and Bird Flock - Canon - IMG_6822

Sony a7RV | Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD

.

www.saal-digital.net/share/OEaNyWL/

Seagulls at Wynnum, Brisbane, Australia. Nikon D810 and 70-200

Happy Telegraph Tuesday

A flock of Canada Geese flying low over the ocean while one of their flock attempts to catch up.

Canada Geese are commonly seen all over these days, but did you know in the early 1900's their numbers had been decimated due to habitat loss and hunting. Today there are more than 5 million Canada Geese across North America thanks to conservation efforts and regulations.

My flock of birds was also very curious about the performance.

Male Bearded Tit / Reedling.

A pre-work trip this morning and not easy conditions! Quite a strong breeze combined with a small and very flighty flock of beardies mostly keeping their heads down among the frantically swaying reeds. A number of profanities were muttered as I kept trying and failing to focus on them.

Taken in Norfolk.

Trumpeter swans flighing over the Minnesota River valley.

This beauty was part of a flock of c.100 birds that were spooked from a nearby field , by some clown on a quad bike.

Canada Goose - Branta Canadensis

Cuil Bay - Scotland

Many thanks to all those who take the time to comment on my photos. It is truly appreciated.

DSC_8707

Fuji X20

Explore 07 January 2014

Early in the morning, quite Zen.

This flock of knots was photographed on September 23, during a birding big day competition called the Kiptopeke Challenge. To read more about Team Turnstone's adventure, check out my blog post at:

birdsandbuds.com/2017/09/26/kiptopeke-challenge-2017-a-bi...

Grazing away the last dry grass.

In Flight

Here's a recent photo that I took of a flock of (female) ostriches.

It's actually relatively easy to take a nice photo of a flock of ostriches (hint: the females are easier). ;)

Here are a few things to consider (in order of importance)... in case you also wanted to take a nice photo of a flock of ostriches;

1. First you will need to find some ostriches (hint: there are more ostriches in the Little Karoo than you can shake a stick at).

2. Next you must have a sturdy fence between you and your chosen birds (hint: ostriches generally don't like humans).

3. To attract the flock you would either need a sack of corn, or else you would have to be incredibly charming (hint: I had no corn).

4. The camera settings are easy. Fast shutter speed, small aperture, and then increase the ISO as required (hint: use your histogram).

5. Now you must take as many photos as possible... in the shortest possible space of time (hint: continuous-high).

6. Finally, you must keep your fingers tightly crossed that at least one of those photos doesn't look like a complete mess.

As I said before... it is "relatively" easy to take a nice photo of a flock of ostriches. It's certainly a lot easier than taking a nice photo of a plain sheet of paper! ;)

Birds scatter before a city dweller in an early morning Haymarket Scene.

Flock of sheep grazing on a slope.

Late Winter Flocks. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Huge numbers of sandhill cranes and several varieties of migratory geese in late winter.

Yes, another “sky full of birds” photograph! You may think I am sharing a lot of these… but not anywhere near all of them. And that, of course, brings up one of the great “secrets” of photographing birds: for every good image that “works” there are dozens of others that never see the light of day. Landscapes don’t move (much), so they are more predictable. But most of the time birds are in motion — at least when they are doing interesting things — and it is impossible to control or predict everything that will happen. You can improve your odds over time… but there is still an element of chance.

These fields were full of late season birds — mostly various kinds of geese, but also lots of sandhill cranes and even a few egrets here and there. At this time of year — just before the long migration back to the north — they seem to become extremely active. At the least provocation huge numbers of birds will suddenly and noisily take to the air and circle before finally returning to the field for a while… and then repeating the process a bit later.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

A westbound Union Pacific coal train led by EMD SD90MAC-H No. 8202 and two more SD9043MACs approaches Crescent, Colorado, on a very snowy April 23, 1999. Union Pacific 8201-8204 was part of an eight-unit group of preproduction Electro-Motive Division SD90MAC-Hs, that were later renumbered 8501-8504. Locomotive No. 8204 was specially-painted EMD 75th anniversary scheme, before being repainted UP yellow. UP later filled the vacated 8201-8204 numbers with a second group of SD9043MACs with the same numbers.

prioritate / priority

Mixed blackbird flock, mostly tricolored

Coyote Valley, CA

Cropped shot, not sure what they were, geese of some sort ?

Created in Dream by Wombo Ai. All other processing was done in Photoshop Beta 2023 v 25.1. except for one texture modification done in Topaz Studio. Only 3 layers this time. Some hand painting.

Thanks for your visit, faves, and kind comments.

Flock of seagulls takes flight when I got too close. - San Felipe, Baja - Mexico on the Sea of Cortez

Flock in FLight

This shepherd was busy tending to his flock checking and trimming their hooves etc. An important job as they can go lame otherwise if not done.

I was taking pictures of the mountains when this flock of birds rudely intruded the scene...

A flock of these birds were seen near Mohaan

This was taken at the north wall at Pagham there were over 40 swans in flight in one flock and hundreds of geese in another it was an amazing sight.

This group of galahs flies over my house every morning and returns every afternoon. They are very noisy and the flock seems bigger every year.😀

Dandelion Flocks, Maulden, Bedfordshire, 26 Apr 2020

Over Boundary Bay

Taken first thing yesterday morning at some distance (approx. 40 metres). Showing almost a full range of Bearded Tit poses - apart from stilt walker - maybe I will get that one next time.

There are 5 males, 1 juvenile male (centre top right) and 1 female.

Taken in Norfolk.

It was lovely to see a huge flock of Goldfinches & a few Linnets early this morning. Such a beautiful sight & sound.

I captured this flock of thousands of Western Sandpipers at the Copper River Shorebird Festival at Cordova. It was an amazing experience to be so close to so many birds and to watch their flock behavior. The flock would land and eat for a bit and then fly up for a short while before landing again to resume their hunt for food. These birds are filling up for their continued journey to their breeding grounds of the Yukon Delta in Alaska.

From the archives - with Covid-19 out there, it's safer to stay home and clean up the photo catalog and discover gems along the way...

Taken 6 May 2018 at Cordova, Alaska.

in flight over the Thames River

A flock of birds over the port in Wismar, Northern Germany

During our stay at the East Canyon State Park, the place was overrun with free range sheep that were grazing on the grass in and around the park. This made for some nervous moments as the sheep crossed the fairly busy highway around the park. In a flock of hundreds of white sheep, there was one black ewe that was followed by one black and one white lamb. Here they are surrounded by the grasslands and hills.

For more of my creative projects, visit my short stories website: 500ironicstories.com