Had to drive to Wildberforce a few times the last few weeks so decided id'e quickly pass Richmond Lowlands on my way back and see if i could spot any raptors as i do plan to get into them more often soon. I wanted to wait till i get a longer lens but said bugger it i'll get some photo's even thou they may require alot of cropping or if i'm lucky one will be close enough for a decent shot. Well i was glad i did as i did manage a few keepers.
I also managed alot of non raptor birds but i'll psot those up later
Nankeen Kestrels
Black-shouldered Kite
Australian Hobby with prey (very last light photo) and a Grey Goshawk from pretty far away.
great variety - nice shots
mike
It looks like a magic spot for raptors. What equipment did you use?
Samford Valley Qld.
Great shots! They sure love those manmade structures don't they.
Good variety of Rapters out there. Looks like it was well worth your while.
Very nice Vas. At web size they look fine as presented.
I wonder if you were out on Tuesday afternoon?
I was at my mate's place and had a Hobby come in at last light, absolutely flying like a jet fighter, trying to catch swallows. It failed several times. He also regularly has a grey Grey Goshawk near his sheds.
@Reflex
I used an Oly E-M1 with m.zuiko 40-150 f2.8 pro lens + 1.4x teleconverter.
@Devster
Its not bad but alot of fences and power poles instead of trees. I will spend alot more time there when i get a longer lens as i found alot of the flight shots are just beyond my reach, not to say they wont ever get close but alot of the kites hovered out of reach.
Here is one of a few bursts i would of liked more zoom
Link to my Flickr Account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14869355@N07/
Might of been, i'll have to check the days, hehe when u work from home u forgot what day it is. UPDATE: yeah the hobby and goshawk was tue.
The hobby was on the north western end while the goshawk was opposite, but they can travel in no time from one end to another. Shame about the last light as i can not go in private propery to get a better shot of the hobby. I was leaning againts the fence trying to get more upper body infront of line and the light angle as best possible.
The goshawk was captured before the hobby on same day b4 the sun got bad. But he didn't like my presence and took off as i tried to get closer.
Link to my Flickr Account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14869355@N07/
There's only a few raptors that may tolerate human presence. A socialized kestrel, baza or a Square-tailed Kite. Incidentally, I was photographing a StK this morning and while it perched in a tree some 20 meters from me, not perturbed about my presence at all. I may post a pic.
Hobbies perched are usually very approachable in urban areas in my experience. i've been within a couple of metres of one perched in a low branch above my head on a few occasions.
The hobby i photographed took off in a hurry as soon as i fired a few bursts. I snuck around my car but he didn't stay more than 2 seconds from when i popped up with the camera, it was too dark for any decent flight shots and also only would have caught his backside
Link to my Flickr Account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14869355@N07/
Great set of photos vas.
I really like those first two of the kestrel perched on the branch against the blue sky. Beautiful.
Look forward to seeing some of the non-raptors you found out there.
Lovely variety, and amazingly sharp pics. Thanks for sharing
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Beautiful set of shots Vas. I struggle to find raptors of any description around most of the time, especially through winter, although there is not much about at all at the moment in my usual haunts, probably too cold in Tas at present
West Coast Tasmania