Birds – Page 23 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

January 25, 2015

Giant Kingfisher

I spent some time going through my kingfisher photos today, and am very happy that I will have lots of shots of both the brown hooded kingfisher and the pygmy kingfisher to come in the following days and weeks. Unfortunately, I only managed a single photo of the giant kingfisher, and while it isn’t a fantastic shot, I thought I would post it anyways, as I think the variety in size and colouration of the kingfishers is phenomenal, and it seemed wrong to leave this one out.

We spotted this kingfisher when we were crossing from the north to the south side of the river. We briefly parked on the bridge to take some photos, but the kingfisher was at a fair distance to begin with, and after I managed only two photos, flew away.

A giant kingfisher perches in a tree above the Mkhuze River. 1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 1800 — A giant kingfisher perches in a tree above the Mkhuze River.
1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 1800

January 20, 2015

Lesser Striped Swallows

I had a wonderful time watching the lesser striped swallows while staying at the Zimanga volunteer house. There really wasn’t a time at home when they weren’t keeping us company, as they had established two nests inside the house, and one on the front porch where we typically had our meals.

I got used to them calling and chattering from the window when I checked my email (I wish I could find a link to post of their calls; they make such wonderful sounds) or swooping above my head while I had lunch or dinner outside. My vantage point was usually not great to take photos of the swallows (lots of shadows), but spending the time watching them build their nests and interacting with each other was such a treat.

Since I don’t have a lot of variety in my swallow photos, I decided to take my favourites, and edit each of them in different ways. Adding things like a vintage film effect isn’t part of my normal editing process; this has been a fun post to get ready.

It was lovely to capture on of the swallows on a bright, sunny day. 1/640 sec, f8.0, ISO 720 — It was lovely to capture one of the swallows on a bright, sunny day.
1/640 sec, f8.0, ISO 720

Eyeing each other up. 1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 400 — Eyeing each other up.
1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 400

Mid call or asking for some food? I'm really not sure. 1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 400 — Mid call or asking for some food? I’m really not sure.
1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 400

Coming into land on the window frame. Edited with my normal, minimal adjustments. 1/1600sec, f6.3, ISO 400 — Coming in to land on the window frame. Edited with my normal, minimal adjustments.
1/1600sec, f6.3, ISO 400

January 18, 2015

Scarlet Chested Sunbirds

I decided to work through the last of the sunbird photos I had flagged off, so that I could start on something new in the coming week. Hopefully 4 posts in a row dedicated to just one bird type isn’t too boring. I had hoped that I could include the white fronted sunbird I captured as well, but those photos were taken from the hide and the bird was in a tree quite far away. Sadly, they are completely lacking.

It looks like this sunbird has a streak of pollen on his chest. 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO 180 — It looks like this sunbird has a streak of pollen on his chest.
1/320sec, f5.6, ISO 180

I include this photo only because I absolutely love the shape her wings has created. It looks like she is drawing a cloak around herself. 1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO 500 — I include this photo only because I absolutely love the shape her wings have created. It looks like she is drawing a cloak around herself.
1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO 500

After all that editing of sunbirds in aloe plants, I wanted to try something a bit different. This photo was taken with the house in the background, giving a stark white backdrop. I quite like the black and white treatment. Thoughts? 1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 400 — After all that editing of sunbirds in aloe plants, I wanted to try something a bit different. This photo was taken with the house in the background, giving a stark white backdrop. I quite like the black and white treatment. Thoughts?
1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 400

A male scarlet chested sunbird caught with an open mouth, and covered in pollen. 1/100sec, f5.6, ISO 800 — A male scarlet chested sunbird caught with an open mouth, and covered in pollen.
1/100sec, f5.6, ISO 800

A male scarlet chested sunbird stretches for an aloe flower. 1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO 800 — A male scarlet chested sunbird stretches for an aloe flower.
1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO 800

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January 15, 2015

Scarlet chested sunbird – dirty look

A scarlet chested sunbird appears to be giving a bee a dirty look. I guess the bee was on the aloe flower she wanted to eat from! 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO400 — A scarlet chested sunbird appears to be giving a bee a dirty look. I guess the bee was on the aloe flower she wanted to eat from!
1/640sec, f8.0, ISO400

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January 14, 2015

Female Scarlet Chested Sunbird

While at the Zimanga volunteer house, I had a great time in the garden on a few afternoons, taking pictures of whatever birds happened to be hanging around. A pair of scarlet chested sunbirds allowed me to hover around them for close to an hour while they had a meal at an aloe plant. Unfortunately, getting a photo of both of them together was not in the cards, but I do have lots more photos of them to go through and post in the near future.

1/100sec, f5.6, ISO800 — 1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO800

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January 13, 2015October 4, 2020

Scarlet chested sunbird – stare down

A scarlett chested sunbird looks straight into the camera, whilst pierced on an aloe plant. 1/1000 sec, f5.6, ISO 800 — A scarlet chested sunbird looks straight into the camera, whilst pierced on an aloe plant.
1/1000 sec, f5.6, ISO 800

January 6, 2015

Black Bellied Bustard

I saw both male and female black bellied bustards while at Zimanga Reserve, but only managed to capture a few photos of the male, on a couple of different days. Each time, it was on the ground looking for food, and took off after being startled by the approaching vehicle.

Like most bird species, the female is far drabber in appearance, and lacks the black belly. Unfortunately the only photo I have of a female is completely out of focus as it was shot from the moving vehicle.

December 26, 2014

Lilac Breasted Roller

The lilac breasted roller is one of my favourite South African birds – it has such a wide variety of colours in its feathers. While I saw quite a few on my trip, usually it was while we were driving and they were flying away – not the best opportunity for capturing a photo. Here though, I lucked out. A bright sunny day really brings out the feather colours, but the flat white sky also serves as a good backdrop.

December 25, 2014

Grey Herons

While on a drive along Lake Sibaya, I saw a pair of grey herons – I don’t know it was a pair of males battling for dominance, or a male and female completing an intricate mating ritual. Regardless, they were beautiful to watch and I love the shapes created by their wings.

All photos 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO1800. Black and white conversion with Nik Silver Efex Pro2.

December 7, 2014

A different view of an oxpecker

I was quite good about going through my photos while I was away, adding keywords and even doing some ratings, to make it easier to sort through when I got home. Until I had my session in a bird hide that is. The volume of photos was so immense (over 1200 from two mornings of shooting) that I wasn’t able to work on them while away, and so any time over the last week that I have had to work on my photos, it has been spent working on bird identification and adding keywords. Not that I mind that type of work at all, it just seems like forever since I have posted anything. Hopefully, now that I am able to actually sort through my photos effectively, I’ll be able to get back into posting more routinely.

Now for today’s photo. I chose this because before my hide session, I had never seen an oxpecker anywhere but on the back of an animal (giraffe, buffalo, rhino etc.). We had quite a few visit during the time in the hide, and several even came right up to the glass to investigate. While my main camera was on a tripod, I had my macro lens on my second body and was able to snap this shot of the bird less than a foot away.