The bird post

As well as the bugs, the day was somewhat interesting on the bird front.

I'll start with a 'first sighting' (for me that is). Among the usual dunnocks, sparrows and greenfinches I saw this delicate little bird flitting in and out of the trees. I thought it was a chiffchaff, but on checking my field guide it is – I'm fairly sure – a willow warbler. There are more shots in the April Birds gallery.

Willow Warbler

I also caught these shots of a pigeon showing off. They're not in the gallery, but they amused me when I saw them.

The Pigeon Hop pt 1

The Pigeon Hop pt 2

Then there are the raptors. No buzzard today, but I did see a kestrel fly overhead (the first one I've seen in this location). It was being semi-mobbed by a gull at the time.

Kestrel

It was obviously the day for flight combat. As well as the kestrel, a sparrowhawk wandered into the vicinity, only to be mobbed by jackdaws.

Jackdaw and sparrowhawk

There are more of the jackdaw/sparrowhawk sequence in the April Birds gallery, but among the shots was probably the shot, the one you are always after and just hope one day to get. I close with this cracker of the sparrowhawk in flight.

Sparrowhawk

Tags: , , , ,

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. SittingFox

    11 Apr 2007

    Ah, the identification of Phylloscopus warblers :insane: I like blackcaps – the one species easy to identify 😉 On the UEA campus there's a lot of sedge warblers. I was hoping to get a picture last weekend but didn't find one.

    Smashing sparrowhawk and very funny pigeons :up:

  2. gdare

    11 Apr 2007

    Sparrowhawk is amazing! Did you use some zoom on this one?

  3. Words

    11 Apr 2007

    Hi gdare,

    That shot is with a 300mm lens, which is large but not huge. The EXIF data is:

    Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/640Sec.
    Av(Aperture Value) F8.0
    Metering Modes Partial metering
    Exposure Compensation 0
    ISO Speed 200
    Lens EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM
    Focal Length 300.0 mm

  4. Dudley

    12 Apr 2007

    Another nice set of photos. :up:

  5. gdare

    12 Apr 2007

    Well, I'm not proffessional in photography, but the shutter speed you mentioned is probably reason of the sharpness of the picture 🙂

  6. Words

    12 Apr 2007

    I'm still learning, but a fast shutter speed is essential. I actually select the F value, but keep an eye on shutter speed and either reduce the F setting or increase ISO to make sure the shutter is fast.

  7. ALLY_G

    12 Apr 2007

    The hopping pigeon is very funny. Great shots. :up:

    But amazing is your photo of the sparrowhawk. Wow. :up: :up: :up:

  8. sprogger

    14 Apr 2007

    Impressive photos once again :up:

Comments are closed.

Close Menu