I don't have one of the lovely long lenses so prized by bird photographers. I shot this with an old 75 - 300 inexpensive (but very light) Canon zoom lens. It is not as sharp as I would like, but still, this picture is not too bad considering both the lens and the photographer! Actually, this was more a combination of dumb luck and number of frames, because I had the camera off the tripod and was following these birds as they took off.
The details: 1/250th of a second at f8, 300 mm, with an ISO of 200. You can see some blurring if you view this photo at its original size. But, the effect of the light on wings is just too enticing to ignore. Sometimes I think sharpness and crisp focus are totally overrated!
Notice the lead and following Trumpeters. They are all white. These are adults. The mottled grey birds are juveniles. See how much you've learned about this species just by keeping up with my blog!
My friends Jan and Alan have engaged in a new twist on an old addiction -- Green Birding -- and they have invited me to join them. They are absolutely dead keen on birding and are experts at it. The twist is in seeing how many different birds they can find without generating carbon emissions (other than what comes naturally). This means undertaking a birding expedition completely by way of their own steam: Birding by bike, by foot, by kayak, etc.
Green Birding looks to be an up and coming trend, and with 94 species on their GB list to date, Jan and Alan are shooting stars in the Vancouver Island Green Birding community. It is lots of fun to doddle along on the bike, stopping frequently to look around. You get a good sense of an area's biogeography. Every little stream, copse of trees, or tangle of brambles can be prime environment for birds. A day spent biking and birding certainly lets me look at my surroundings with new eyes.
1 comments:
Somehow I missed finding your beautiful photo of Trumpeter Swans taken in January. The quality of light and the line up of such fluid elements of flight are really lovely. I know many enjoyed this image and sorting out the adults and young. If they'd like to learn more I encourage you all to visit www.trumpeterswansociety.org. We have a wealth of information about this beautiful species and an identification brochure you can download. We also have a Blog trumpeterswansociety.wordpress.com and would be happy to share this photo with our larger audience if you wish. All the best - I enjoyed your site,
Peg Abbott, The Trumpeter Swan Society
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