Canon 400mm 5.6 L my new baby!

Long time no post... but not to worry... I'm back and with a new lens! Not much to say... just lov'in it! Had it about a month now... here's some of the images it has produced!

Crested Shrike-tit

Crested Shrike-tit

New-holland Honeyeater

Spotted Harrier

Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet

Hoary-headed Grebe

Australian Hobby

New-holland Honeyeater

Galah 

White-backed Swallow

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

So far I am pretty stoked with my purchase! :-)
Keep Smiling!
Chris

A Quail and it's enemy...

The Stubble Quail is a common bird in these parts at this time of the year! They run the gauntlet of many harvesters bearing down on them during the the months of November and December! Where undoubtedly many will and have met their end... The lucky ones who manage to escape the metal jaws of death often do so by bursting up and flying as fast as they can away from the danger... the problem they often face is... their being watched... as the Black Falcons who follow the movements of the Quail often follow the Harvesters as well in readiness for one of the Quails to burst into flight! Then they make spectacular dives in an attempt to snatch a feed! A few get taken this way... although I think the Harvesters take more lives over the season!
One day I will get a shot or video of these spectacular Falcon/Quail showdowns till then the photos below will have to do! These have all been taken in the last few months!

 

Stubble Quail (male)

and the same bird again

Stubble Quail (female)
 

Black Falcon resting in the shade

The usual view of the Black Falcon on the wing... a Stubble Quail's worst nightmare!

Black Falcons are the largest of Australia's Falcons and often pirate prey off other raptors often larger than themselves! I have seen them push Spotted Harriers down into the stubble with repeated dives.. when the harriers are carrying prey!

Feathers in the night....

The nights have warmed.... the crops are off and the Owls are back! Gotta love this time of year!

As can be seen from a few of my later posts.. I have been enjoying birding under the cover of darkness just of late!

The stunningly beautiful Barn Owl has been the subject to mostly be found in my viewfinder...

 

Just for something a little different I have been trying to take flight shots of these Owls! I really am poorly set-up for this kind of shot... with only the on-board camera flash I need the bird to be pretty close to get a reasonable shot! The two below are from my first attempt at OIF shots!! Fairly happy to at least get some... but with a decent external flash they could be so much better!

Thought I would also add this photo... it's of good friend Kay Parkin having a 'who's going to flinch first' stand off with a Tawny Frogmouth on the post! It shows how close you can get to these great birds! On many occasions I have been to within a metre of them and they don't even fly! Very cool!

Cheers
Chris

Flying Falcon.....Relaxed Owl!

Just a quick update to add a couple of photos taken in the last week! The Brown Falcon was originally perched up high in a dead tree.. took a few shots that haven't turned out so well! but the take off flight shots came out not too bad!

The Barn Owl shot is of one of the first birds to arrive around Freeling this season! Love it when they hold their foot up like this! Looks cool! Wouldn't want to be grabbed by those talons though!

 

Brown Falcon - Pengilly Scrub, South Australia

 

Barn Owl - Freeling, South Australia

Cheers
Chris

"Froggie" a wonderful subject!

In the last couple of weeks I have been getting out with the spotlight a bit looking for our local creatures of the night! So far I have mainly been targeting Barn Owls on a couple of mates farms out on the Adelaide Plains... this time I thought I would stay local and target the resident Tawny Frogmouths and if I was lucky a Boobook Owl or two! Didn't find any Boobooks but did come across a couple of Tawnies... including this ripper below! Beautiful Birds Tawny Frogmouths... with some amazing plumage!

 

Chris

Owling fun

Had a great night out spotlighting last Friday night! Went up to a mates farm about 20min away near Owen in SA's lower north, hooked up the light and took off in search of creatures of the night!
The first Barn Owl was found after only driving about 200m from the shed! Looked like luck was going to be on our side this night! Little did I know that the highlight wouldn't be the 6 Barn Owls we came across and photographed but a very confiding Little Button-quail which we came across in a paddock which had been cut for hay. This meant ankle deep stubble which works well for keeping a eye on these little guys and made it possible for me to get a few images of a species I haven't been able to photograph before!
The Owls were great but the Quail made it even better! Top night out! 

 

Eastern Barn Owl

 

Little Button-quail

Must also thank my mate Michael for driving me around and holding the spotlight while I took way too many images!! Thanks Mike!
Cheers
Chris

Peregrine paradise!

There's a hidden little gem of a waterfall here in SA that not too many know of... the waterfall may not be big but it's cut a deep gorge through a hillside with a couple of sheer cliffs either side! Perfect Peregrine real estate!! Before this weekend just gone I hadn't been to this spot for around 12yrs! When I used to go there the resident Peregrines would always give me a hurry up as I stood on a fair slope just above the sheer cliff on the opposite to where the birds nest! Always a little intimidating and nerve-wracking!
Happy to say the resident pair of Peregrines are still there and still as intimidating as ever!!
I find.. as a lot would I think.. BIF shots hard to get right! I took a fair few this session! Some of the more average shots had more action with the birds stooping at me.. but when they did that, I struggled to get good focus! Man their FAST!! These shots are of the more subdued "fly-by's" which allowed a better result!!
These birds are wonderful to watch... awesome creatures! They ooze... "I'm top of the food chain and I know it" qualities.... and I could watch them all day! 

Just cruising by berating me as she went!

You can see the power in these birds when viewed like this!

Stunning birds!