Friday, August 24, 2012

Wild Bandtails





This morning I went out into the front yard and sat in the photoblind just to see what I might see. A few Stellars Jays came by followed by a young Raven. Neither of these offered to have their portraits taken. I guess they just weren't in the mood. Later on a Douglas Tree Squirrel crawled around under the feeder avoiding my camera as well.
A Western Gray Squirrel did the same. I wasn't having much luck until a small group of wild Bandtail Pigeons came in. They climbed all over the perches giving me plenty of opportunities to photograph them. Bandtails are a gorgeous bird with their striking bills and feet.They are also exceptionally skittish. I made sure to keep all my movements with my lens to a bare minimum. I had a great time photographing them.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

2 comments:

  1. Great photos, as always. What focal length did you use?

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    1. Hi Gregory, the not so simple long answer! For the majority of my bird photography I use a Canon 100-400 IS zoom. Shooting from a blind I can't physically change my position so a zoom works a lot better to recompose than a fixed telephoto. The focal length for the pair was 160mm and the single birds were at 180mm. The perch is roughly 10 feet away.

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