Tdgraves big(gest?) year 2017

[Tdgraves]

San San, Jamaica, 5/5/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/400, EV +2/3

 

 

2/5/17, Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/100, EV +1/3

 

 

2/5/17, Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 800, f5.6, 1/400, EV +1/3

 

 

2/5/17, Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 800, f5.6, 1/200, EV +2/3

 

 

30/4/17, Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/320, EV +2/3

 

 

259) Bananaquit

 

The most numerous bird that we saw, although not always keen to pose and probably the best bird name ever!

Edited July 11, 2017 by Tdgraves
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[Tdgraves]

I make that 27 species, including 9 of their endemics. We also saw cattle egret, but I have already posted one and a red-tailed hawk, but I was too slow to pick up the camera on the beach. Not bad for a sun lounger holiday! On the way to the airport we also saw a hobby, a glossy cowbird and a brown pelican, but the camera was already packed away.

[PeterHG]

9 endemics definitely sounds pretty good!

[Tdgraves]

Just almost ran over a pair of turtle doves on the way home from work. They are rare (red listed) and I have never seen one before! What are the chances of seeing one with a camera???

[Dave Williams]

4 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

Just almost ran over a pair of turtle doves on the way home from work. They are rare (red listed) and I have never seen one before! What are the chances of seeing one with a camera???

Certainly a rarity in the UK and more and more so in the rest of Europe as a result of the mass slaughter that goes on every year.

[Tdgraves]

Went to a wine tasting last weekend and had a walkabout for an hour or so beforehand and found a couple of new birds

 

Suffolk, 2/7/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 640, f8, 1/2500

 

 

260) Common gull 

[Tdgraves]

Suffolk, 2/7/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 500, f8, 1/1250, EV +2/3

 

 

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 640, f8, 1/2000

 

 

261) Eurasian curlew

[Tdgraves]

And a closer oystercatcher, other than that, mostly we saw people!

 

[Tdgraves]

We have also had a new visitor to the garden this year, a bird that I have not knowingly seen before - it looked different to the usual woodpigeon and collared doves

 

Cambridgeshire, 4/7/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1000, f8, 1/400

 

Male and female

 

 

24/6/17, Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1600, f8, 1/640-800

 

 

 

 

262) Stock dove

[Tdgraves]

and for comparison

 

Home, Cambridgeshire, 19/6/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1250, f8, 1/160, EV -2/3

 

 

 

4/6/17, Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 320, f8, 1/500

 

 

263) Common woodpigeon

[Tdgraves]

Home, Cambridgeshire, 20/6/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 250, f8, 1/500

 

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 640, f8, 1/1600

 

 

264) Eurasian collared dove

[Tdgraves]

Home, Cambridgeshire, 2/6/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 2000, f8, 1/125

 

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1250, f8, 1/2500

 

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 3200, f8, 1/125, EV +1/3

 

 

265) Common blackbird

[Tdgraves]

Home, Cambridgeshire, 2/6/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 400, f8, 1/640

 

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1250, f8, 1/800

 

 

266) Song thrush

[Tdgraves]

Home, Cambridgeshire, 26/3/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1250, f8, 1/2000, EV +1/3

 

 

267) Common chaffinch

[Tdgraves]

And some garden duplicates to make up for earlier shots

 

Dunnock

 

 

 

Goldfinch

 

 

 

 

Blue tit

 

 

Great tit (on my bathroom window sill)

 

 

And this strange puff-backed robin

 

 

[TonyQ]

@Tdgraves

What an excellent collection of birds in your garden - I always find it interesting to see what  visitors people get. We have never had a Stock Dove in our garden so a real treat. Lovely photos, and that total is creeping up!

[Tdgraves]

I had a bit of spare time yesterday and as the sun was finally out, I went to RSPB Ouse Fen. This is a reserve in the making, so there are not many paths, as a consequence, I went further than planned and ended up walking 7 miles  This was the only new one that I managed to capture.

 

Ouse Fen, Cambridgeshire, 15/8/17

 

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1000, f8, 1/320, EV +1

 

 

268) Common chiffchaff

[Tdgraves]

I did have a glimpse of a whitethroat and a sedge warbler (which would have added to this years total), but neither stuck around for their photos.

 

I did get to see a good variety though, with a pair of marsh harriers active (but very far away), a kestrel and a hobby.

 

Some other sightings...

 

Lots of reed buntings

 

 

The marsh harrier flushed these lapwings off of the lake

 

 

Black-headed gull (testing the limits of this lens/extender combo)

 

 

Grey heron

 

 

Little egret

 

 

Common tern

 

 

Mallard

 

 

and a green woodpecker!

 

 

Is this a domestic duck hybrid??

 

 

And I had to walk through these intimidating youngsters....

 

[Dave Williams]

I'm down in Cambridge for a couple of days in a week or two. Hope to add a couple of sightings we don't see often in North Wales. I need to revitalise my BY list!

 

[offshorebirder]

52 minutes ago, Tdgraves said:

Canon 7D mark ii, 100-400 mark ii, 1.4x extender mark iii, ISO 1000, f8, 1/320, EV +

 

Question for you @Tdgraves - how do you like the 1.4 extender in combination with the 7dmkII and 100-400 mkII ?    Is it usable hand-held or do you need a beanbag or tripod?

 

 

[Tdgraves]

15 minutes ago, offshorebirder said:

 

Question for you @Tdgraves - how do you like the 1.4 extender in combination with the 7dmkII and 100-400 mkII ?    Is it usable hand-held or do you need a beanbag or tripod?

 

 

 

@offshorebirder not so much, but don't tell the OH, as it was my Xmas present.  It makes it really slow to focus, so tracking BIF is almost impossible. Also the IQ (at least in the crappy uk light) isn't great, but perhaps I am being unfair, because of trying for birds that are so far away I wouldn't normally contemplate. Most of yesterday's shots went straight in the bin, including some buntings which were pretty close. However, some of my garden shots in better light are pretty good, so I suppose it is the old zoom is not a telescope issue. It just detracts from what is an excellent lens/body combo. We have already decided that on Safari it'll be in the bag for use for far away stationary animals (not birds). It may also be useful on the 5d whilst on foot in Mana. It doesn't add that much weight and I use it hand held, indeed I lugged it for 7 miles yesterday....

[Galana]

A worthwhile day out. Envious of the Yaffle!"

Yes, the funny duck is just one of the many odd looking ones that have descended from inter breeding with Indian Runners and Khaki Campbells etc.

[offshorebirder]

Thanks for the info @Tdgraves.   For what it is worth, I am not  very impressed with the naked 100-400 IS II for birds in flight.  

 

So you have confirmed my suspicions regarding whether a  1.4x TC would be worthwhile to pursue.    I will wait to buy one until I get a 400 f/4 IS II lens and 5DmkIV body.

 

 

[Tdgraves]

Sorry to hear that @offshorebirder maybe you have a bad version? ☹️ I think the mark ii is significantly better than the mark i and is much faster at gaining focus.

[Dave Williams]

@offshorebirder & @Tdgraves

Not wishing to interrupt the flow of your BY, but a couple of things that might help.

If you are using the 1.4TC it's presumably to get more reach so put the focus limiter on to 3m - infinity... just remember to switch it back if something appears really close.

I took mine out this evening and I had no problem locking on to BIF ( providing they were gull sized ) using just a fine single focus point in the middle of the viewfinder.

What might have helped me was that I was using a 1D and the bigger battery probably drives the focus a bit quicker because I found it to be very quick indeed. I have just tried it on my 7D2 but only at stationary targets in the garden and it's a bit slower but not by much.

As far as weight is concerned despite my advancing years  I don't consider the latter combination to weigh very much at all but I am used to a much heavier set up too.