I spent the morning at a something like your state parks known as a bird watching spot about 30min drive from home. As I was driving home I got lucky. I saw a Common Buzzard perched on a branch by the road, stoped the car to take a couple of shots as the Buzzard flew off. Then out of nowhere a crow came flying at the buzzard (who`s about 3x the size of a crow) and started chasing him. And I just fired away with a huge grin acros my face.
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 5:34 PM.
Looking at a Great Egret Parent in breeding plumage and a nestling with its beak open in the nest in a Breeding Colony.
Heavily Cropped; tripod mounted100-400mm GM set to 400 mm and A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 100, f5.6, 1/250 second.
Exposure Corrected +0.69 Stops.
May 11, 2019
At Gatorland, Orlando or Kissimmee, FL.
Lewis's Woodpeckers have been a nemesis species for me. During breeding season they're hours away in the mountains where at the most reliable locations the birds are high in the trees, well out of range of my camera equipment (600GM + 1.4x TC). They move closer in the cooler months but unpredictable and in spotty locations. One of the more reliable wintering areas has for several years had very few Lewis's Woodpeckers but this year, perhaps because the numerous wildfires have driven them out of the mountains, one of the locations I've kept my eyes on has a good number of these birds. I scouted lighting & favorite perches early last week & returned a couple of days later, parked the camper near an unobstructed perch with good light & backgrounds and, using the camper as a blind, I waited.
Photo cross posted in the Sony Fe Image Thread and taken at 9:22 PM.
Looking at a Common Gallinule.
Fairly Heavily Cropped, tripod mounted 200-600mm G set to 600mm and A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 200, f6.3, 1/250 second.
Exposure Corrected +0.59 Stops.
December 6, 2020
Along Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, Apopka, FL.
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 1:17PM.
Looking at a Wood Stork standing on 1 leg.
Cropped almost entirely from left and right, tripod mounted 200-600mm G set to 200mm and A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 100, f6.3, 1/800 second.
Exposure corrected +0.29 Stops.
January 6, 2020
At Gatorland, Orlando or Kissimmee, FL.
Nice pic! May I ask how is your experience using this lens? I have been eyeing this lens - reviews are good but most people on forums suggest to instead go for sony 200-600. Now that's a great lens for the money and weight-wise not too different, and i don't personally have a budget issue - but it will likely not fit the bag i usually carry (or want to carry) for travel. 100-400 is too short (and expensive) so Tamron sounds like a good fit for my needs.
In your experience, is it working well with Sony A7RIV body (or otherwise).
I like it for what it is. Haven`t used the 200-600, but for pure birding I`d say the Sony is superior to the Tamron. Has more reach bare and can take 1,4x TC - would be great for me as I find it difficult to get this close to birds as I managed here with this Cormorant.
I like the Tamron for the size&weight and pseudo macro work (you can see some frogs and dragonflies I posted in Tamron thread ) that is why I`ve bought it and why I find it more versatile then the 200-600mm.
So far not sure about the AF performance, since I am using it on the a7RIVa - the camera experienced birders have trouble with the 200-600mm to get reliable AF - and the fact that before this Tamron all I was shooting with were the all manual Voigtlanders (and some vintage glass).
The bottom line, if it`s not meant to be specifically for birding, but more of a take with you everywhere telephoto lens for bigger wildlife, landscape, pseudo macro work I`d say it`s worth the money. That doesn`t mean it should be discarded as a birding lens, but it does demand more effort on other important aspects of birding (hide&wait )
Cheers, A.
Edit - weight can be an issue, the other day I was waiting for a kestrel to take of for good 5min handholding this lens pointed at the bird in the tree above me and it was not easy - Sony with 15% more weight would probably be noticably harder to hold...
Spotted Flycatcher - A superb rare and first sighted in Singapore, attracted so many birders on these few days. Spotted Flycatcher by Luis Foo, on Flickr
Oriental Dwarf or Black-backed Kingfisher. A little gems that visiting Singapore during the migration season. My only 3rd encountered on this colorful bird since 2015 and 2016.
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