Birds in Flight Photography Tips

Osprey with fish. I use a Canon 1D Mark IV camera for most flight photos.

Pileated Woodpecker

Roseate Spoonbill

Bald Eagle, larger birds are easier to photograph in flight.

Groups of birds, such as these Black Skimmers, are fun to photograph in flight. When photographing them, increase your depth of field.

American Robin. Zero in on one bird in a flock.

Snow Bunting

Upland Sandpiper flying over Kennebunk Plains WMA, Maine

Tree Sparrow. Focus on your bird feeder and anticipate when a bird will leave.

Red-shouldered Hawk, juv.

Great Shearwater, a pelagic species you need to go out on a boat to see. It's challenging taking flight photos from a moving, rocking boat, so it helps to brace yourself against the boat.

Tree Swallow in flight over our fields. Swallows, with their erratic flight, are a challenge to photograph.

Cedar Waxwing. Pick up a bird when it is quite distant and track it with your camera's autofocus and start shooting as it gets a little closer. If you wait until it's upon you, you will never get the photo.

Roseate Spoonbill, coming in for a landing.

Peregrine Falcon taken with a Canon SX 40 HS point and shoot. I anticipated it leaving the branch.

My favorite type of bird photography is photographing birds in flight. Above are a few of my photos and here are some tips.

How do photographers get such photos? Here's what you need:

- High speed digital SLR cameras like the Canon 7D, or 1D Mark IV (which I have). The faster, and the more continuous frames per second your camera will shoot, the better. Get a camera the shoots at least 5 frames per second, preferably more. Know your camera dials and settings very well. For most flight photos you need to have at least 1/500th of a second shutter speed, preferably 1/1000th or more. Set the ISO high enough to attain this shutter speed.

Set the camera on continuous shooting mode. Most people use auto focus for birds in flight. Set the camera focus mode to AI Servo AF (or the equivalent for other makes of camera). This allows you to focus and lock on the bird as it moves, by depressing the shutter half-way. Put the camera dial on AV (aperture priority) to give enough depth of field to have the whole birds in focus. Most people use an aperture of f/8 in good light, but may go to an aperature of f/5.6 in duller light. To take the photo, depress the shutter all the way.

- A good telephoto lens that is at least 300mm long, or preferably 400mm or more (some add a 1.4 teleconverter to a 300 mm lens.) Some photographers use longer lenses, such as the Canon 500mm or 600mm IS lenses for flight photos. If you have those, you need a good tripod with a smooth moving head, such as those made by Whimberly, Bogen or Kirk Enterprises. A few strong photographers can actually hand hold the 500mm lens. If you are using a tripod you lack some mobility, so it helps to shoot at a good location, such as that at Ding Darling NWR or other national wildlife refuges, where a lot of birds fly in, in a predictible flight route. Set the lens AF/MF switch to AF (auto focus.) Some recommend setting the minimum focusing distance of the lens to its furthest setting.

- Good situations for photographing birds in flight, such as open areas of water or open sky where you see birds coming from a distance and can get on them early with your auto focus, plus you will have a clear blue background. Keep the sun at your back. Try to shoot with the birds moving along a predictable flight path that is perpendicular to the front of your lens.

- Good eye-hand coordination and fast reflexes. Find the bird by spotting the bird when it is at a distance, and I mean very distant. Do not wait until the bird is close, because by then it will be moving too fast for your to get on it. After you spot it, raise your camera to your eye and lock the auto focus on the bird. In general most photographers set the camera's auto focus selection point (AF point) on the center point because it is the most sensitive of the points and allows you to keep focused on the bird. Also your camera will be less likely to lock onto the background as you try and stay on the moving bird.

- A willingness to practice lots and take lots and lots of photos, only some of which will turn out. (At least with digital you are not paying for film.)

- A strong motivation and desire to take flight photos.

- The expertise and programs to process your digital photo to make it look its best. Most photographers use programs like Adobe Photoshop.

Here is the camera equipment that I use.

Some people are now using superzoom point-and-shoot cameras, like the Canon SX 40 HS (which I own), to take bird photos. These cameras do well for birds that are relatively close, in good light and not moving fast. These cameras are harder to use on birds in flight for many reasons, such as they're slower to find and track birds. You can still get decent photos of birds in flight in some situations, such as photographing larger, slower moving birds in good light. So do try flight photos with these cameras.

Other photographers may have other tips or slightly different methods for flight photography, these are just the tips I generally use.

My advice is even if you don't have all or some of the above equipment, try flight photography anyway. You might find it addictive like I do.

Most importantly, have fun!!!

Lillian Stokes

Pine Grosbeaks, plus video, Wow!

For most of yesterday we had two female Pine Grosbeaks (the males are mostly red) hanging out in our "Prairie Fire" crabapple trees chowing down. I was amazed how many apples they ate and they seemed to continuously eat for most of the afternoon, like a kid going through the Halloween candy. They were really very tame, not at all bothered by us or the Corgis who ran under the trees. The hardest part of photographing them was to get a clear show through the tangle of apple branches and also to every get a photo of them without applesauce covering their bill!

This is a more northern species who usually is found throughout Canada and up into AK. In irruptive years, such as this one, when so many northern species are coming down into the U.S. due to lack of food in their usual area, Pine Grosbeaks can join the exodus. Pine Grosbeaks are now being reported from numerous locations around our state of NH.
Thus far this fall we have had these irruptive species visit our yard; Pine Siskins, Common Redpolls, Purple Finches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-winged Crossbills, and no, Pine Grosbeaks.
We try hard to landscape our property for the birds, using lots of berry and food producing shrubs and trees. It pays off when we get to see such a beautiful species. Let us know if you see any.

Video (handheld) and photo number two shot with the Canon SX HS, the rest with my Canon 1D Mark IV.

Feeder Birds in Hurricane Sandy Video

I took this video, with my Canon SX 40 HS point-and-shoot superzoom camera,  from inside the house, through the slightly open glass slider, during Hurricane Superstorm Sandy here in southwest NH. It was really interesting to see how the feeder birds coped during the storm. Birds need to eat, so they tried to come to the feeders when they could. The winds were blowing at 20-30 miles an hour during the day, getting much worse, gusting to maybe 50 mph, at night. The birds stayed low in the shrubs and were most protected the lower down to the the ground they were. The Blue Jays had difficulty landing on the feeders and one was able to feed on the lee side of the biggest feeder. The Mourning Doves, Juncos, White-throated Sparrows and one first winter White-crowned Sparrow (big sparrow with plain face and 2 brown stripes on crown), prefer to feed on the ground and thus were most protected from the wind. 

By morning, the bird feeders were knocked down to the ground from the wind. The birds seemed fine and were hopping around waiting for us to upright and fill the feeders.

Luckily we had no other damage, and we still had power. Sending positive thoughts for a fast recovery for all who sustained losses due to the hurricane. Take care.

Wood Sandpiper rarity fun plus video with Canon SX 40 HS

Wood Sandpiper 1

Wood Sandpiper 2

This is how far we were away from it when viewed through the camera.

Wood Sandpiper 3 same photo, cropped so you can see the bird.

Wood Sandpiper 4

Here we are standing out in the marsh with scopes, cameras and binos, in muddy water. (Thanks to Chris Powell for taking this photo of us.)

Wood Sandpiper 5

This video (shot at 140x hand held) of the Wood Sandpiper I took shows its interesting bobbing behavior. (Once it plays, click on the lower left return arrow to replay the video and do not click on the other images that show up, they are other youtube videos)

We went to see the rare Wood Sandpiper that showed up at Marsh Meadows Wildlife Preserve in Jamestown, Rhode Island and first discovered on Oct. 13th by Carlos Pedro. Although it is found somewhat regularly in western Alaska, this was a first state record of that bird for RI and only the seventh record for the lower 48 states. So there was much excitement and many other birders went to see it.
We were thrilled to have made the drive from NH and then actually gotten to see it, which is not always the case when you chase a rarity!! It could have flown off by the time we got there! Thanks to Chris Powell who led us out into the marsh and helped us and the other birders locate the bird.

When we were there the Wood Sandpiper was quite a distance from us and backlit. So for me this was a photographic challenge. For other lucky photographers at other times, evidently the bird came quite close and in excellent light. So, many people have great photos, much better than mine.
I had my Canon 1D Mark IV with the 300 mm lens and 1.4 teleconverter. I also took my Canon SX 40 HS, a little point-and-shoot superzoom camera that has an amazing 35x optical range and can even go beyond that into the 4x digital zoom, which adds up to 140x!!

Some of these photos were shot with the Canon 1D Mark IV and some with the Canon SX 40 HS, at the 140x digital zoom, can you tell which is which? Answers at end of post. Given that the Mark IV costs more than ten times what the SX 40 does, in this situation, the SX 40 did pretty well given I had pushed it to its limit. I like to experiment with my different cameras and see how far I can push them in challenging situations to see what I can get.

In terms of the video, it was shot at the 140x zoom and hand held, so it's ridiculous that I got any viewable video whatsoever. Tip: I was holding the camera as steady as I could, holding my breath, and had my elbows braced against my body.

Photos of the Wood Sandpiper 1, 2, 3 were shot with the Canon ID Mark IV and photos 4 and 5 were shot with the Canon SX 40 HS.

Have fun chasing rarities, and, if you are a photographer, when the photo situation is less than ideal (i.e. it sucks), try pushing your gear. Most of all, have fun!

For more info on the Wood Sandpiper, see our The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

Dickcissel, in SW New Hampshire!

Dickcissel, 1st yr. female

landed in a shrub behind our bird feeder.

Photos taken with the Canon SX 40 HS, from a distance, with superzoom, so excuse photo quality.

Property bird #198! That's what we had this morning at Bobolink Farm, our NH property, when this Dickcissel landed about 30 ft. beyond our bird feeder in a tall shrub. We heard a harsh, low-pitched "djeep" call and spotted the bird on top of a nearby willow shrub. I ran inside and grabbed a camera. We keep a list of all the birds we have seen on our property, so it is very exciting for us when a new bird shows up for the first time.

This is an uncommon bird in our neck of the woods, but our new The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America does show it in our area on the range map, within the yellow dotted line, which connotes extralimital range in migration.

The above bird appears to be a 1st year female that has just molted out of its juv. plumage for it is very pale with little yellow wash underneath, appears to essentially have no distinctive reddish brown on the median or lesser wing coverts, has a suggestion of buffy wing bars, and the feathers of the wings show basically no signs of wear. Juveniles are browner overall and have fine dark streaking across their breast and on their flanks: they only keep this plumage until August.

The male, shown here, and photographed in FL in April,  (with a Canon 1D Mark IV) has a yellow breast with a central breast dot, black bib, yellowish eyebrow and malar region, white chin and reddish-brown wing coverts.

I wanted to document this new property bird with a photo, so when I ran into the house, the nearest, fastest-to-use camera was the Canon Powershot SX 40 HS, a digital point and shoot "superzoom." My big Canon 1D Mark IV with a big tripod and 500 mm lens would have taken longer to set up, and possibly spooked the bird. The bird did not stay long.

About the photos, (tech-head talk, skip this if you want),

This bird was backlit, at quite a distance from me, on a blowing in the wind shrub. Challenging photography. I used the SX 40 on the AV setting. The middle photo taken at 1/640, f 5.8, ISO 200, focal length 150.5 mm, the digital zoom ration is 195%, file size of photo was 1.94 MB, and photo was cropped. I used the digital zoom menu setting at 2.0x which zooms to a specified factor and shoots with reduced camera shake. The other two photos were taken at 1/1000, f 5.8, 200 ISO, 312% digital zoom ratio. Photos also cropped. There is plus and minus about using this Canon SX 40 camera. The plus is low cost (under $400) lightweight and it can capture birds at a far distance. However, it is often hard to use and you have to zoom in and out to find the bird. It is much easier to get a decent photo of a closer bird with a standard digital SLR (more costly) camera and telephoto lens. But all this is a topic for another blog post.

Morning Walk

This morning, weather dreary and it had been raining. Went with Don and the Corgis around our big field. Took the Canon SX 40 HS, just to see what it could do in the dim light. The Canada Geese have babies already.

Tree Swallow was resting and drying

Aren't they all cute! (Abby on the left, Phoebe on the right)

This is not that good an image, but I use it as an example of what the camera can do at full digital zoom (way beyond the 840 mm optical zoom) and a very difficult situation of a moving bird, dim light and obscured by foliage. ISO 400 1/125 f 8. For all of these images, I only sharpened them a bit, nothing else. I am continuously experimenting with this camera and trying different settings. One of the fun things is you can take scenics, close-ups and far zooms, all with one little lightweight camera with you.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak and warblers are migrating!

Beautiful, male, Rose-breasted Grosbeak at our feeder. Can't get enough of this bird. Attract them with sunflower seed and a feeder with a wide enough ledge or perch to accommodate their size. These birds (as well as many warblers, vireos, thrushes and more) are migrating through many places now. Photo taken with my new Canon SX 40 HS camera.

We've been birding every chance we get, since this is peak migration time for much of the middle and northern parts of the country. In the East, warblers are coming through big time. Get out and go birding, even in between raindrops, as many birds will stay grounded during rain. Check your own property, as well as known birding hotspots near you. Here are some of the beautiful warblers we have been seeing.

Blackburnian Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

This weekend we are participating in the NH Audubon Birdathon fundraiser, where participants try and see how many species they can see in a day. Hope the skies clear and there are lots of migrants. Wish us luck!