My last days of 2023 were spent in a place I love, doing two of my favourite activities: nature walks and birdwatching!
I went for a walk the day I arrived, the day already approaching the golden hour - not that there was anything golden about that day(s), because cloulds and the misty atmosphere were the norm in the days spend here; but being able to breathe fresh air and see silhouettes of birds of prey as the day was coming to an end was enough to call it a win!
Silhouettes was actually some of the only ways to capture some of these moments on camera! The binoculars do help in identifying the species (and I wasn't carrying them when I took the last photo), but the light conditions at the end of a cloudy day or during the misty days weren't the best for my bridge camera. Yet, I did a ton of reading and watch some videos that definitely made me use my camera better! I kept reading reviews of birders that loved the camera (I have a Canon SX50 HS), what probably means that if my photos suck most of the time... I could probably be doing something much better. And it was true! Tweaking some settings, reviewing basic concepts such as shutter speed and aperture and ISO relations, all that did help in saving some of the photos these days. Still, a lot of work ahead!
Using the camera in sports settings allowed me to take decentish photos of a heron in flight, for instance.
It's not a common species around these parts for sure! No big bodies of water around, in the middle of the woods; still, it was a welcome sighting!
No amount of good technique can prevent those peak-a-boo moments, though.
"Oh, what a lovely bird... with his head hidden by the f#$%#% twing...."
Well, part of our birdwatchers/ amateur photographers life, right? Sometimes you have to settle for capturing our featheredfriends among the twigs and leaves!
He's even giving me the angry-please-don't-take-my-picture-go-away look!
And yes, there were crystal clear photos, new species on camera, and old species that I finally was able to take decent footage of; I'll be sure to show them in my future posts!
Cheers to an awesome 2024 of birding and #featheredfriends posts!
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