Great find this week-end as I was driving home on Saturday afternoon after a fairly ordinary morning bird-wise. I just noticed a small bird out of the corner of my eye as I slowed down for an oncoming car. It was a Pardalote waiting to return to its nesting burrow and there wasn't just one hole.
I tried standing about five metres away with the camera mounted on the tripod but the birds wouldn't return to the holes so went home and grabbed a remote trigger I bought last year. Set the camera up with the remote trigger outside the entrance to one of the birds nesting holes in the bank and went across the road, sat in the car and watched and waited. Initially I had seven birds waiting for someone else to be the first to return. Not all were in focus but the success rate was quite high.
The root that stuck out of the bank next to the nest was a favourite spot to land before going into the nest. The birds were still digging into the bank to make the tunnel. There were about six nest holes in this small area.
I'll be going back.
Fantastic photos Reflex - great work with your remote trigger setup.
Really beautiful little birds .... love them all.
That last one really shows off that beautiful yellow streak down the front.
Those photos are great, I'm so jealous.
It's interesting how they were nesting in burrows, as the nesting section in the Morcombe field guide states that while spotted pardalotes nest in burrows, striated pardalotes tend to nest in tree hollows. I have personally never come accross a striated pardalote nest. What are other's experiences with this?
By the way, I would like to mention that everyone's photos on here are amazing, I've been keeping an eye on this section for about half a year now although I haven't been commenting and they never fail to inspire me. Keep them coming
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Lovely shots Reflex, beautiful detail in the birds.
wow
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
Great find & great photos!
You're getting good at the remote triggers, you'll have to teach me.
Super shots, Reflex.
I've seen Striated Pardalotes nesting in soft earth banks, tree hollows & an air brick in the wall of an ANZ bank branch.
Fantastic shots! I guess I would have to learn a thing or two about these remote triggers.
- Birdsandmushrooms
Thanks birdsandmushrooms. The triggers are not difficult to use or particularly expensive, I bought mine on E-bay. The hard part is finding the right spot to put the camera and where to focus. As I said there was a small tree root that the birds used as a landing spot prior to going into the hole so I set the camera up so when the bird landed it would be in focus. I also moved the focus spot up higher in the view-finder so it would focus on the bird rather than the root. I also crossed my fingers at this stage
.
The remote-trigger acts pretty much the same way as your shutter release button. First stage activates the auto-focus and second stage activates the shutter release. Set the camera to multiple shots and away you go. I should have tried to use a different f/stop to increase the depth of field which would result in more keepers but that then compromised the bokeh which because the bank was so close was not as good as I would have liked. I took a photo from behind the car with my I-phone to show the set up.
Samford Valley Qld.
Thats pretty cool. I went there late yesterday afternoon as my son has piano lessons in that same street. As it was late they must have already gone to bed as I couldn't see any birds, just their holes.
If you look at the top of the photograph you can just make out two tiny little birds on the powerlines (to the left of the pole) waiting to come down.
Samford Valley Qld.
Wow! I love your photo's and I love the bird. One of my favourite birds for sure.
I thought this was worth showing to HelloBirdy..From a slightly different angle, a photograph from yesterday showing the bird just about to enter the nest.
Samford Valley Qld.
Awwwww... That's a magnificent shot!
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Great photos, Reflex. Thanks for sharing.
Lovely shots! especially the one in the sun!
-great to see the remote triggers getting good results, ill have to find another subject !!
mike
Thanks miccro.
Samford Valley Qld.
Wonderful shots, Reflex. I enjoy your pictures. You have made great use of all your camera equipment... I must find my remote and put it to better use. As demonstrated by the set-up picture, spotting such small birds flying down was also an achievement. Seems like a lovely spot to live. Sue
Good shots.
With a remote, you'd be better off manually focusing, as in set focus first, then turn AF off!
That way the camera is instantly ready at a certain moment you press the trigger and the AF will not hunt, nor will it be thrown out by something in the frame.
That's why guys shooting remotes tend to use multiple flash set-ups and a small aperture to maximize depth of field so more can be sharp.
The basic idea of them returning to the same spot is a great thing to notice and set the gear up to aim for that spot.
Cheers mate!
Good advice. I'll do that next time.
Samford Valley Qld.
Great shots and interesting info on the remote triggers
Dont take life too seriously, it never ends well