I spent a lot of time watching these little birds on my last trip to South Africa, both around the yard at the volunteer house, and while at the bird hides. There was something about the way they gathered in small groups, their flight style and their happy looking faces that reminded me of the oregon dark eyed juncos we have here at home; it certainly wasn’t based on appearance, as other than size and beak shape, they physically have nothing in common.
Someone got up on the wrong side of the nest! 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 2800A beautiful couple. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 2500Water, water everywhere. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 2500A very vigorous splash bath! 1/400sec, f5.6, ISO 2500Why fly when you can bounce around? I guess it saves on energy. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 2500
There have been an awful lot of things going on that have severely limited the free time I have had recently, which is why there hasn’t been a post from me in ages. Thankfully a lot of the items on my must get done list are now finished, and I can get back to working on my photography. With the lovely weather we have been having, it seems a shame that I’ve been stuck indoors, but there will be lots of time (and hopefully lots of good weather) for photos in the coming days and weeks.
I wanted something that would be fairly efficient to work on, so I decided to go through the photos I took of oxpeckers at the bird hide. I had posted one photo previously https://wordpress.com/post/51960952/1129/ but had a few others that I thought were worth posting.
Wishing everyone an excellent day!
I was glad an oxpecker returned later in the morning once the light was better; it makes a difference for showing off the subtle colour changes in their feathers. 1/1000 sec, f6.3, ISO 1250
This crested barbet stopped by the watering hole while I was at the Mkombe bird hide at Zimanga Game Reserve. For reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, it reminds me of the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn from the Looney Tunes cartoons I watched when I was a kid.
Have great evening everyone!
Striking the most intimidating pose possible! 1/1600 sec, f7.1 ISO 1250Calling to a friend, or calling out a foe?Getting ready for what was a very ungraceful leap over to the other side of the water.Checking out the seed on offer.
We left so early for our walk today I didn’t bother grabbing my camera, and as we were leaving the dike I was kicking myself for it. This would have been so much better shot with something other than my phone. I’ve never before seen a heron perched on the top of the power lines.
Great Blue Heron shot with my Samsung phone through the front window of my car.A quick snap out through the open window
I’m both happy and irritated with myself at the moment. Happy that I discovered a few additional sunbird photos that had not been properly tagged, and annoyed with myself for not going through the proper workflow to begin with.
That off my chest, here are a few additional sunbirds I saw during my last trip to South Africa. Enjoy!
My best attempt at an identification – I believe this is a female amethyst sunbird. 1/800 Sec, f5.6, ISO 800A purple-banded sunbird.A male purple-banded sunbird perched in a distance tree. 1/640 sec, f5.6, ISO 400A female scarlet-chested sunbird feeding on aloe. 1/640 sec, f5.6, ISO 400A huge stretch to reach the perfect aloe blossom. 1/640 sec, f5.6, ISO 400A female scarlet-chested sunbird in flight. 1/640 sec, f5.6, ISO 400
While organizing photos, I came across a few lilac-breasted roller shots that frankly, I forgot I had. They are from my trip this past October / November to Zimanga. While there, I didn’t have a lot of success capturing the roller, as most of the time we were driving when I noticed it, and it was gone by the time we stopped, if we were able to stop at all. If there is a more beautiful bird though, I’ve not seen it yet. When the sunlight strikes its feather, the colours are just amazing.
Enjoy the photos and have a lovely day.
A cheeky glance over the shoulder. 1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 100If the light would have been on my side, this obviously would have been much better. I included it as I really like the composition. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 100Perched in the thorn tree, I snapped this just moments before the roller took off. 1/1000 sec, f5.6, ISO 400Up and away. Not the sharpest in flight shot, but a lovely display of the colourful feathers nonetheless. 1/1250 sec, f5.6, ISO 400
This past trip, I added the little bee-eater to my list of birds, and saw the white fronted and european bee-eater again. I’ve only ever seen the european bee-eater from far distances, so I am hoping some day I will have some nice close up shots to work with.
A pair of white fronted bee-eaters perched on a thorn tree branch. 1/250 sec, f5.6, ISO 1000While the female look away, the male sneaks off. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1000Contemplating following her partner… this female white fronted bee-eater stuck around for another minute before heading off after her mate. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1000A lone little bee-eater perched on a low branch. It’s mate was just out of the shot, about a meter away. 1/1000 sec, f5.6, ISO 720A pair of little bee-eaters perched on a broken branch. 1/320 sec, f7.1, ISO 400A pair of little bee-eaters pose for some photos. 1/320 sec, f8.0, ISO 400A European bee-eater perched in a far off tree. 1/250 sec, f5.6 ISO 800
A pin-tailed whydah stops in for a drink at a puddle that was definitely more mud than water. A blue waxbill was also there looking for a drink. 1/500 sec, f7.1 ISO 100
More pictures from my session at the Mkombe hide at Zimanga. The mousebirds were a favourite of the photo coordinator, and the bird she most hoped seeing when we started our hide session. The red faced mousebird only made brief appearance, but a good number of speckled mousebirds spent a great deal of time at the water.
Looking at the photos now, I find a resemblance between the mousebird and a cardinal (head and beak shape) though I must be honest I have not seen a cardinal other than in photos for over 30 years, so I could be completely wrong about that.
Wikipedia provides some information on the behaviour and habitat of the mousebird:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousebird
Have a great day!
A red faced mousebird leans in for a drink. This mousebird showed up to our afternoon session at the Bhejane hide, before anyone even had their camera attached to a tripod, and never came back again. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1600A long mousebird perched above the watering hole. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1000Feathers ruffled.Five mousebirds around the watering hole on a sunny spring morning. 1/2500 sec, f9.0, ISO 1600Wings back and claws extended as the mousebird comes into land at the watering hole. 1/2500 sec, f9.0 ISO 1600Two drinking, one eyeing up the situation from the perch, and one on the way out (bet you didn’t notice that one at first!) 1/2500 sec, f9.0, ISO 2000A mousebird lands at the water hole as an emerald spotted wood dove takes off. 1/2500 sec, f9.0, ISO 2000The long tail feathers of the mousebird are well displayed during take off. 1/2500 sec, f9.0 ISO 2000The last of the mousebirds takes off for the trees. 1/2500 sec, f9.0, ISO 2000
Here in southern BC, we have spent the last few days with lovely warm weather for February, but have been absolutely hammered with rain as well. This morning, I woke up to a reprieve from the rain and even a few hints of blue sky. As such, I finally got out on a morning walk with my camera. I can’t believe it is February and these are the first 2015 photos I am able to post. They aren’t the best eagle or osprey photos I have taken and the birds weren’t doing anything weird or wonderful. I am just so thrilled that I was able to have a dry walk and see some birds that I decided to share.
Based on the quality and direction of the light, and how desaturated the photos were, I decided to convert everything to black and white.
Happy Sunday everyone!
An osprey peers down at me from a tree along the banks of the Pitt River.Tired of being photographed, the osprey flees the paparazzi.This osprey didn’t seem to appreciate the camera being pointed at it, and flew away to a new perch after only a couple photos. We played this game a few times before it headed off out of reach of my camera.The trunks of two trees nicely frame a beautiful bald eagle. It kept a very watchful eye on Spencer and I.The eagle’s penetrating gaze trained in the direction of the osprey. Even though it was a fair distance away, I have no doubt they were aware of each other.
