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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 19, 2015 0:23:12 GMT
I am not an expert on bird id. Its got green legs which is common to the Chinese Egret. Doc Chito, Bong, & I once got photographs of green legged Egrets but it turned out that they were just Little Egrets. I hope Des see this picture and gives us his expert opinion. Good luck Prop Jerry. At any rate it is a good picture to have.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 19, 2015 0:12:21 GMT
Your postings are always a delight to see. I can appreciate that responsibility come first before anything else. I certainly look forward to the day that you will be able to do what you plan to do and that I will be able to join you on some of your sorties. As always, well done Romy, Cheers & Mabuhay.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 19, 2015 0:09:05 GMT
Looks like you got them full frame which is desired my most if not all bird photographers. Look at all the feather details coming out. Well done William & Mabuhay.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 19, 2015 0:06:41 GMT
The silhouette looks very much like Asian Glossy Starling and the red eyes are most likely of the same bird. I hope some bird expert will be able to confirm this.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 18, 2015 8:50:47 GMT
It is ironic that I was not yet into bird photography when I used to go to Baguio almost every month. I have discovered that there are quite a number of birds that can be seen there that cannot be seen elsewhere or would be very difficult to do so. One of them them is the Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) ssp luzonniensis (endemic) 5 1/2 inches. What is unique about this bird is that the beak is cross billed to enable it to insert its beak into the pine cone to extract and eat the pine nuts. It was recently discovered that there was a place where flocks would gather and eat from the mountain side something that grows between the rocks. It is colored red and looks like something like a pestle. Maybe someone can identify exactly what it is. Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light. Male Red Crossbill with food in mouth. 1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Male Red Crossbill with unique beaks that crosses at the tip. 1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Female Red Crossbill with food in mouth. 1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 16, 2015 1:28:04 GMT
After visiting the home of Tateo at Honjo, Saitama, we took a train to Kichijoji which is more or less between Saitama and Tokyo. The next day we woke up early and it was a very cold morning around 0º - 3ºC, so cold that there would be vapors coming out of our mouths when we breath or speak. LOL. When we got to the lagoon and saw some ducks that got as excited and we started to follow them. As the sun started to rise, the ducks became more active. The ducks were much nearer than when we saw them at the Arakawa River. We also noticed that the ducks are not as shy as those we saw in Arakawa River. These are all migratory birds but being accustomed to people passing by, they were not as shy anymore. We had lunch at the park and continued to take pictures in the afternoon. Walking around the lagoon, we clocked more than 5 kilometers of walking and photographing the birds and the ducks. Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light. Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 15 1/2 inches. 1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) 37 inches 1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Common Pochard (Aythya terina) 31 inches. 1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Northern Shoveler (Anas clepeata) 19 inches. Male 1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Northern Shoveler (Anas clepeata) 19 inches. Female 1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 29 1/2 inches 1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 10 inches. 1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 15, 2015 22:06:24 GMT
ALL Nice action shots,Ery.Beautiful capture. but I like the first photo. It was fun to try something new to me. Thank you for your appreciation Tateo.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 15, 2015 22:04:32 GMT
Pang-avatar, galing. Moving on from birds with something in their beaks to birds with wings spread, hahaha! Nice! I await your collection with birds in their beaks published. Cheers! I was experimenting with a CF card that is rated 160 MB/s compared to what I was using before of 90 MB/s. It is amazing that all three pictures were taken in sequence at exactly the same time, differing in only a fraction of a second. I hope new opportunity arises to take this kind of pictures. Thank you Prop Jerry.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 14, 2015 14:03:47 GMT
Great job (both shooter and gear) in freezing the action..... very sharp shots, Ely! Sad to hear what's happening to the big pond. Thank you Romy for your comments. There are still a variety of subjects and a lot of birds in flight but nothing compared to before. There are raptors flying around there now and knowing it is one of your favorite shots, I think you should go there and show us how it is done. Let me know if I can join you. Cheers & Mabuhay.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 13, 2015 12:55:18 GMT
Candaba is so different from what is used to be. There are fewer varieties and fewer birds. Some area of the Mayor's pond has been converted to planting rice. There used to be hundreds of Purple Heron on the pond where there is a feeding station in the middle of the pond. They also used to nest there. Now the whole area of that part of the pond is planted with rice. I saw this Blue-tailed Bee-eater perch on a dead branch and noticed that he would hunt for food from that staging area and fly back to the same perch. I decided to try how fast & accurate my camera would focus on this bird while in flight. I was not disappointed. Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light. Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) 11 1/2 inches The new CF card that I am trying proved that it is fast enough to be able to buffer 12 frames per second. All three pictures shown here was taken at exactly 8:52:06 AM on January 10, 2015. 1/1600 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 1/1600 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600 1/1600 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 13, 2015 12:37:28 GMT
This is a nice discovery Prop Jerry. Do they allow bird photography at the Memorial? They used to frown on people taking pictures with long lenses at the Memorial Park. Perhaps with your SX50, they do not mind.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 13, 2015 12:33:28 GMT
I like the first picture which I presume is the male. The Barbet in Alcoy looks different from that in Metro Manila. Beautiful pictures Tateo. Well done & Mabuhay.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 7, 2015 12:24:43 GMT
An interesting collection of nice avian images, Ely. Looks like you had a fruitful trip! Thank you Romy. This was the first of 3 places that I went two in Japan. The second had more birds and they were closer. I will be posting them in this Forum as soon I get them done.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 4, 2015 22:49:10 GMT
All nice shots, Ely. I like the last photo of the sparrow. I still remember it was very cold for birding. We enjoyed the trip in Japan. I will post my photos soon. Thank you Tateo for your comment. Thank you too for being with me on my first birding trip to Japan. At first I was reluctant to go at this time because of the cold weather but it turned out perfect for me as I felt comfortable with my clothing. It is also nice to bird without perspiring and feeling sticky. LOL. Looking forward to see your postings.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 4, 2015 22:44:58 GMT
The eye and the feathers are superb. Well done William & Mabuhay. How are the other birds in Candaba?
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 4, 2015 10:57:38 GMT
Thank you William. Even if it was freezing cold, with all the activities going on, it was a very cool experienced.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 4, 2015 2:38:14 GMT
I was able to talked to Romy the other day and contrary to his plans of going back to birding and doing business on his own, he is back in Pangasinan. His good friend needs him to take care of some urgent business matters and he can’t let him down, so he is back in Pangasinan. I have not been posting at the PBPF Forum as Romy told me that he had to do some cleaning up and find time to attend to this Forum which he started and is the Administrator of the PBPF Forum. Having done that he has now given me the go signal to resume posting and I am starting a post with my recent trip to Japan. My friend Tateo invited me to go to Japan as he was going home for a vacation this December. I was reluctant to go for fear of the cold weather this time of the year. The temperature ranges from 0º to 10º C at this time of the year. Surprisingly with the temperature being at 3ºC most of the time, it was comfortable as I was wearing a thermal t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, underwear, long johns, socks, thick rubber shoes, scarf, warm cap, and a down jacket which is very light. It keeps the heat in and the cold out. Romy explained to me that with the social media like Facebook, people have shifted their preference as it is easier and more responsive to the times. However the picture quality of websites are much better, and it gives one a better chance of sharing their experiences in more details. I will share my pictures with friends in both medium because some of my friends do not use Facebook. I hope that more people will use the PBPF Forum. It is Romy’s intention to unite all bird photographers and I would like to ask for your support on this endeavor. Tateo & I had fun birding together. We had breakfast, lunch, dinner in different kinds of restaurants. We had Udon (Japanesese noodles), Gyoza, Yakiniku, Sushi, Sashimi, similar to what they have here but the quality is better in most cases, after all they are the author of these Japanese recipies. Thank you Tateo for your hospitality and company. We went to 3 Prefectures, Saitama, Kichijoji, and Tokyo. In Saitama which is home for Tateo, there is the Arakawa River, the longest river in Japan. The main attraction there were the water birds. Although they were far and difficult to get close to them as they would swim away from you. What we would do, as the ducks swim upstream we would move ahead of them and hide in the bushes and wait for them to pass by. Instead of the 30-40 meters distance that we were photographing them we would get some of them at about 20 meters. There were also birds that were lifers for me as we do not see them in the Philippines. All the pictures except the last one were taken with Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light. On the way to the Arakawa River we passed by a Persimmon Tree and I saw that there were birds on the tree. The first bird that I saw was a Grey Starling. A cute fat bird with a voracious appetite. Dusky Thrush (Turdus eunomus) 9 1/2 inches. It was a lifer for me and seeing different species feasting on the Persimmon was a treat. Some owners eat the fruits and leave some for the birds. In this particular tree, the owners were probably not interested in eating the fruit. 1/400 sec., f/9, ISO 400 Grey Starling (Sturnus cineraceous) 9 inches. They come in waves and eat as fast as they can and take off. If is a lifer for me. I am still hoping to see some colorful birds but it is winter and chances are there won't be many. 1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400 Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 36 inches. We have this at Lake Paoay and there is a day of celebration organized by Doc Pete & Richard every year called the Return of the Great Cormorant. 1/800, f/8, ISO 400  Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 19 inches. A delightful lifer at 48.5 meters. They have a white spot on their cheek and have goldeneyes. Picture is full frame and there are Tufted Ducks swimming alongside them. 1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800  Great Tit (Parus major) 6 inches. Another lifer for me, similar to our Elegant Tit by nature, almost non stop of flying from branch to branch looking for insects & worms to eat. 1/1000 sec., f/8, ISO 400  Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 31 inches. Another lifer for me. This bird is rare in the Philippines. 1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) 23 1/2 inches. Rare in the Philippines but quite common in Japan. Tateo does not even want to take picture of them anymore but it is a lifer for me and I always enjoy taking pictures of birds including ducks. LOL. 1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400 Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos) 23 inches. I have seen them in Candaba but they were much farther than this one. Most ducks have a smiling gape that gives one a good feeling when you watch they swim. 1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200 Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 29 1/2 inches. A lifer for me and to see it this close is truly a delight. 1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200 Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 15 1/2 inches. I saw this duck once in Wack Wack and it was a thrill to see him swimming on the pond right on the golf course. 1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200 Whopper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) 60 inches. It is pronoucned Hooper and what a sight to see over 40 swans b eing adored by the Japanese. They too love birds and amazingly they are migrants that fly in and become friendly with the people. They would move from one place to the other until it is time to go back where they come from. For a time they were not coming but now they are back. I have seen the common Mute Swan and Black Swan but this one is a lifer for me. 1/1250 sec., f.5.6 ISO 800 Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) 4 1/2 inches. Although very similar to our Lowland White-eye & Mountain White-eye, it is still a lifer for me to see this Japanese White-eye in Saitama. 1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800 Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) 11 inches. Another lifer that adds up to the number of birds seen in Japan. 1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800 Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 5 1/4 inches. As common as it is in the Philippines it has adopted to the habits of the Japanese ETS in partaking the Persimmon fruit. I wished we also had Persimmon trees in the Philippines. 1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800 Aracara River is the longest river in Japan and they have built spillways and controls to regulate the flow of the river. Photo taken by Tateo. Canon with SX60.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 4, 2015 1:07:47 GMT
I like the first picture as you could practically count the feathers because of the sharpness of the picture. Well done Tateo & Mabuhay.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Dec 29, 2014 13:05:16 GMT
I like the Oriental Turtle Dove best of all. I was with Tateo recently in Kichijoji and saw the same bird. My first impression was that it was a large Spotted Dove. Well done Mark & Mabuhay.
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Post by Ely Teehankee on Dec 29, 2014 13:00:35 GMT
I like the Taiwan Blue Magpie best of all. Hoping to be able to go birding there someday. Well done Bob & Mabuhay.
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