Some pictures I took recently

Golden Plover and Stonechat

thyme

I had the pleasure of having two pairs of Buzzard's nesting near the house this year, and this is one of them.

Merlin, Bulll Island

Irish Mountain Hare

Skylark

Common Frog

Common Blue

Orchidaceae

Short Eared Owl, Co Dublin

Haven't seen a Mandarin Duck on the Dodder for a long while - so delighted to spot this guy today right beside where I live- hope it stays!

Mandarin Duck

Morrisseeee

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Love it! Do you mind me asking in what country (assume Scandinavia/Russia or NAM/Canada?)

keps wrote: »

Haven't seen a Mandarin Duck on the Dodder for a long while - so delighted to spot this guy today right beside where I live- hope it stays!

I hope so too, only this month I have shot Short Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Merlin, Red Grouse, Sparrowhak, Kingfishers, GS Woodpeckers, etc and I havent been able to get the Mandarin for years....

Great shot Keps!

Morrisseeee

gzoladz wrote: »

Love it! Do you mind me asking in what country (assume Scandinavia/Russia or NAM/Canada?)

Ireland, at Ardmore open farm and mini zoo

Morrisseeee wrote: »

It's actually a Great Tit. Lovely shot.

Blue Tit

I love Jays... If they stayed quite for just a few seconds...

Yellowhammers

gzoladz wrote: »

Yellowhammers

Super shots, gzoladz.

vargoo

gzoladz wrote: »

Yellowhammers

How come I've never seen one of these in person? Where do they be?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

vargoo wrote: »

How come I've never seen one of these in person? Where do they be?

Open countryside, arable farms, east coast to midlands mostly.

HoteiMarkii wrote: »

Super shots, gzoladz.

Cheers Hotei

vargoo wrote: »

How come I've never seen one of these in person? Where do they be?

In the habitat mentioned by Srameen, they have declined significantly however there is a nice flock showing well in Turvey.

black forest

Thanks guys for all these wonderful pictures.

As i’m pretty new here i always wonder which lenses and bodies you are using. I never get good shots of small birds living in the hedges. Have a Canon 40D with one of the very early L-Optics, a 36-360mm.

Together with the 1,6 crop factor i get a max of 576mm. Your optics seem to be mostly around 900-1200mm, minimum.:cool:

I would really enjoy a better lens plus a real 110mm macro. Whatever, i can take pictures and sometimes i’m lucky. :P

Happy new year and please keep it up. I enjoy this thread immensly.

black forest wrote: »

Thanks guys for all these wonderful pictures.

As i’m pretty new here i always wonder which lenses and bodies you are using. I never get good shots of small birds living in the hedges. Have a Canon 40D with one of the very early L-Optics, a 36-360mm.

Together with the 1,6 crop factor i get a max of 576mm. Your optics seem to be mostly around 900-1200mm, minimum.:cool:

I would really enjoy a better lens plus a real 110mm macro. Whatever, i can take pictures and sometimes i’m lucky. :P

Happy new year and please keep it up. I enjoy this thread immensly.

Thanks black forest.
I have an ancient Nikon D5100, but use the Tamron 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens. I also have a Tamron 90mm macro. Both are excellent lenses. Buying the equivalent Nikkor lenses is prohibitively expensive.
I look forward to seeing some of your own images soon hopefully.
Happy New Year!

black forest wrote: »

Thanks guys for all these wonderful pictures.

As i’m pretty new here i always wonder which lenses and bodies you are using. I never get good shots of small birds living in the hedges. Have a Canon 40D with one of the very early L-Optics, a 36-360mm.

Together with the 1,6 crop factor i get a max of 576mm. Your optics seem to be mostly around 900-1200mm, minimum.:cool:

I would really enjoy a better lens plus a real 110mm macro. Whatever, i can take pictures and sometimes i’m lucky. :P

Happy new year and please keep it up. I enjoy this thread immensly.

Thanks blackforest - my personal experience, shared by some but not by many.

I went through the cycle...I have had an entry level DSLR with a Sigma 150-600 for a few years, however for the last ~2 years I have been using a bridge camera + 95% of the time (Nikon P900 first and Nikon P1000 lately). 2 reasons:

1. Due to weight (2.5kg vs 1/1.5kg) and size, carrying the DSLR + Sigma was taken away of the enjoyment of my hobbie which in addition to photography includes the observation, hike, travelling etc. The bridge is more versatile and easier to carry.

2. The DSLR significantly outperforms the bridge in low light and shorter distances (i.e. up to 50/70mts, of course it depends on many other variables), however due to the reach of the P1000 (3000mm optical) I can get shots that would be nearly impossible with the DSLR. i.e. the perching short eared owl was about 300/350mts away according to google. The merlin on the branch was ~100mts away.

For macro I use the Raynox 250. It costs c. EUR60 on Amazon, it is half the size of a mobile phone and it just clicks in you lens. I love it. No comparisson with a dedicated macro lens, but for experimenting and just throw it in the backpack I find it perfect.

I hope this helps.

Short Eared Owl and Common Scoter...back to the office tomorrow so I will give you all a break

.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Robin

Dipper on the Dodder

Dunnock

black forest

Thanks a lot @HoteiMarkii and @gzoladz . Food for thought.:)

The weight is a real argument. I’m using my monopod Manfrotto 685b when i’m on one of my little excursions. A bridge camera never crossed my mind but 3000mm optical is impressive.

This clip on macro solution sounds nice. Till now i still have to screw my old +2 or+4 diop. filters on the kit lens. May be later this year i can get a used Tamron or Sigma macro lens. They are still expensive...:rolleyes:

@HoteiMarkii Yes, Nikon is even more expensive than the Canon series. And the lenses...:o

I’m thinking about getting a 1,4 tele extender. That would be 806,4mm without loosing any light. Somehow i need more money.

There are already a few pictures of me. Starting here with #9683

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=108166507

With a lot of help from @New Home...:D

Thanks all around.;)

NEW WAVE

Robin

Heron on the Boyne

Del.Monte

Apologies for posting this terrible pic here and I promise to get myself a decent camera soon as my phone just isn't up to it! I'm only posting to show just how the Little Egret seems to have penetrated everywhere no matter how off the beaten track. This was taken on a stream today - little more than a polluted drain - near Wyckham Way (close to Balally Luas). I felt sorry for the poor devil.

And Cattle Egret seem to be following, there are more records every year (although I have yet to see one myself).

Up to 2 or 3 years ago, Dublin Zoo still had an enclosure with Little Egrets. I am not sure if they still do, but I remember it caught my attention at the time...it is almost like having an enclosure with magpies so people can see them!