The above image was taken at distance in awful lighting conditions; the cropability of the Canon 50D's 15 Megapixel images is unbelievable!!
-Mark-
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( 3 / 191 )Our first outing with the new Canon 50D today and it did not disappoint. The following 2 images were taken at truly unbelievable distance. The Buzzard (left) was the other side of a large field barely visible with the naked eye and the Sparrowhawk (right) was no more than a black splot against the skyline.
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Some teasing glimpses of a Great Spotted Woodpecker hammering away at the top of a tree...
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Buzzard in Flight
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Buzzard
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Reed Bunting (prentending to be a Snow Bunting! :)
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Other sightings for the day included Snipe, Siskin, Bullfinch, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Raven and all the usual favourites. :-)
-Mark-
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( 3.2 / 201 )We're a member of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust here in the UK and spend whatever time we can these days taking trips to either the WWT Wales center in Llanelli or the WWT Slimbridge sites, both being within a reasonable drive from home. However we've also visited the WWT Arundel site as well. These are amazing areas of preservation and conservation, having vast areas with a wide array of wildlife on their premises. For more information on this group go to the WWT Website.
We really had a fantastic time there. There was a huge number of birds taking sanctuary here from the harsh weather that was hitting the UK at this time; freezing temps, high winds, and snow in much of the country. From the hides we were able to see large numbers of wild birds, such as: graylag, whitefronted geese, canada geese, shovelers, pintails, gadwalls, teals, wigeon, mallards, redshank, little grebe, and dunlin.
But the stars of the visit had to be the Tundra Bean Geese that were visible from the hides, which unfortunately we were unable to get a capture of due to the distance and poor lighting involved. Also a few first for us including the Water Rail and the Glaucous Gull. Unlike the photographers waiting for the bird to take flight, we were happy enough to see the bird and take a photo where he was sitting. We missed the Icelandic Gull which flew over this bird later on.
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| Water Rail | Glaucous Gull 1st Winter |
While out amongst the hides, we came across a feeding station set behind some concrete slab walls, with some viewpoints along the wall. Really a great set-up they had here, with dozens of birds taking advantage of the varieties of food there. Amongst the many birds, here's a short list: Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Jackdaws, Crows, Wood Pigeons, Moorhen, Coot, Mallards, and a lone Pheasant.
Here's a selection of the photos we took of the birds there:
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| Greenfinches | Chaffinch (m) |
Also next to one of the hides I saw my first Snow Drops. Hard to imagine spring on the way with the horrible weather we've been having, but it must be if these are peeking out already!
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| Snowdrops |
After spending time at the hides, we took a quick trip around their collection ducks. Here is a selection of those birds.
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| Smew (m) | Red-Crested Pochard (m) |
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| Lesser Scaup (m) | Lapwing (not part of collection) |
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| Snow Goose (Blue Morph) | Eider |
-Jen
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( 3.3 / 247 )Today was a fantastic day, made so by the visit of a gorgeous pair of Red Kites to our area of south Wales.We were visited once before earlier this week by a single individual, but this is the first time I've seen a pair. They were circling the area, so obviously not just flying through on their way to somewhere else. One of our local buzzards was circling just above them, probably wondering who these intruders were. He was tiny in comparison to these large birds of prey.
I took a few quick snaps of one of the individuals through our front window at a huge distance - so obviously not the best of photos. I've placed it in the gallery anyway as it's the only photo we have, but do hope that we'll get another crack at it and replace it with a better photo. Would be a brilliant thing if they became a resident in our area :)
~Jen
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( 3.5 / 249 )
Taken in Woodlandls surrounding Wyllie.
Poor lighting conditions meant this had to be shot at ISO 800 resulting in a slightly noisy image, but a respectable picture all the same.
Other birds around this morning included sizable flocks of Goldfinch and Siskin, Long Tailed Tits, Bullfinch, Nuthatch, Jays, Buzzard, Green + Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Song Thrush, Wood Pigeon and all the usuals (Tits,Robin,Blackbird,Dunnock, etc).
My wife also came across a sizable group of Redpoll feeding in the local area yesterday. :)
-Mark-
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