thanks John. I use a tamron 200-500mm f5-6.3 lens on a D90. 300-750mm FOV on crop body and still not enough reach a lot of times.
Wow, that is a lot of reach, and still not enough. ; You must be pretty far from the "action." ; I guess my 200mm would be a waste down there!
200mm may be ok when it gets colder and the hawks and falcons start getting closer as they hunt smaller birds feeding on berries. 200 may get some herons and egrets along the shore line at low tide now. My bud has a nikon 600mm f4 on a d300 which is 900mm FOV and even with a 1.4 tele converter on it is still not enough sometimes. we watched a peregrine falcon bath across a pond but it was too far away. also saw an immature bald eagle chase an osprey with a fish but again too far. Also when it gets colder the hawks and falcons sit on branches and signs to warm up in the sun in the colder mornings so I am hoping to get them then
fyi, for anyone in the northeast, if you want hawk action, put up a birdfeeder about 30 feet from a window, at about 8 feet off the ground, keep it filled, no you won't get any pretty songbirds, BUT, you will get starlings swallows and chickadees, and if lucky a harrier or a sharp shinned hawk may discover the easy pickings, you'll have to be there looking to get the shots, although a plank perch off on the side of a tree about 50 feet away and 20 up may provide what the hawk needs for a dining room, you;ll know it's working when you start to see small clumps of feathers on the ground under the feeder, these hawks stun/kill their prey with at speed strikes, thus the knocked off feathers. this however is not pretty tweety bird photography, just nature doing what it does best in natural slection
Those are both great, Howie!!! ; Yep, not matter how much reach you have, you always need more. ; However, you have gotten some great images this year Howie. ; When's the book coming out with the national gallery tour? ; ; If anything, think about entering some wildlife photo contests.
nice shots Howie and now I finally know what was in our backyard last Summer, at least I think these are the same type of falcons
thank you Scott. I am entering an Audubon Society one. I won 2nd place last year with an osprey and chick shot.as far as a book I don't think my skills are at that level but I keep trying to improve. Getting them in the wild makes it a challenge though but that's half the fun Paul thanks and nice shots. better than mine. I think they are some kinda hawk. ; here is a link to some photos of harriers hawks. a lot of birds look so much alike that sometimes i can't tell one from the other but I am learning. http://www.pbase.com/garrettlau/northernharrier&page=all
