The ricefields on the edge of town are being irrigated and I checked them for waders................
I was hoping for a Sharp Tailed Sandpiper or Spotted Redshank maybe but I was surprised to find a flock of 50 or so Red Necked Stint (with a Dunlin and Turnstone mixed in). They were very wary though, the above shots were with the 500 f4 plus 1.4X teleconverter AND cropped. Strange to see them inland...................
The only waders on the beach were 7 or 8 Grey Tailed Tattler and 1 Common Sandpiper.
I got a new camera last week, A Canon Powershot SX50 ( a 'superzom' compact). Here are 3 pics of Black Tailed Gulls. All uncropped. Some were taken with the 7D/500 f4, some with the SX50. The former combo cost approx 30 times more than the latter. Which are which?
Opening myself up to being wrong here, but I'm saying gull #2 is the posh camera, #3 is the cheap one (judging by posterisation of background and overall sharpness). #1 is the toughest to call; the background is posterised, but that might be Blogger's terrible compression. But judging by the bird, I'll plump for the good camera again.
ReplyDeleteAssuming they were all processed the same way of course ;)
#1 is from the 7D/500f4 and #2 and #3 are from the SX50.........................................
DeleteHI Well I will tell you the one I like the best. It is no 2 and it would not surprise me if it was taken with your new camera. I take it you will let us know in your next post, (I hope)
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, see above.................
DeleteDon't have time to comment on the gulls - off to BirdLife AGM and then taking interstate people to Werribee - but it's lovely to see the Stints. They do occur inland here, but usually near lakes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, wished I knew what/where Weribee was!!!!!!
DeleteSorry - Werribee is the sewage treatment plant for much of Melbourne. It is 110km2in size and these days much of it is managed for conservation as treatment methods have changed.
DeleteThe Western Treatment Plant is one of Australia’s best-known sites for recreational birding, with about 270 species of birds recorded there. On the south-western boundary lies the 1550 ha Murtcaim Wildlife Area, containing one of the last unmodified areas of saltmarsh on Port Phillip. The sewage treatment lagoons, Lake Borrie, creeks, saltmarsh and coast host large numbers of sedentary and migratory waterbirds and waders. It adjoins the Spit Nature Conservation Reserve and is one of the few wintering sites for the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. Access to the Western Treatment Plant for birdwatching is by permit only; permits can be obtained from Melbourne Water.[7] The site is part of the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for waterbirds as well as for Orange-bellied Parrot. It's listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international significance. If you ever come to Mlbourne, make sure you visit!
Sounds great. I know there is (was?) a famous sewage plant on the outskirts of London that was very famous for rare waders...........................
DeleteLovely RN Stints. I fear that I will be carrying around a heavy and worthless pile of redundant crap if bridge cameras get much better :(
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, the AF is crap, the buffer is tiny and anything over ISO400 is too noisy. Processed low resolution pics can look OK online however................
DeleteI would have guessed that the third only was taken with the compact… ah well.
ReplyDeleteWell you were 50% correct John..............
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