We came from here. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1098350/#new
It is so wonderful to be able to see the birding activity in the northern hemisphere really picking up. Lots of babies. I still don't have much to add, but did get a few Australian Ravens at the osprey nest a few days ago.
The adult Ravens have white eyes.
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margaret ,they are erie beautiful arent they !!! I have not sat in the bird watching chair yet !!! I WILL THOUGH...LOL soon as I get all those beautiful flowers planted.
They are beautiful Margaret! Thanks for starting the new thread!
From the last thread- Burd and Hack, Very nice shots!!
MargaretK - nice start to the new thread. I'd never noticed the white eyes on an adult Raven, I guess because I've never even seen a Raven in person. I read the EXIF data of the pic of Big Hook from the previous thread (and the ravens on this thread) and it said 400mm. Were you using your Canon 400 prime for those shots - they look nice. Was your 40D on a tripod, or not?
From the last thread:
Burd, the Heron pic is nice, but the tree swallow is fantastic. My Tamron 1.4x is black, also. After reading your DG email to me it looks like I may be in luck by having the same Tamron 1.4x you do. Oh, and let me tell you, your Rebel T1i is working FINE, too.
I'm going to try it out today. Looks like its going to be a bright sunny day.
Hack
Hi Hack. No tripod (I still have to go and buy one) and yes, the 400mm. It was a heavily overcast day and it started raining about 15 minutes after I grabbed the shot of the osprey. I also had the ISO up to 800 or 1000 because of the gloom. The Ravens were shot on another day. Be aware that on the 40D, if you do have to bump up the ISO, you can programme in "high ISO noise reduction". I use it all the time if I have the ISO above 640. If you're shooting on burst mode, it reduces the speed of your bursts, but as in all things photographic, it's a compromise and well worth using.
Thanks for the advice Margaret. I've seen "high ISO noise reduction" in the menu, but don't know if I have it turned on. I'll have to check to be sure it is on. No tripod, huh, those are really good pics w/o a tripod.
Hack
For all of the following shots, I was sitting in my wheelchair in the laundry room with the side door open. I was using my new Canon 400mm f5.6 prime lens. The 40D / 400mm was on the tripod. ISO was up there, I was using the fastest shutter speed I could and keep the "needle in the middle". The range finder said the bushes were 25 yds away and the feeders about 18 yds away.
The first pic is of one of my many House Sparrows I have around, and I wouldn't mind if they went somewhere else, though.
Here's a female House Finch
Hack
Female Cardinal, I like it that I could see the detail of her eye and the "whisp" of her feathers.
Hack
I was going use my Tamron 1.4x teleconverter, but didn't on any of these pics. I'll try it out later.
Here's a male Cardinal.
Hack
Margaret, great start! I would love to see a raven sometime.
Nice ones Hack!
It is raining here...AGAIN!
One of Tori's that turned out pretty decent .
And for my last pic, I captured this Mourning Dove and female House Sparrow feeding near each other.
Hack
nanny_56 - Way to go Tori! Grackles, huh, want a few more?
Hack
This message was edited May 21, 2010 8:54 AM
I did come across two more pics. These were the last two taken with my "old" Sigma 150-500.
I kinda like the look of this Blue Jay
Hack
I don't any bird shows "attitude" better than a Grackle.
Hack
Nice shots Nanny and Hack!!
Margaret, it looks like your Ravens in the first pic are attending Raven school.
LOL, your right GP!
Example from Margarets pic.
That's great!
Thank you, Margaret for the new thread. GP, lol that's so fitting, nice caption. Hacks, congrats on your new camera and lenses. Looking forward to more great pics. Hummm, guys and dudettes. I used to think of Ravens were any black bird in which I didn't know exactly whether they're crows or grackles. I sorta lumped them together. My bad.
Margaret, were the Ravens there to clean out the left- overs from our dear Ospreys? The 'ravens' do hang around my Redheaded Woodpeckers's nesting site near our house in early spring (while the woodpeckers are raising their youngs). Time and time again I would be worried over those little chicks in the nest. Oh, by the way, I'm so glad to 'hear' of Big Hook.
LOL, GP.
Lily_love, the Ravens ceratinly take every opportunity to explore the nest during the breeding season, especially after the young have fledged,no doubt looking for titbits. The other day, it was just a brief stop-off point on their way to create mischief and mayhem elsewhere.
This message was edited May 21, 2010 9:47 PM
A different kind of 'Northern Flicker'. This one is huge!
Margaret, thanks for starting the new thread. I love your raven photos. It was interesting to learn the males had white eyes.
Hack, congratulations on the new lens. Cute birds! You know you're getting good photos when you can see the eye detail like with your cardinal. Wonderful job on the dove and sparrow shot.
Burd, great photos of the heron and swallow on that last thread.
GP, cute fill in on the ravens.
Lily, love your flicker!! Did you paint it? Cute one of your red-head too.
This Ash-throated Flycatcher was checking for nesting material which I put out for him.
One of my expectant father Tree Swallows trying to hold onto the perch in the wind.
This Calif. Towhee was gathering nesting materials.
While the above bird was collecting his materials, this one was showing off nearby.
Resin identified this Orange-crowned Warbler for me the other day. This is a new one for my list.
gardenpom - Perfect caption for Margaret's Ravens - love it!
Lily_love - Thanks for the congrats, but only the lens is new :-) AND you gotta tell me what you been feeding that huge Flicker.
ducbucln - Quote - "Hack, congratulations on the new lens. Cute birds! You know you're getting good photos when you can see the eye detail like with your cardinal. Wonderful job on the dove and sparrow shot." Thanks, duc, I'm real happy with detail the 400mm is getting." AND congrats on your new "listee" - the Orange-crowned. That Resin is okay, ain't he?
Hack
Okay, well I put the Tamron 1.4x on and here are some pics. AF worked okay, but I think I like the procedure of using MF and then turning the focusing ring backward and then foreward, to land of the good foucus
All the Robin in the bird bath pics were done on AF.
Another pic of the Robin. The high shutter speed and upped ISO made it right. AND I forgot to look at the menu setting the Margaret mentioned earlier. Oh, well.
Hack
Last Robin pic, 1.4x still on.
Hack
After the Robin left, a Grackle showed up - so, I nailed it, too.
1.4x and AF still on.
Hack
Now, on these last two, I turned the AF to MF and used burst shooting. I started with the bird slightly out of focus and as the camera clicked, I turned the focus ring on the lens to bring it into focus and then a little past. I did this several time and this is the best I found.
Female Cardinal
I used the same MF, spin the focus ring technique on this female Cardinal, too. This was the best pic I got.
I kinda' like this technique using MF.
I didn't realize her face was in the shadow of the feeder.
Hack
GP, Love that caption!
Lily, That giant Flicker is great!
Duc, Excellent shot of the Flycatcher! Beautiful pics and congrats on the new bird!!
Hack, Love the bathing Robin!
At least the flicker on this thread will hold stil for you. yuk yuk.
Love all the pictures. Haven't posted much, but I look every day.
Lily_love, what do you have in your feeder (with the red-headed woodpecker)?
Here is a cutie I had in my yard today. Baby Bluejay.
