Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 9, 2012 19:02:27 GMT
Candaba the home of migratory birds is looking good as Ariel and I saw a variety of birds that day we went there. The road look solid as the mud hardened like it was baked in the sun. We saw some of the usual birds there and also some lifers. It was drizzling when we left early in the morning and drizzling when we arrived. Fortunately after a while the rain stopped. It was still dark when we got there so we started setting up our gear. We decide to have a sandwich so that we won't get hungry in the stomach later on but remained hungry in our desire to see and photograph the birds. The Purple Swamphen were at a distance but we did not take their pictures thinking that there will be some closer ones as we go around the ponds. Inexplicably we did see a single one after that. But there were plenty of ducks.
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM. Manual exposure in available light. We used a sand weighted bean bag on the car windows with hardly any chance of it falling over the side. It worked out very well.
The first bird of the year was the Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) swimming and diving looking for food to eat. It did not take long when we saw him catching a shrimp and playing with its beak before swallowing.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Distance:19 meters.
As the Little Grebe continued to dive underwater we kept on watching it hoping that something will happen. As it came out of the water there was a fish on its beak and he was thrashing the water probably to kill the fish. To our surprise it did not take long for him to devour the whole fish.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Distance: 21.1 meters.
We saw some ducks swimming in a pond that seemed too far to get any good pictures. I put on a 1.4 TC just to give it a try. It turned out that they were Eurasian Teal (Anas carolinensis). The picture showed there was a small patch of green feathers on the wing. But I did not see any male GWT.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 1600 Distance: 95.9 meters.
At 73.3 meters I took a picture of the Eurasian Teal besides a Philippine duck. It was just about half the size of the Philippine duck.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 800
To our delight there were two Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis) about two meters apart. One was more exposed than the other so we chose the one that was out in the open. It seems like they were resting as they were very relaxed standing on one leg.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200 Distance 15.8 meters
This one did not mind the grass going thru its feathers.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 200 Distance:15.8 meters
There were more Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) than the Purple Heron this time. It looks like some of them are on their dbreeding plumage which is very nice to see.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC Distance 95.9 meters
We saw what looks like a pair of Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). One of them had a red bill and the other one had a yellow bill. Most likely the yellow bill is immature. Although they don't have webbed feet they like to swim most of the time.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance: 27.4 meters.
It seems strange to me but it looks like the birds are more comfortable standing on one leg as in the case of these two birds.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance: 27.4 meters.
We did not see a lot of Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) which is fun to photograph especially if they are waiting for a fish to pass by beneath them. Their neck seems to be longer than their body when they extend it to reach for the fish below their perch.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance: 14.4 meters.
The Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is common in Candaba. It is a bird that transform from an ugly duckling when it is immature to a beautiful bluish grey bird with red legs when they are breeding.
1/2000 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance 41.2 meters.
This picture was taken at 126 meters with a 1.4 TC. It is amazing that the Philippine Duck (Anas luzonica) is recognizable because of its bright green speculum. To the right of the Philippine Duck looks like another kind of migratory duck.
1/1250 sec., f/8, ISO 400
This Northern Pintail (Anas acute) is a lifer for me. I saw the ducks raising themselves over the water and vigorously flapping their wings. Than I saw this one that looks different and focus on the bird. True enough it soon started flapping its wings in unison with the flapping of my camera shutter. It was a pleasant surprise to find out later that it is a Northern Pintail with several females nearby. The picture was taken with a 1.4X TC at 95.9 meters.
1/1250 sec., f/8, ISO 400
We were hidden behind some tall grass and noticed that some ducks started to come closer. It starts with a few and soon others begin to join in.
1/2500 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC at a distance of 73.3 meters.
Here you can see more of them joining the party and all of them with a smile on their face. They were not the only ones having fun as it was exciting to see them increasing in numbers and getting closer.
1/2500 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC at a distance of 73.3 meters.
The group of ducks are now only 41.2 meters away and with a 1.4X TC attached I was able to photograph a sequence of shots where the Philippine Duck was trying to crush a snail with its beak. I don't know if he succeeded in cracking it but he was able to swallow it whole. As the ducks were smiling so was I until a motorcycle pass by and they all flew away.
1/2500 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata) is a black bird with some white feathers on its vent. They will usually go back to the same perch after catching an insect nearby. This time he was 19 meters away but I have a 1.4X TC attached to my lens which helped make this bird appear closer.
1/400 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) is more colorful than the Brown Shrike. I have the 1.4X TC still attached and took this picture at 35.6 meters. For a bird this size it should not be more than 20 meters even with a TC but I just wanted to try to see how the picture would come out. As expected it was not sharp but the "Avocado" bokeh certainly came out nice because of the rice field in the background.
1/540 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The Long-tailed Shrike unexpectedly flew towards us. With the TC still attached it was only 9.87 meters away. The sun was shining brightly and was at a bad angle. The bird barely fit into the frame.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400
I quickly removed the TC and adjusted the focusing point to composed the picture. With the angle of the light shining into the face of the bird this picture looks better than the one with the TC.
1/1600 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The bird move to another branch a little bit further at 13.1 meters but still within reach of a sharp picture.
1/1250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 400
While waiting for some birds to appear I saw this Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) at a distance. I decided to practice on it. No TC and distance to the bird is 58.5 meters. It was getting dark and decided to call it a wonderful day.
1/1600 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM. Manual exposure in available light. We used a sand weighted bean bag on the car windows with hardly any chance of it falling over the side. It worked out very well.
The first bird of the year was the Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) swimming and diving looking for food to eat. It did not take long when we saw him catching a shrimp and playing with its beak before swallowing.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Distance:19 meters.
As the Little Grebe continued to dive underwater we kept on watching it hoping that something will happen. As it came out of the water there was a fish on its beak and he was thrashing the water probably to kill the fish. To our surprise it did not take long for him to devour the whole fish.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Distance: 21.1 meters.
We saw some ducks swimming in a pond that seemed too far to get any good pictures. I put on a 1.4 TC just to give it a try. It turned out that they were Eurasian Teal (Anas carolinensis). The picture showed there was a small patch of green feathers on the wing. But I did not see any male GWT.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 1600 Distance: 95.9 meters.
At 73.3 meters I took a picture of the Eurasian Teal besides a Philippine duck. It was just about half the size of the Philippine duck.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 800
To our delight there were two Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis) about two meters apart. One was more exposed than the other so we chose the one that was out in the open. It seems like they were resting as they were very relaxed standing on one leg.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200 Distance 15.8 meters
This one did not mind the grass going thru its feathers.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 200 Distance:15.8 meters
There were more Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) than the Purple Heron this time. It looks like some of them are on their dbreeding plumage which is very nice to see.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC Distance 95.9 meters
We saw what looks like a pair of Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). One of them had a red bill and the other one had a yellow bill. Most likely the yellow bill is immature. Although they don't have webbed feet they like to swim most of the time.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance: 27.4 meters.
It seems strange to me but it looks like the birds are more comfortable standing on one leg as in the case of these two birds.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance: 27.4 meters.
We did not see a lot of Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) which is fun to photograph especially if they are waiting for a fish to pass by beneath them. Their neck seems to be longer than their body when they extend it to reach for the fish below their perch.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance: 14.4 meters.
The Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is common in Candaba. It is a bird that transform from an ugly duckling when it is immature to a beautiful bluish grey bird with red legs when they are breeding.
1/2000 sec., f/8, ISO 800 with 1.4X TC Distance 41.2 meters.
This picture was taken at 126 meters with a 1.4 TC. It is amazing that the Philippine Duck (Anas luzonica) is recognizable because of its bright green speculum. To the right of the Philippine Duck looks like another kind of migratory duck.
1/1250 sec., f/8, ISO 400
This Northern Pintail (Anas acute) is a lifer for me. I saw the ducks raising themselves over the water and vigorously flapping their wings. Than I saw this one that looks different and focus on the bird. True enough it soon started flapping its wings in unison with the flapping of my camera shutter. It was a pleasant surprise to find out later that it is a Northern Pintail with several females nearby. The picture was taken with a 1.4X TC at 95.9 meters.
1/1250 sec., f/8, ISO 400
We were hidden behind some tall grass and noticed that some ducks started to come closer. It starts with a few and soon others begin to join in.
1/2500 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC at a distance of 73.3 meters.
Here you can see more of them joining the party and all of them with a smile on their face. They were not the only ones having fun as it was exciting to see them increasing in numbers and getting closer.
1/2500 sec., f/8, ISO 400 with 1.4X TC at a distance of 73.3 meters.
The group of ducks are now only 41.2 meters away and with a 1.4X TC attached I was able to photograph a sequence of shots where the Philippine Duck was trying to crush a snail with its beak. I don't know if he succeeded in cracking it but he was able to swallow it whole. As the ducks were smiling so was I until a motorcycle pass by and they all flew away.
1/2500 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata) is a black bird with some white feathers on its vent. They will usually go back to the same perch after catching an insect nearby. This time he was 19 meters away but I have a 1.4X TC attached to my lens which helped make this bird appear closer.
1/400 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) is more colorful than the Brown Shrike. I have the 1.4X TC still attached and took this picture at 35.6 meters. For a bird this size it should not be more than 20 meters even with a TC but I just wanted to try to see how the picture would come out. As expected it was not sharp but the "Avocado" bokeh certainly came out nice because of the rice field in the background.
1/540 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The Long-tailed Shrike unexpectedly flew towards us. With the TC still attached it was only 9.87 meters away. The sun was shining brightly and was at a bad angle. The bird barely fit into the frame.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400
I quickly removed the TC and adjusted the focusing point to composed the picture. With the angle of the light shining into the face of the bird this picture looks better than the one with the TC.
1/1600 sec., f/8, ISO 400
The bird move to another branch a little bit further at 13.1 meters but still within reach of a sharp picture.
1/1250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 400
While waiting for some birds to appear I saw this Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) at a distance. I decided to practice on it. No TC and distance to the bird is 58.5 meters. It was getting dark and decided to call it a wonderful day.
1/1600 sec., f/8, ISO 400
