Interested on what equipment/lenses you guys use. Been wanting to get something for a while.

DayAg! said:

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Interested on what equipment/lenses you guys use. Been wanting to get something for a while.

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Google Pixel XL through window on the hummingbirds.

I also have access to my wife's Rebel T3 with a 75-300mm lens.

DayAg! said:

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Interested on what equipment/lenses you guys use. Been wanting to get something for a while.

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I'm using Sony equipment. Mainly 2 bodies for bird photography, the a9 and a6400. Long lenses I use for the birds are FE 200-600, FE100-400 and E 70-350. I also have an a7RIII I occasionally use but with the a9, the R3 is normally not the birding choice.

My second prairie chicken video got picked up to be used as the wildlife page banner. Takes a few seconds to start.

Wildlife banner

Worked... great, great white egret pic BTW.

Geese

Other birds

I spy some jewelry

FAT SEXY said:

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Had to look up American Kestrels.. Apparently the smallest falcon in North America.

It got me thinking about "Sparrow-hawks"... i'd always heard the term and have seen smaller hawks in person that we referred to as sparrow-hawks as kids, but it seems there may not be an actual species called this.. apparently it describes multiple species of smaller hawks?

Idk.. if anyone knows anything about that term, feel free to share because I'm interested in knowing.

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I would think the term would relate more to a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk since they both take birds for their prey. I'm sure the term has been thrown around loosely over the years to describe any number of different hawks though.

FAT SEXY said:

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Had to look up American Kestrels.. Apparently the smallest falcon in North America.

It got me thinking about "Sparrow-hawks"... i'd always heard the term and have seen smaller hawks in person that we referred to as sparrow-hawks as kids, but it seems there may not be an actual species called this.. apparently it describes multiple species of smaller hawks?

Idk.. if anyone knows anything about that term, feel free to share because I'm interested in knowing.

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Yes, I believe Sparrow Hawk is an older term for our Kestrel. John Audubon even had a depiction in one of his paintings with one that had a dead sparrow in its clutches.

https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/american-sparrow-hawk

They are cool little birds, but are often quite skittish making them somewhat difficult to get good photos of. They are mostly seen in our parts in winter sitting on utility lines. They can eat smaller birds, but I think they mostly watch for small rodents and insects like grasshoppers.



There is a species in Europe called Eurasian sparrowhawk. It seems to be very similar to our Coopers or Sharp-Shinned hawks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_sparrowhawk

FAT SEXY said:

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That'll probably be the last pic I get of them.. workload is about to increase. Sid, if you have time in the coming weeks, see if you can get a shot of them getting ready to leave for the first time. Granted, I'd imagine it's difficult to be there at the right moment for such things.

I did read that they may come back to the nest for a few nights after the initial flights, but I'm not sure if that is accurate.

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They do usually still hang around the nest tree a while even after they fledge, in my experience with other raptors. I may try going by there this afternoon.

FAT SEXY said:

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Hope little buddies are ok.. that hail storm was no joke

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Yeah, I was wondering about them a while ago. I went out there before the storms rolled in and both juveniles were in branches away from the nest but near it. One would go back and forth to the nest a few times. Will post some pics later.

labmansid said:

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Some pics of the now juvenile Red Shoulder Hawks. They were really testing out their wings and branching out from the nest. One was going back and forth to the nest.

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Excellent images, Sid. Great opportunity to witness.