I have always enjoyed studying images of wildlife. That moment, frozen in time, allows the viewer to examine closely the details of a hide, an eye, the ripple of a muscle of the construction of a gait. Photographs of birds, which are small, fast moving and often distant – but with perhaps more detail than any other creatures – are especially rewarding in the extra information that they reveal.
But quality, close up images of birds have always been the preserve of specialist photographers who choose hides over vehicles and select extremely long lenses, often with teleconverters attached.
However, the advent of very high resolution cameras has brought bird photography within reach of more “generalist” photographers. This is not to say that the pros will not still retain their rightful place on the covers of magazines and on the podiums of bird photography competitions, but that more people are able to enjoy the challenge and reward of adding birds to their target subject list.
Mirrorless cameras have taken it a step further with both very high resolution and exceptional autofocus and frame rates….all of which are key to good bird photos. The Canon R5 shoots 45 megapixel images at 20 frames per second, silently, and with constant autofocus. Add a 500mm lens, with a 1.4x teleconverter and 700mm, 45MP files bring birds well into range. Sony and Nikon have similarly good mirrorless camera set ups.
Birds are still a specialist subject and my safaris include birds when they are accessible – i.e. in good light and close enough to cover more than a few pixels of the camera’s sensor! But, with the new range of mirrorless cameras, it will be increasingly possible to “reach” more birds and add more of them to our portfolios.
Below is a collection of bird images from this year, showing a range of features that are often too small or discreet to see.
Far in the distance, two red-necked falcons display to each other in flight. The details revealed in this image are far greater than I could resolve with my eyes, even with my binoculars.
An alpine swift screams past me at head height. The Canon R5’s AF system locked on and, so long as I kept the subject in the frame, returned multiple sharp, well focused images.
Not the most elegant of liaisons, but with vultures in decline in most areas, mating “hoodies” was a remarkable moment.
Lovebirds are famously skittish, but the high resolution of the R5 allowed me to capture an image which still has enough pixels to crop.
A regal Verreaux’s Eagle Owl at sunrise.
The R5’s AF system locked on to the eyes of these cranes whether courting…
….in flight…..
…or in a family huddle.
Guinea-fowl are overlooked due to their abundance, but make a striking subject in the right light.
Calling at dawn, a Swainson’s spur fowl on a perfectly designed display post.
Waterbirds are often hard to capture as they forage far away across marshy land but high resolution cameras help bring them within reach.
Sometimes the subjects are really close – an uncropped image of a malachite kingfisher that just didn’t fly away!
Lappet-faced vulture on finals….
Red-necked falcon giving me the once-over on departure from a pond where it had been hunting jacanas.
A Horus swift with a mouthful of insects, ready to feed to chicks in a riverbank nest hole.
A female Klaas’s cuckoo foraging for caterpillars near our campsite.
In perfect focus, a southern carmine bee-eater passes my camera at almost minimum focal distance.
Mirrored in the water of a waterhole hide, guineafowl run the gauntlet of taking a drink.
Not a nice way to go, but this serrated hinged terrapin will make a good meal for a hungry hornbill.
Arguing over real-estate; this is a scene that I have watched many times and captured rarely. The AF system on the R5 makes is almost “easy”!
Once the AF system locks on, your attention is free to ensure that composition and framing are spot on.
High in the canopy, this beautiful young black-throated wattle-eye awaits a meal from its parents.
A greater blue-eared starling showing off its iridescence.
African wattled lapwing guarding a well-hidden nest.
A pair of black-backed barbets shot through a screen of acacia leaves – the AF didn’t miss a beat.
“Do you have to shake right there?”
Tracking AF allowed me to choose the exact moment that these skimmers crossed the sunset to take my shot.
Formation flying.
Swallows are famously fast in flight – I love that I can see so much more detail in this shot than I can when I watch with binoculars.
This red-throated twinspot hopped up just a few metres in front of me. I had to step back to move outside the minimum focal length of my lens!
Re-arranging his dragonfly meal, this drenched malachite kingfisher is too preoccupied to worry about me.
An African white-rumped swift whizzes past in the warm air of morning.
Perched atop a large wild mango tree, a trumpeter hornbill calls for the last time before sunset.
