Aerial Ballet

by | Sep 12, 2020 | Birds, Italy, Wildlife

Aerial ballet. Over the last couple of days our plot in the Tuscan countryside has been a stopping off point for hundreds of migrating swallows. They particularly enjoyed feeding at the top of a cypress and a cedar, and much of the swooping and acrobatic flying was about jostling for space. More images to follow.

Canon 90D with Sigma 150-600mm C at 275mm ISO6400 1/3200 at f11

Preening session

by | Jul 28, 2020 | Birds, Phuket, Southeast Asia, Wildlife

After very heavy rain which clearly mussed the feathers, this Greater Coucal was caught mid-preen, the wing feathers fanned out to dry while much attention was given to the rest. It looks a little miffed at my intrusion, even though I was about 30 metres away and hiding behind the lens.

Canon 90D with Sigma 150-600 f5-6.3 zoom at 600mm. ISO 2000 1/400 at f8, handheld, processed and cropped in LR.

Another lunch!

by | Jul 27, 2020 | Birds, Phuket, Places, Southeast Asia, Wildlife

One of several local yellow-vented bulbuls that love exploring the edges of the rainforest for tasty morsels. This one was lunch and looked as if it needed to be eaten with some care!

Canon 90D with Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM C at 600mm. ISO 640 1/1000 at f8. Handheld at ~30m distance.

Lunch!

by | Jul 20, 2020 | Birds, Phuket, Southeast Asia, Wildlife

One of our resident yellow-vented bulbuls getting ready to lunch on a juicy morsel.

This shot was taken using my new Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM C lens at 600mm. The bird was about 20 metres away and the image has been cropped in LR. I am blown away by the quality of this lens in combination with the Canon 90D and its 32Mpx sensor.

1/1000 at f8 ISO 800

White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher

by | Jul 4, 2020 | African Birds, Birds, Kenya, Places, Wildlife

White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher (Melaenornis Fischeri). This race of the species has a particularly conspicuous broad eye-ring and is found in Kenya and parts of Uganda and Tanzania. (Ref. Birds of East Africa: Stevenson & Fanshawe; a truly excellent book). This one popped up in a garden in Nanyuki, Kenya some years ago.