Tuesday, March 30, 2010

I should have know birdwatching would lead to this...

We found a new friend yesterday.



We had fun looking at all the different hawk pictures online and decided that it is either a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. This bird identification stuff is not easy. Dawn, a little help, please?

Apparently the tail is the key to identification. The Cooper's Hawk has a rounded tail and the Sharp-shinned a squarer shaped tail. Sadly, this encounter was a bit too much for my camera. Is this tail round or square?



Speaking of cameras, I've received some lovely compliments on my bird photography lately, and I thank you all for your encouraging words. But if you want to see some real bird photography you should take a look at the photo gallery from the Great Backyard Bird Count.

One thing I've learned from all our nature study this year is how wonderful it is to capture God's beautiful creation in a picture. When I first started this blog, my camera was broken and all I had was the camera function on my camcorder. But when I started researching cameras, I was too intimidated to try an dSLR and instead opted for a bridge camera. At times I have loved it, but in recent months I've been frustrated with its limitations. The main reason my bird pictures turn out as well as they do is due to how our house is situated on our lot. We live on steep hill, achieving a sort of tree house effect. Essentially, I can get relatively close to the birds at tree level. Almost every bird picture I've posted on my blog has been taken from indoors.

So, I am now saving my pennies. I'm not sure when I'll be able to afford a new camera, much less an additional lens, but it's now on the wish list. Do I need a new camera? No. My camera does have a 20x zoom, enabling us to get a glimpse of our hawk in its nest. We can still learn a lot from this picture.



But it's not a picture that inspires. Or really captures the excitement of the moment.

So if you have any camera suggestions, please let me know. I have plenty of time for research!

I found some great articles, not just on cameras, but bird photography in general, here. For the record, birding is not my main motivation for a new camera. But if I can find a camera that will take good pictures of birds, I'm guessing it will work for kids too. : )

7 comments:

  1. That is a tough one. I think you have narrowed it down right and I am leaning toward Cooper's because of the shape of its head. My field guide says that you can distinguish between them by their wing beats. The sharp-shinned has quick snappy wingbeats.
    Sorry your Bears didn't make the final four. :(

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  2. That is a tough one. I think you have narrowed it down right and I am leaning toward Cooper's because of the shape of its head. My field guide says that you can distinguish between them by their wing beats. The sharp-shinned has quick snappy wingbeats.
    Sorry your Bears didn't make the final four. :(

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  3. Ooops... sorry for the double comment. My internet connection is giving me trouble. :)

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  4. SO amazing! Hawks are so gorgeous & interesting - what ablessing to get to observe one! Sorry I can't help with th ID though - I only know redtailed hawks....
    Sounds like a great excuse for a new camera though! ;-)

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  5. Wow! beautiful amazing birds. I am really noticing them more this year than I ever have. can't wait till next year's bird count. Can't wait till the morning to see who's out my window! Thanks for sharing these, they are amazing.

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  6. Oh, these pictures are breathtaking! I'm going to show them to my kiddos.

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  7. Well, I just bought a new DSLR camera. I used to have a point and shoot, but researched it alot and ended up buying a Canon 2Ti. It just came out and the big deal with it is that it has hi-def video. Our video camera broke about a year ago so I was really wanting both a DSLR AND a video camera so this fit both. And its nice to just carry one thing instead of 2. The auto focus on the video takes a little getting used to. The kit lens is 18mm-55 which really suits me fine and I bought an additional 50mm 1.8 lens for great portraits and low light. Havent used it much yet though. I love the camera so far.

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