I’m actually a birdwatcher, not a chicken photographer, although today I often carry a digicam. I achieve this for a wide range of causes, however I admit to a robust looking intuition, so I get pleasure from capturing pictures (trophies?), of the birds I encounter. It’s satisfying to come back again from a day’s birding, obtain my images on to my iPad, and relive the thrill of every encounter.
Like most individuals who {photograph} birds, I exploit a protracted lens to allow me to seize portraits of the birds I level the digicam at. OK, that sounds as if I’m stating the plain, nevertheless it’s satisfying to see my topic fill the body. It’s why I exploit a protracted lens, and I usually want it was even longer. Nevertheless, it was studying my fellow contributor Faraaz Abool’s latest account of his exploits in Costa Rica (Birding the slopes of the Turiabla Volcano) that jogged my memory that photos of birds of their habitat inform you an awesome deal that pure portraits fail to do.
Faraaz’s model is to image a chicken in its panorama, and as his work exhibits, such images might be each efficient and evocative. It prompted me to trawl by way of my image library and pull out a collection of birds in landscapes. I’ve by no means revealed any of them earlier than. None are significantly thrilling, however I hope that you just discover them fascinating, and would welcome feedback on them. Maybe I ought to put extra effort into taking extra of those photos, or ought to I follow portraits?
A Whimbrel on migration. North Norfolk, UK, Could. We consider Whimbrels as shore birds, however on migration they usually come inland
Better Flamingoes. Greece, December. The sky was threatening a storm, however the Flamingoes had been illuminated by a low solar
Searching Barn Owl. Suffolk, UK, June. In England Barn Owls regularly hunt in daylight. This chicken was photographed late on a protracted June night
Cuckoo, Southern Caucasus, Could. A uncommon alternative to {photograph} a Cuckoo from above. The immense mountains are a reminder of the obstacles dealing with migrant birds
Pied Wheatear, southern Georgia, Could. These wheatears had been breeding in an intensive space of scrubby, arid steppe that jogged my memory of components of East Africa
Frequent Redstart, Georgia, Could. The leaves had been simply beginning to unfurl. In one other week it will have been a lot tougher to identify, and {photograph}, this chicken
Migrating Swallow, Halkadiki, Greece, Could. A reminder that migrating Swallows should cross nice expanses of sea
Chiffchaff, Suffolk, UK, October. This one was in my backyard. The yellow leaves of autumn gave it close to good camouflage
Nice Gray Shrike, Rajasthan, India, March. Shrikes are typical birds of open areas. That is moderately a boring {photograph}, nevertheless it jogs my memory of the remarkably bird-rich agricultural panorama of this a part of northern India
A Northern Wheatear on its breeding grounds, Galicia, June. Galicia is named Inexperienced Spain for a superb motive, as this {photograph} exhibits
Northern Wheatear, Menorca, Spain, September. A migrant, heading south. The dry-stone wall makes a pretty perch
Noticed Flycatcher, Poland, Could. In early spring Polish woods are a particular vivid shade of inexperienced
White-eyed Kestrels, Etosha, Namibia, February. Have been they nesting right here?
Jackdaws amassing fur for his or her nest, Andalucía, Spain, April. Digiscoped. The cow appeared fairly unbothered by the Jackdaws
Blackgrouse, Arctic Finland, March. This was additionally digiscoped – the birds had been very distant. It’s an image that evokes, for me, the chilliness of the Arctic in winter
White-throated Kingfisher, Sultanpur Chook Sanctuary, India, early February. Winter days right here are sometimes boring and misty
The identical chicken as above – not cropped. I walked nearer. I discover the panorama image extra fascinating
Kittiwake, Lowestoft, UK, April. Kittiwakes are ocean-going birds, however they nest on buildings in Lowestoft, so you’ve gotten the bizarre sight of a correct sea chicken flying alongside city streets
Frequent Tern, Peraia, Greece, April. I’ve significantly better photographs of the tern, however I just like the setting
Low tide, with Little Egret and Black-headed Gull. North Norfolk, July. It’s an image of mud and water, the birds are incidental
A Curlew on the tideline. North Norfolk, November. Not an awesome shot of the Curlew, however that is how we so usually see them
Autor David T
