Most of the seaducks have left the ports and are either offshore or gone back north. There were a few Black Scoters close inshore and a few Stejneger’s always just out of camera range.
Most interesting duck was the above American Wigeon (in terrible light) and a flock of Falcated Duck (also out of camera range).
Most of the winter ducks are either gone or well offshore now but there were a few Black Scoter in one of the ports near Yakumo.
They like these molluscs.
The Long-tailed Ducks had left the port (although I did see them in the distance way offshore). The Black Scoters were still around.
And this Gadwall were at Yakumo…………a heavy crop this one.
Some shots with the 2X teleconverter from yesterday. I was trying to photograph distant Red-necked Grebes (in summer plumage), Stejneger’s Scoters and (another?) White-billed Diver.
Most of the shots were crap but the above diver wasn’t too bad and was actually handheld.
These shots were on the monopod…………..
One thing I’ve noticed about the R5 is a lot of the monopod/teleconverter shots are soft. I usually use the monopod when I attach a T/C and handhold without. Is it the image stablization ‘fighting’ with the monopod? I know my lens (the 500 f4M2) can sense it’s on a tripod but can it sense it’s on a monopod?
They will soon be leaving………………..
One of the ports last week had a couple of tame drake Black Scoters swimming close by in nice light…………
The weather turned a bit rainy the last day of our trip and we only made a couple of stops on the way back. Various winter birds were in the ports in Oshamanbe…………
Coronavirus has decimated my work schedule. This is not a good thing but I have some time off and fuel for the car is very cheap at least.
We were up in Oshamanbe. Not much around: the Dunlin flock hasn’t headed north yet and there was an injured Black Scoter in the same port.
At Yakumo there were still lots of ducks around including Falcated Duck. A flock of 17 Red-necked Stint were at the rivermouth and there were also Kentish Plover and the Eurasian Spoonbill was still present in the morning at least. I think I saw the same individual again later in Oshamanbe, high in the sky. When we passed Yakumo again later in the day it wasn’t there anyway.
Most interesting bird of the day was an Eastern Yellow Wagtail of the macronyx subspecies at Yakumo.
Oshamanbe is the best place locally to see Long-tailed Ducks. This is quite a scarce bird down here and is worth the drive up there………
Lots of Stenjeger’s Scoter offshore but too far off for photos. Black Scoters do however often visit the ports.
The weather was a bit gloomy in the afternoon………..
I took a quick look in one of the local ports this morning and it was pretty quiet. A lone Black-necked Grebe, a single Black Scoter and a flock of Common Gulls were the only noteworthy species……….
Not many Eagles at Yakumo anymore but Oshamanbe had a few.
These could have been great photos but this was pretty much the only part of the day when the sun went behind a cloud and my settings were all wrong. Not even my fault: the rubber ring on the top dial of my camera is too loose meaning sometimes it is impossible to quickly change things like ISO and shutter speed. So they were way underexposed and lifting the shadows too much is never good on a photo (especially on cameras with older Canon sensors).
The 7D M2 has 2 dials and I use a grip (where the main dial is fine) but……….still, annoying.
Just before the light was great too………
We were up north today checking one of the ports. The most interesting bird was a Black-throated Diver but it was too far away for a photo. There were the usual common ducks in the harbour though.
And a few gulls too.
