Steve Foss Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hey all: More of today's work near Ely. This is a companion thread to "The beasts" over in the photo sharing board. All grab shots (no setups) with Canon 30D and Canon 500 f4L IS, handheld and monopod. Red crossbills Red-breasted nuthatches Pine grosbeak Common redpolls Black-capped chickadee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARINERMAGNUM Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Love the Redpolls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymevb Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 great photos, i'm always amazed by the diversity there is up there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdsong Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I love the red-breasted nutties--beautiful. I can't decide which of the three is my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnbay Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 That 500 is a sweetie. I like the 2nd and 4th redpolls the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbl Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 You're going to hate sending that lens back, of course you always have finnbay rentals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Foss Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Hey you guys, the 500 is no sharper than my 400. I'll just keep telling myself that . . . as though the fact that it's true means anything. Who would believe an $1,100 lens is as good as a $5,800 lens, after all? There's only one picture in the whole sequence I really think a lot of. Guesses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dockothebay Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The chickadee is my favorite - I love the environmental image. Such "common" little guys, but fascinating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayinMN Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I like the cross bills best. They are some pretty neat birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Almquist Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Great series of shots Steve but if I had to pick it would be the Redpolls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Foss Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Thanks, all. I'll be adding images to this thread later. I got within point-blank range of feeding pine grosbeaks, red crossbills and white-winged crossbills, and got nice shots of gray jays, siskins and a chickadee in flight (the chickadee looked good on the camera LCD, but we'll see). Ravens in flight, too, and a pileated woodpecker. You gotta love clear -24 mornings. When the sun hits the trees after sunrise, birds go from picking up grit on the roads and up into the trees to sun themselves, and most of the winter birds up here don't mind folks getting close enough for pictures. Now it's back out to the woods for the afternoon to see what else might happen. Sorry, didn't mean to tease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnbay Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Steve, You're going to wear the glass off the front end of that camera with all the shooting you're doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micpic Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 The Crossbills are a new one for me. Thanks for showing those.Mic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARINERMAGNUM Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Quote: There's only one picture in the whole sequence I really think a lot of. Guesses? Your Avatar?I would guess the last Redpoll. That one stands out to me because of the BG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Foss Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Your Avatar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Foss Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Here's the latest installment. All, like yesterday's, are grab shots, in that there are no setups here but simply working to happen upon birds in their natural habitat. Not that setups are bad, not at all (I do a lot of setups myself). Just making a distinction. Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed freezing my cajones off getting them. Temps ranged from -24 this morning to a bit above zero this afternoon. All with the Canon 30D and Canon 500 f4L IS, handheld. Black-capped chickadee in flight Gray jay chillin for sure! Male hairy woodpecker roofin' it Pine grosbeak hunkered down Ravens plying the air currents Pine siskin And a bunch of white-winged crossbills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnbay Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Very nice, Steve! That chickadee in flight is fabulous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Almquist Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Between the Chickadee in flight and the Pine Siskin WOW those are some sweet shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymph Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 That chickadee in flight is fantastic. I haven’t seen a bif shot like that on a chickadee before. Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARINERMAGNUM Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 That Siskin image is awesome. I didn't know Siskins had such tremendous strength in their feet. He almost has that deck screw turned out! Tough little Hombre! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dotch Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Always great shots but especially appreciate your posting the chickadees. Miss them eating out of my hand when filling the feeders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Foss Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Dotch, no chickadees back at the ranch this winter? As for the second installment of images, leaving out the chickadee in flight, there's only one image among all the rest that moved me, and it weren't the siskin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARINERMAGNUM Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Quote:there's only one image among all the rest that moved me, and it weren't the siskin. Pine Grosbeak? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Foss Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Nope. That upside down female white-winged crossbill. In my mind, I'd saved the best for last. Few birds are as effective contortionists as crossbills, and I've been working hard for five years to get decent images. They move so bloody fast that it's difficult to capture a good pose, even though they might strike 4,207 excellent poses in the space of one minute. Just for the record, I did not rotate the image of that crossbill 90 degrees to make it look goofy. It was the actual capture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dotch Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Dotch, no chickadees back at the ranch this winter? Zero, zip, nada. And yet we've had lots of siskins which we've rarely seen and even one of the white-winged crossbills earlier in the season. Was like "Where's Waldo" trying to keep up with him mixed in with the house finches. If there was a female in there I couldn't find her. 6 - 8 regular 'dees last winter but none so far. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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