Bird Watching: This afternoon at the swamp, 1 by MargaretK

MargaretK wrote:
Thanks all for your very welcome comments.

Linth, I try to keep the ISO as low as possible but have set the high speed noise reduction to "on". I increased the ISO to some of the shots this afternoon which allowed me to shoot at 1600th of a second with f7 or 8. I can't see any discernible noise, but I know with the Ospreys, if I have a high ISO the white chest comes out with a distinct noise with a greenish tinge to it. I'll keep on playing around with it seeing the rainy weather is going to continue for another week or so.

Sue, funny you should mention that about video. No I haven't because I don't own a video camera However, Canon are about to release a 7D, which has several features I find appealing, including high definition video. I need a new or at least another body, so am going to test drive it when it comes out. I've been concentrating on the call and typical of many birds, they have more than one call, but the closest I could come to describing it would be like a canary playing a flute.

Hack, the Pacific Black Duck remains in an undiluted form in Western Australia. In the eastern states, the breed has been watered down by interbreeding with domestic ducks. That patch of iridescence is glorious.

Here's an adult with babies from the afternoon.