Hoopoe - at last !

Frogfish · 2011-03-25T15:44:37+0000

Whilst for some these birds may be commonplace I haven't seen them for many years, and then I read on a bird blog that a pair had been spotted at Shanghai Zoo (this zoo is not your normal zoo - there are copses, ponds and huge tree lined fields and it's easy to walk around for an hour or so without even seeing an enclosure - hence heaven for much of the local and passerine birds). So off I went and after 3 hours of shooting other wild birds and some squirrels (and as most other people had left and the light was fading) I decided to call it a day. I was walking back through a field that earlier had been full of school children, and now not a soul, when suddenly from behind there was a whoosh and lo and behold the Hoopoe couple swooped past my head and landed not 20 yards (metres) in front of me - talk about luck ! K5 & DA*300. ISO 320 - 500 / F4 / 1/500 Unfortunately I had reduced the shutter speed to give me better ISO levels for the feeding shots and when they suddenly took off I could do nothing but snap away knowing they were going to be blurred. However it did show two things 1) how lovely these birds are in flight and 2) how good the K5 & DA*300 are at tracking BIF .... look at how far away and how small in the shot the Hoopoe is in the last of these 3 shots.

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Frogfish Frogfish

2087 posts
16 years
Shanghai

Posted 26/03/2011 - 17:21 Link

Northgrain wrote:
Absolutely amazing birds - #2 with the crest up is a classic catch.

But a sighting in Shanghai pales into insignificance compared to the kudos of actually having seen one on the Wirral

Ha Ha - thanks NG. I too love these birds which is why I was excited to maybe have the opportunity to see them again.

http://frogfish.smugmug.com/ Pentax. Pentax DA*300/4, Cosina 55/1.2, Lens Baby Composer Pro & Edge 80, AFA x1.7, Metz 50 af1.
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darkskies darkskies

764 posts
15 years
Manchester

Posted 26/03/2011 - 21:38 Link

Hoopoes on The Wirral? I thought they sometimes come to the south of England but they must certainly have been lost to be so far north!

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Frogfish Frogfish

2087 posts
16 years
Shanghai

Posted 27/03/2011 - 10:42 Link

darkskies wrote:
Hoopoes on The Wirral? I thought they sometimes come to the south of England but they must certainly have been lost to be so far north!

I did say 35+ years ago ! I remember seeing flocks of them in a field on 2 or 3 occasions. Not sure if they ever go that far North now since I've not lived in the UK for 30+ years.