all!