02 August, 2010

Chick’s Progress 1: Whiskered Treeswift

1st August 2010, Kemensah, Selangor

The chick had grown considerably in size over the last 8 days and quite active, moving around on the nest. Although I didn’t see the parent birds feeding  the chick when I was there , I knew they must be feeding her as required. I noticed that the parents had started leaving the chick unattended for longer periods (about 20 minutes ), preening themselves on a nearby tree. ( previous post on the chick)

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No longer blind, she had begun moving her wings.

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Notes: Tried using an old manual 2X Nikkor Teleconverter on the 300mm f4 lens to see if I could get better details of the chick. It is not a setup that I would normally consider since you lose 2 f stops with the 2X TC but knowing the subjects would be under bright sunshine I thought I’d give it a go. All settings and focusing had to be done manually. Getting a fast enough shutter speed to freeze motion was still a struggle.

7 comments:

  1. One thing I don't understand about the treeswift is that why do they always build a nest too small for their chick. It's just so risky.

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  2. Hopefully this one will fledge successfully. Great observation!

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  3. Even with the manual TC and manual focusing, you've done an excellent job Madi, lovely shots of parent and chick, looking forward to see this chick fledge soon.

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  4. These are wonderful photos, Madi. The sequence of the little one being gathered under the breast feathers of the adult is amazing.

    cheers,
    Wilma

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  5. Your pics are stunning. I'm amazed with what you can do with 300mm/f4 + 1.4xTC. Do you think that with the 300mm/f2.8 VR you could get better shots? Would it depend on your style of photography eg hiking with lens/ sitting in hide. I'm undecided which lens to get. Would appreciate some advice, thanks.

    Pauline

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  6. Thanks all for ur comments. Hi Pauline, I would love to get my hands on the 300mm /f2.8 VR. It gives u more flexibility especially with birds in flight. I hike with my gear and don't use the hide. U have the option of the 1.4x and 1.7X TC and still get pretty decent shutter speeds under forest lighting condition. The f2.8 lens is definitely heavier and cost almost 4 times the f4 lens. My brother uses a 300mm/f2.8 VR + 1.7X TC on a Nikon D300 body. I feel that the difference in the image quality is marginal but it is a lot easier to obtain sharp images. My advice- if budget is not the issue, get the f2.8 lens.
    One thing for sure, u need strong arms to hike with this lens.

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  7. Hi Madi, thanks for your reply. I've bought the 300/f4 over the weekend n it's solid! The weight is just about my limit to hike with. I think even with a tripod/monopod + the f4/14E combo, it will still be more manageable compared with the f2.8 on its own. I shoot with D90.
    Pauline

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