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Small Bird, not going to ID it as I'd be wrong.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 8:06 pm
by kipper
Went down to Jells Park tonight with my camera gear setup for small birds. Dropped every lens at home except the 70-200VR. Packaged it into the bag that came with the lens and put my D70 into a camera + small lens only bag. Here is the results.

Think this bird is a Superb Fairy Wren. It had it's tail cocked up when it was on the ground and bobbing about. There was two of them darting around the trees, playing with each other. Was wonderful to watch. Then they came flying right past me. Managed to capture them but it was fairly low light. Had the ISO cranked to 800, which I hate doing as I prefer around 200 or 400. Even at 800 with aperture priority set to the widest possible aperture I could do with 70-200VR with TC1.7 (which was F/4.8), I only could manage a shutter speed of 1/15th. This is an absolutely crap photo because it's not tack sharp. There is a tree branch slightly over the birds nose. I could go on but I won't. I'm so disappointed. Guess I'll have to go back there and ambush them again.


Image

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 8:42 pm
by Nicole
I can't confirm what it is but it looks like a superb fairy-wren. 1/15th is pretty tough going with these guys. Not much you could do at ISO 800.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 8:57 pm
by Killakoala
Slaters field guide suggests this bird is a Superb Fairy Wren. It is an adolescent male, not quite fully grown but not far off it. THe next time it moults it should be nice and blue.

It could be easily mistaken for a juvenile Splendid Wren, but they do not travel much further east than the Mallee. (I'm not sure where Jells Park is.)

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:06 pm
by kipper
Woot, I finally captured one!

I'm so annoyed I didn't get one down at Tower Hill. The lighting was perfect there, and it was so so close.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:07 pm
by kipper
Killakoala, it's in the South East suburbs of Melbourne. About 20-25km SE of Melb.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:43 pm
by stubbsy
Darryl

No idea what the bird is, but thought I'd post to up my post count :twisted:

Sorry - couldn't resist.

And to add something meaningful. While the pic may not be perfect at least you got the shot. With photography of things that move around a lot that's at least 50% of the effort.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 9:58 pm
by Killakoala
Yep, taking any photo of a wren, including Willy Wagtails is a challenge as they are such wily little characters.

Well done.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 10:23 pm
by kipper
The sad thing was this little bugger decided to have a rest and let me photograph it for about 1-2 minutes before flying off. However the low light really hampered my shots :(

Guess I should of set the tripod up.

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2005 10:27 pm
by Killakoala
Never underestimate the power of Chloroform in a spray bottle. :)

Hi

PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2005 10:16 am
by yeocsa
Hi

You can try to use your flash, Kipper.

regards,

Arthur