digartal

Thanks, Tom. These were shot on a Sony A7RV with a 200 - 600 mm plus 2x extender and about 4 metres away. This little fellow was watchful of me as he had a nest nearby and was feeding chicks so a lovely encounter which does not happen often. I initially had the Sony equivalent for nature and travel, albeit a smaller optical zoom range. It worked and I actually still have 2 of them now, one for visible light and the other for IR. The bridge style camera (inc P950) does have some limitations, especially at the longer end of the zoom range. Hand holding for framing at the long end is almost impossible for most people - I use a monopod. Image quality does fall off a little. The other downside is the limited aperture. On saying all that they are a great compact, lightweight, portable option and a fantastic travel camera. They were the cameras I took to Europe earlier this year. Cheers Mark

The Rainbow Bee-eater is found throughout mainland Australia, as well as eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and, rarely, the Solomon Islands. In Australia, it is widespread, except in desert areas, and breeds throughout most of its range, although southern birds move north to over winter. A rainbow bee-eater regurgitates a pellet of indigestible parts of its prey, like insect wings and exoskeletons, to expel them from its body. This is a normal and healthy process, not a sign of sickness. The pellets are often collected by scientists to analyze the bird's diet and monitor local insect populations. Rainbow bee-eater pellet diagnostics were introduced to the NBPSP program in 2022, following its success in detecting Asian honey bees during the National Varroa Mite Eradication Program (NVMEP) in Queensland, which concluded in 2019. This technique is now employed in both Queensland and the Northern Territory to help mitigate the risk of Asian honey bee incursions. During 2023 the QLD Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) and the NT Department of Industry Tourism and Trade (NT DITT), respectively collected 30 and 18 rainbow bee-eater pellet samples, at ports as part of the NBPSP and no exotic bees were detected. “Over five years we collected 225,000 bird pellets which contained 1.6 million bee wings, of which 79 were identified as Asian honey bee wings,” Roger said. “Once Asian honey bee wings have been identified, other surveillance methods are used to find the nest. The birds definitely helped us to achieve eradication.”

Thanks, there were actually 3 different insects on this day as he was feeding chicks in a nest carefully hidden from my view. The insect was almost as big as the bird. With over 160 images, I like the timelapse concept as when played for longer, they seem to merge more easily. Maybe one day I will make a long-play version and reduce the number of images greatly.

Posted the IR one in the Slideshows Folder yesterday. Also used it on the Male Superb Fairy Wren with some edits/changes.

Happy Wrensday The Superb Fairy-wren is found in open eucalypt woodland forests of south-eastern Australia. It inhabits dense understorey, and is usually seen in pairs or small groups. Also adapted to urban parks and gardens, and exotic weeds such as lantana. The breeding plumage of the male Superb Fairy-wren is unmistakable – a light blue cap, ear tufts, and cheeks; a black eye-stripe; dark blue-black throat; brown wings and white breast and belly. Beak of the adult male is black and legs are brown to dark brown. The adult female is mostly brown, with white throat, breast and belly. The beak is orange-red, with a similarly coloured eye-stripe; the tail is brown with a faint pale blue-grey tinge. The female has the same plumage year-round. The non-breeding adult male looks similar to the adult female, except that the male has a black beak, and navy-blue tail – the Superb Fairy-wren is the only species of fairy-wren where the non-breeding male has a navy blue tail. All other fairy-wren non-breeding males have much paler tail colouration. The species forages mostly on the ground, more so than other species of fairy-wren; also forages in low canopy areas of shrubs and trees. Eats mainly insects, including grasshoppers, ants, larvae, small seeds and fruits. Hops over ground and in shrubs and pounces on food.

Here is a link to a quick AV with about 700 images using the Timelapse Style made by tom95521. Although not a time-lapse sequence, it is a series of images taken at our recent Agricultural Show. For something different, I captured them with my IR converted camera.

I am going to try this on a series of images that are not technically a timelapse as such. It is a bull riding event and I want to show the action. On saying that some shots will be similar. Converting images now to start experimenting.

Thanks Bert, I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Thanks Jim and I agree. In this instance, I felt the portrait view showed the water fall area better as the landscape view did not show the grandeur of the falls nor the majesty of the tall trees that had recovered after almost 50 years. I did frame and horizontal but the 16 x 10 portrait on a mobile for me was more impressive. Thanks for commenting.

Protestor Falls The Nightcap National Park is a national park situated within the Nightcap Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The 8,080-hectare (20,000-acre) park was created in April 1983 and is situated 35 kilometres (22 miles) north of Lismore. The park was established following campaigns and blockades against logging at Terania Creek, Grier's Scrub and Mount Nardi between 1979 and 1982. Protestor Falls is on Bat Cave Creek which runs into Terania Creek and where the protestors camped nearby. The national park is classed by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas as Category II and is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007. Images captured on the mobile and edited is PTE.

Thanks, lucky they are a regular visitor in your area. They are not common here, and the local government authorities are making nesting poles to encourage them to breed. The mortality rate of chicks is high and they only have a life span of about 8 years.

Thanks, John, I can see why you thought that, and thanks for the feedback. I did have indigenous Australian music initially, but used that music on the platypus. I guess when changing it out, I looked for a similar length rather than a style that suited. Interesting observation about the time/progress. Yes these were shot on low-speed continuous drive over about 4 minutes. There are some before and some after but I settled on these due to the similarity of the crossbar. On saying that it is often hard to get a good perspective of these birds so very happy with the images. I did take some drone video, also but processed that in another application. Thanks for commenting. Mark

The eastern osprey (Pandion haliaetus cristatus) is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. They live in Oceania at the coastal regions of the Australian continent, the Indonesian islands, New Guinea, and the Philippines. It is usually sedentary and pairs breed at the same nest site, building up a substantial structure on dead trees or limbs. The subspecies inhabits habitats close to coasts and estuaries, which provide opportunities for fishing. The eastern osprey's diet consists mostly of vertebrate fish species. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. This bird had a chick in the nest just about here. They usually eat the head and gills first to ensure the fish is dead, and also because this contains the most nutrients for the parents.

Thanks, I do live in a lovely part of this planet.