Birds in flight at Maambal Orchard

After a few years of not shooting birds in flight due to my busy schedule, I finally found time to try catching my feathered subjects in the air again a few days ago. My old 5D III and the 400 DO II (plus 1.4x TC III) were retrieved from storage, they still work thankfully. My reflexes are slow as expected, but improved a bit after a few minutes of BIF shooting. 

 

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Red Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica, resident)

Habitat - Open country or lawns. 

 

Size - 9 inches total length.

Shooting Info - Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines, May 7, 2023, EOS 5D MIII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III, 560 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 640, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 1800 x 1200. 

 

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Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus, resident)

Habitat - Open country usually associated with water along rivers, marshes and ricefields.

 

 Size - 11.5 inches total length. 

 

 

Shooting Info - Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines, May 6, 2023, EOS 5D MIII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III,  560 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 640, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.

 

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 Oriental Pratincole (Glareola maldivarum, resident]

Habitat - Drier open areas, dry ricefields, pastures and plowed fields. 

 

 

Shooting Info - Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines, May 6, 2023, EOS 5D MIII + EF 400 DO IS II + EF 1.4x TC III, 560 mm, f/5.6, 1/2500 sec, ISO 640, manual exposure in available light, hand held, major crop resized to 1500 x 1000.

White-breasted Waterhen (in 4K)

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus, resident) 

Habitat – Wetter areas like grasslands, marshes and mangroves. 

Size - 11.0 inches total length 

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines on February 27, 2023, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod + shotgun microphone, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p.

 

 

War of the Sparrows (in 4K)

Territorial dispute is not a monopoly of Homo sapiens. 

Two groups of sparrows - Java Sparrows (with black head and white cheeks) and Eurasian Tree Sparrows - contest a choice nesting hole in the trunk of a dead palm tree. 

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines on February 26, 2023, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod, built-in microphone, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p. 

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Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) 

Habitat - Uncommon in parks, residential areas and scrub, sometimes in neighboring ricefields. 

Size - 5.50 inches total length 

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Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 

 Habitat - Common in virtually every inhabited island of the Philippines. 

Size - 5.25 inches total length

 

 

Java Sparrow (in 4K)

Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora, resident) 

Habitat - Uncommon in parks, residential areas and scrub, sometimes in neighboring ricefields. 

Size - 5.50 inches total length 

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, Philippines on February 25, 2023, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod + shotgun microphone, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p.

 

 

Kingfisher in light rain (4K)

White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis, resident) 

Habitat – Clearings, along large streams and rivers, and in open country. 

Size - 10-1/2 inches total length 

Shooting Info - filmed in habitat at Maambal Orchard, Pangasinan, Philippines on February 8, 2023, Nikon Coolpix P1000, fluid head + tripod + built-in mic, manual focus, manual exposure in available light, recorded and processed at 4K/29.97p.