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A new visitor (Male Pied or White Wagtail)

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Author Topic: A new visitor (Male Pied or White Wagtail)  (Read 886 times)
jgs001
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« on: December 27, 2008, 09:31:15 pm »

Saw a new Birdie in the garden today. Shot through the kitchen window in rubbish light, thus ISO1600 and horribly noisy.





It appears that this was a passing visitor on a layover en route somewhere else as the White Wagtail is not a native.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2008, 11:05:35 pm by jgs001 » Report Spam   Logged

John
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John9929
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« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2008, 10:46:53 pm »

Lovely images John, though I hate to disagree with you on this one! Wink As it happens the Pied Wagtail is a very common bird in Britian, I see loads of them from time to time, though they tend to hang about water a lot. They are frequent visitors to my front garden where they pick off the spiders from under the post tops, crafty little blighters!
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/piedwagtail.htm
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jgs001
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« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2008, 11:05:13 pm »

Thanks John. There's a bit of a debate raging over whether these are White or Pied wagtails. I'll go with anyone who says one or the other cos I've no clue...  Grin
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brianb
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« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2008, 01:30:13 am »

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There's a bit of a debate raging over whether these are White or Pied wagtails
My Collins Field Guide says (a) white & pied wagtails are subspecies of the same species Motacilla alba, (b) they're not easy to tell apart in winter plumage, (c) your specimen is probably a white on the basis that the black areas on the cap and bib are seperate rather than joined.
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jgs001
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« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2008, 08:32:53 am »

Thanks for the info Brian
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John
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« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2008, 03:51:41 pm »

What ever they are you got great images anyway John. Keep them coming! Smiley
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Roman White
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« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2008, 07:34:26 pm »

Nice shot, John.  Smiley
That bird is my old friend. I have seen them often during the summer, several of them lived somewhere close to my neighbours.
Here I found another photo on the web. This is Motacilla alba (white wagtail)
« Last Edit: December 28, 2008, 07:38:15 pm by Roman White » Report Spam   Logged

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JohnC
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« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2008, 09:58:03 pm »

Noise or no noise, still a good capture, John.  Do you have somewhere you could leave your camera on a tripod  inside  by a window or patio doors maybe ? You do get quite a variety of birds visiting. I  assume  the light  was getting poor that you had to increase the ISO. ?
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jgs001
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« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2008, 05:00:53 pm »

Thanks Gents. John, I tend to leave it by the window during the day, and grab shots when I can. Not on a tripod. I've been told and found that to get a decent shot of some of these needs at least 1/125 due to how fast they move, and even then it's sometimes not enough. The light on the feeder is more often than not poor, same with on the grass so I have to use higher ISO's to get the shutter speed. I can't open the lens anymore.
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JohnC
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« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2008, 04:43:01 pm »

Ah, yes of course. Having a tripod is fine for getting over the poor light problem but only if you're subject is still but as you say you're tied with the max. f5.6.  I can't think of a bird that remains still. This is why  bird photographers go for f4 and f2.8 lenses  but look at the prices. The Canon  70-200mm f4 IS is £714 ,  the  f2.8 version is £1173 (on offer at Jessops atm). The 400mm prime f2.8 IS is £4,794 . The 600mm (a favourite with birders)  at f4 IS is £5279. There's even an 800mm IS but it's f5.6 and that's £7724. I was aware that my 100-400mm (f5.6 at 300-400mm) was not going to  be good in poor light unless I could tripod it and it would have to be a static subject.  Photograophy is an expensive hobby isn't it  if you're  photographinh in  poor light and a moving subject.  Have you tried the Noise - Ninja ?  was thinking of getting it myself when the christams rush is over.  Reports of it's efficiency are very good.

I like this site. See the bottom of the review for. plug in for PS. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/noise-ninja.shtml

http://www.picturecode.com/  
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brianb
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« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2008, 08:08:02 pm »

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The 400mm prime f2.8 IS is £4,794
It weighs nearly that much too. Inconspicuous it ain't. Great lens though .... stick a cluster of them on a research grade mount & you have the best instrument in the world for discovering extra-solar planets (SuperWASP). It's the wide field coverage (by astro standards) enabling hundreds of thousands of stars to be checked for minor eclipses every night that pays dividends.
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jgs001
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« Reply #11 on: January 01, 2009, 09:23:52 am »

They are all somewhat out of my price range  Grin. I'm using a £180 55-250 3.5-5.6 IS lens
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John
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