Stodmarsh Hobbys

[KentYeti]

Rather than hijack anyone elses Hobby thread, I hope WAB'ers can tolerate one from me.

Been at Stodmarsh National Nature reserve for 4 of the last five days. Primarily to try and photo the Hobbys that are there for, maybe, another week.

What difficult birds to photo. Constantly jinking and darting all over the place as they hunt for dragonflies and similar. But I'm now starting to get some half decent photos of them. And like 3 or 4 other photographers I've seen there, I'm only making progress after abandoning my 1.4 Tele Converter and sticking just to my Nikon f4 300mm prime lensl, (all others had Canon 300mm lenses). Speed of finding which bird looks to be coming close next, then getting it framed and then focussed very quickly indeed is vital of course.

I'm very tired tonight after another long hard day, but have quickly picked 4 photos that seem OK. I like the one where the Hobby is taking lunch on the wing, like they do. And if the weather is kind tomorrow and the birds still want to come out and play, I'll try and concentrate on that aspect to get something I'm happier with.









Today they were mainly in action from circa 11.00 to 15.30. And again being by the two small dyke bridges on the footpath between David Feast and Marsh Hides saw up to a dozen at any one time. With maybe eight at a time being more typical. There were very likely a good few more around the Reserve as well.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Ive just edited mine I got in the 15mins I was allowed as we headed back to the car (which is when they decided to appear after an hour walk ). I had one right overhead and frame filling distance bu the sun was so high I was effectively shooting into it, which with +2ev and a dark bird gave rubbish shutter speed.

I did manage a couple of ok, reasonably sharp but small in the frame shots in the end though. Not as good as yours or anyone elses on WAB or Flickr though.

[KentYeti]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

Ive just edited mine I got in the 15mins I was allowed as we headed back to the car (which is when they decided to appear after an hour walk ). I had one right overhead and frame filling distance bu the sun was so high I was effectively shooting into it, which with +2ev and a dark bird gave rubbish shutter speed.

I did manage a couple of ok, reasonably sharp but small in the frame shots in the end though. Not as good as yours or anyone elses on WAB or Flickr though.

Just hope you can get a bit more time there. To get anything in 15 minutes is very good going.

I'm spending betwen 7 and 10 hours a day on the Reserve at the moment. And don't my aching legs and arms know it!

I've found a bush by the path that I effectively force myself back into just a little, (wearing a heavyweight Barbour coat and not to the extent that I damage the bush). That leaves me facing Northish, and lowers my profile to the birds just a little, (its hard to totally hide a rather large Yeti). so I am a only concentrating on birds that are generally in the right place for the lighting conditions. Otherwise it can get too distracting when a number of birds are flying above you at the same time. All to easy to follow one close to the sun, whilst, no doubt, another one is catching a massive dragonfly in a perfect and close location where you should have been pointing the camera! LOL!

[sunnydale]

Very good shots indeed Bryan. Your patience is certainly paying off!

How's the shoulder coping BTW??

Tracey

[KentYeti]

Thank you Sunny!

Shoulder not brilliant.

Especially after another 5 hours at Stodmarsh today.

Not so good today. Took longer than forecast for the cloud to go, and there seemed to be a significant reduction in Hobbys. Maybe they have started dispersing around the country already.

The wind had eased and moved round to the South, (which should have been good for photos), and was warmer. I am guessing that impacted on the height the Hobbys' food was flying as the Hobbys were, generally and with some exceptions, flying too high for decent photography.

If we get clear sun tomorrow I may spend another day there! One thing I've learned about bird photography since I started at the end of February this year, is that to have even a chance of half decent shots you have to really work at it.

[KentYeti]

Another day at Stodmarsh! Looks like I've got a few half decent shots. Two below.

Both myself and a lady I met in the David Feast hide later were watching at either end of the reserve at the same time. So we are fairly certain there were 19 hunting at the same time between 13.30 and 14.15. My 7 stayed around the area just in front of, and slightly to the West of that hide. And the other 12 were down at the other end, viewed from the Lampen Wall.

The wind had gone round to the West and it was warmer. I noticed a lot of dragon flies for the first time in the week. So the Hobbys were in a feeding frenzy and came down a bit lower than yesterday at times.

Bryan

[aeshna5]

Nice shots of a fabulous bird. When I was at Stodmarsh last weekend I got the feeling that St. Mark's Flies which were numerous constituted a large portion of the aerial insects they were feeding on.

[actionfinch]

great shots...

i wish i had a closer view of the ones i see .....
like u say i found it hard tryin to keep em in my binos....let alone a camera

[KentYeti]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Nice shots of a fabulous bird. When I was at Stodmarsh last weekend I got the feeling that St. Mark's Flies which were numerous constituted a large portion of the aerial insects they were feeding on.

Yes, I think that was almost all that was on the menu until the last day or so.

I presume that the wamer weather has got the dragonflies hatched. The Hobbys certainly looked to be catching plenty of them today.

I think that may explain why the location of where the brds were hunting today has changed. i.e a lot more time over reed beds/dykes rather than over fields and trees.

[sunnydale]

Excellent photos Bryan!