Birds Birds in Flight Thread - Post Your Shots Here

[GvilleRick]

I still waiting for my first swallow in flight catch. Great job.

Thank you. They are certainly a challenge. I set up for Tracking Zone and was able, after several tries, to lock onto one and get some good shots. The first image was not as sharp but was one of the first tries where it did lock onto a bird.

 

[Gaz]

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos are cheeky birds! We used to use cedar cladding and as external joinery extensively in the 1970’s. Then these guys thought they’d sharpen their beaks on it. Your whole verandah would easily be chewed to splinters by a flock of cockies.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS
• 240.0 mm
• ƒ/13
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS
• 24.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

 

[-ST-]

California Gull soaring through grey skies

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 400

 

[iamdlewis]

A few of a Great Blue Heron with lunch

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS (SEL100400GM)
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/4000 sec
• ISO 1600

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS (SEL100400GM)
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/4000 sec
• ISO 8000

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS (SEL100400GM)
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/4000 sec
• ISO 8000

 

[Gaz]

Little Corellas having a game.

• ILCE-7M4
• 35.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 125

 

[Gaz]

Willie Wag-tail chasing mozzies.

• ILCE-7M4
• Sony FE 90mm F2.8 OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/3.2
• 1/800 sec
• ISO 160

 

[-ST-]

Haven't caught a bald eagle in flight lately. Today was a good day.

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 640

 

[-ST-]

Canada Goose

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 1600

 

[-ST-]

Greater White-fronted Geese
Migrating through - not native to this area.
Caught these shots in the rain this morning.

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 2000

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 500

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 200

 

[-ST-]

In high winds and intermittent rain today - a seagull in hot pursuit of an eagle.

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 200

Closer shots of the eagle.

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

Despite the weather, it was a good day to be out.

 

[lodbrok]

This eagle was coming onshore with the sunset behind it.. Managed to focus on it with the dot-sight. Had to raise the light on it in post since the ex.com. was set to 0,0... and the bird-watcher community has marked it.. I hate those markings. Bird-watchers love it do.. Finaly back to normal with the albow and the 200-600mm.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 2500

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 2500

 

[-ST-]

This eagle was coming onshore with the sunset behind it.. Managed to focus on it with the dot-sight. Had to raise the light on it in post since the ex.com. was set to 0,0... and the bird-watcher community has marked it.. I hate those markings. Bird-watchers love it do.. Finaly back to normal with the albow and the 200-600mm. View attachment 36887View attachment 36886

Great news!

 

[iamdlewis]

bird-watcher community has marked it.

Researchers have tagged it for behavioral, life expectancy info and migration tracking. Bird-watchers like to provide updates on the tagged birds. In my area it was always a big deal to find Red Knot B95 aka Moonbird.
In my area we also have those that breed/race pigeons and I got to tell one that his bird wasn't coming home.

 

[-ST-]

I kind of like the blur at the wingtips in this one.

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 640

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

A few marvellous Marsh Harriers from my last couple of outings. My favourite UK raptors.

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 400

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 588.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 800

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 640

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 640

Alas poor Kermit, I knew him well...

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 2000

 

[spudhead]

female kestrel

• ILCE-9
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 2500

• ILCE-9
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 2500

• ILCE-9
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 800

 

[mikison]

My local Long Eared Owl plunging onto something tasty

 

[spudhead]

goose best light this year

• ILCE-9
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 400

 

[Brownie]

goose best light this yearView attachment 37056

Extraordinary!

 

[Jeff A]

In high winds and intermittent rain today - a seagull in hot pursuit of an eagle.
View attachment 36835
Closer shots of the eagle.
View attachment 36836View attachment 36837Despite the weather, it was a good day to be out.

Regarding the Eagle shots, I'm surprised to see so much noise in your photo (closer shots of the Eagle). Are you a Raw shooter ST? I just had my 1st experience with the new Denoise tool that is part of Lightroom as of this month. I'll start a thread on that subject if I don't find someone else who did it first. It was a great shot by the way.

 

[-ST-]

Regarding the Eagle shots, I'm surprised to see so much noise in your photo (closer shots of the Eagle). Are you a Raw shooter ST? I just had my 1st experience with the new Denoise tool that is part of Lightroom as of this month. I'll start a thread on that subject if I don't find someone else who did it first. It was a great shot by the way.

Hi, Jeff.
Thanks for taking an interest. Yes, I shoot Raw.

I took another look at the last two photos in particular and saw that I had made a mess of the images. I should not have posted them here.

I usually use exposure compensation of around +1 EV for lighting like this, but I must have forgotten in the heat of the moment. So the eagle was underexposed, and with the backlighting, you couldn't see any of the detail on the underside of the bird.

In post, I was playing with masking and had just discovered how easy it was to mask the sky and then invert it. (I'm still new to all things post-production). I see now that I lifted the shadows in the eagle far too aggressively. Hence, the excessive noise. In past few days I've been experimenting with the noise reduction tools in Capture One.

Here is one of those images I posted a few days ago.

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

And here it is after dialling back the shadows and applying the noise reduction tools in Capture One and some light clean-up

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

Before and after on the other really noisy image
Before

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

And again, after dialling back the shadows and applying the noise reduction tools in Capture One

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 800

Thanks for getting me to revisit these images.

 

[spudhead]

Extraordinary!

Thanks Tim

 

[GvilleRick]

I spent some time today watching the Great Blue Herons tending to their young. I also saw a hawk in flight but the shot is heavily cropped.

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/1600 sec
• ISO 640

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/1600 sec
• ISO 1000

 

[Roland]

I posted the rufous hummingbird already in the non-BIF section.
My Sony A9ii can manage about 3 shots per wing-beat and if an A1 owner has been taking hummingbird pictures, I would like to know, how many you get.

• ILCE-9M2
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 1250

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Spoonbill fly by at Cley Marsh. I was interested to see that they fly with a bent neck like this. Very unusual.

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 400

 

[spudhead]

female kestrel in attack mode

• ILCE-9
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 3200

 

[dragonsdreams]

Eventually got around to posting some recent (ish) BIF. A local red kite and a barn owl at Snettisham RSPB reserve late afternoon.

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter
• 840.0 mm
• ƒ/9
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 320

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter
• 840.0 mm
• ƒ/9
• 1/1250 sec
• ISO 4000

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter
• 840.0 mm
• ƒ/9
• 1/640 sec
• ISO 800

 

[Roland]

The owl capture flying towards dragonsdreams, is not only a great picture but shows what nature had to do in wing design to give the bird just the right tools to become a great hunter.

 

[Roland]

I have been going to the same beach for 30 years but last fall was a great evening.
This fellow just emerged from the water after a successful dive.

• ILCE-9M2
• Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 100

 

[mikison]

My local Barn Owl with a glintin his/ her eye - barely cropped, which I was very happy about!

• ILCE-9
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 8000