Moving now to waterbirds, as this perch for a juvenile Great White Pelican indicates.
No prizes for guessing this is a flamingo, a greater flamingo I believe. If you were wondering about the strange looking reddish object beyond the tail feathers, it’s the knee of a tucked up leg.
Cattle egret
Not a fabulous shot technically, but the intensity of that stare is really something. Likely the last thing seen by many a frog.
Yellow billed storks
Interesting hunting technique displayed here. Perfectly still down on its knees, waiting for a small fish or other water life to swim into its bill.
I used to defend the sacred ibis from my kids’ comments that they were ugly, but the more sacred ibis I see, the more I find I am agreeing with their observation.
Scarlet ibis lurking in the shadows.
Black-crowned night heron.
Ok, it’s not a bird. Macaque monkeys roam throughout the KL Bird Park. This cute little fellow is enjoying some some paw-paw pinched from a cassowary’s food bowl.
What ya mean this isn’t for me?
Camera Gear
Pentax K-3 with a Pentax DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 zoom + stressed photographer who was being hurried along by two teenage boys not very interested in feathered birds.
To Learn More
The web site for the KL Bird Park can be found here.
It would be easy to spend half a day or more at the park, particularly if you have an interest in birds. Best time would be to arrive soon after it opens while the day is still relatively cool. More comfortable for you and the birds are less likely to have retired into the shadows to avoid the heat of the day.
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I enjoy your photography but this series is particularly good! Wow, are those bird shots great.
Thanks Tim for the encouragement. I was under pressure on the day as my two boys really didn’t want to be there at the bird park and it was increasingly hot and humid as well, so it was snatch a shot here and there and then find I was left behind by the family anyway. We got completely separated at the end for about 20 frustrating minutes.
The DA 55-300 lens I think is better at the long end than many on the Pentax Forum site give it credit. Ok, not quite as sharp at 300mm as less than 250mm, but I suspect far better than most 10x type zooms that attempt to get to 250mm plus. I think in part due to the limited depths of field at longer focal lengths you really do need to calibrate the autofocus adjustment as a little out at long focal lengths really does affect the result. I suspect many commentators on the lens don’t do this. Also technique at long focal lengths becomes mandatory, not optional. When I first used the 55-300 at the long end, I was quite shocked to realise how far my technique fell short, and made me realise I really had to lift my game.
The birds at the KL bird park were pretty relaxed with humans so you could get quite close which helped a lot. Whether they were well positioned in relation to the light, presence of distracting elements, bills up their backsides preening (yes flamingos I’m talking about you!!), etc was another matter all together. And of course, there is always a proportion of dud shots with birds under almost any situation. Shooting through wire on the smaller enclosures also eliminated a number of images. Overall, I was happy I bagged what I did. A couple of serious sessions at the KL bird park without distractions should, I think, be capable of yielding a good portfolio of bird photos.
Since July I’ve been mucking about with my M*300 F4 and after removing an old UV filter where the gel layer was deteriorating and destroying sharpness and contrast, discovered what an incredibly sharp lens this is. Then went out and bought a M 400 F5.6 off EBay. Not as sharp as the 300 but the magnification gain is material. Finally at 400mm have the sort of magnification to make bird photography a realistic proposition. It’s another step shift up in technique over the 300 though! This focal length really demands patience to get the technique right. Manual focus at 400mm means a bird MUST stay still for a while while focus is dialled in. Depth of field is four fifths of bugger all.
I plan to post a few of my local telephoto images once I finish the Asia travel series. Saving what I think are the best images of Asia to last!
Very interesting. A friend of mine has an F*300 that is just amazing in is compactness and sharpness. Last year I picked up an old Tamron Adaptall 300 f2.8 (the 360 model not the 60). It huge and weighs a ton but it’s really sharp and had a matched 2x extender. It’s a very good lens just not something I’d want to hand hold much. Then this year in response to a low sale price I have a acquired a Sigma son of Bigma the 150-500 beast (with HSM and OS). I had rented on last year and really liked it.I think my quest for a big long lens is finally over.
Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing!!
And thank you for your calling past. Have a great day.