[daredevil123] Birds of Central and East Taiwan (Jan 2014)

[daredevil123]

Daurian Redstart 黃尾鴝
台湾花莲太鲁阁拍摄

The Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) is a small passerine bird from temperate Asia. In Japan, it is known as jōbitaki (ジョウビタ&#12461. It is a fairly common bird in East Asia, ranging eastwards from Mongolia and the Himalayas. It is migratory, winters in Korea, Japan, southeast coastal China and Taiwan.

40. Female

41. Female

 

[daredevil123]

Grey-chinned Minivet 灰喉山椒
台湾花莲太鲁阁拍摄

The Grey-chinned Minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

42. Female

43. Female

 

[daredevil123]

Taiwan Hill Partridge 深山竹雞
台湾大雪山拍摄

The Taiwan Partridge (Arborophila crudigularis), also called Taiwan Hill Partridge, is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found only in Taiwan. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. IUCN Red List near threatened species.

44.

45.

 

[daredevil123]

Rufous-capped Babbler 山紅頭
台湾合欢山拍摄

The Rufous-capped Babbler (Stachyridopsis ruficeps) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. Ranging across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is endemic to Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. This is an extremely hard bird to shoot as it is extremely timid and skittish. It will only come out to feed when there is no one around, or when there is thick fog. They will move with the fog, making photographing them very frustrating. In good weather, they will usually hide in thick bushes.

46. Birding in thick fog

47. Very active in fog

48. When the fog opened up for a very short while, it started hiding

49.

 

[Ted888]

superb!

 

[daredevil123]

Grey-cheeked Fulvetta 繡眼畫眉
台湾合欢山拍摄

The Grey-cheeked Fulvetta (Alcippe morrisonia) is a species of bird in the Pellorneidae family. It is found in Taiwan in evergreen mountain forests.

50. Only managed to get a partial...

 

[daredevil123]

The Brown-headed Thrush 赤腹鶇
台湾花莲太鲁阁布洛湾拍摄

The Brown-headed Thrush (Turdus chrysolaus), sometimes known as the Brown Thrush, is a species of bird in the Turdidae family. It is found in China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, Russia, and Taiwan. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.

51. Female

 

[daredevil123]

superb!

Thank you bro!

 

[pchengws]

Albert, you use one of those big cannon also? Care to share what lens you use to achieve these beautiful photos?

 

[daredevil123]

Albert, you use one of those big cannon also? Care to share what lens you use to achieve these beautiful photos?

Thank you sir. I am using a 300mm F2.8 + 2x TC + Fullframe cam mostly. For some pics I used an APS-C cam instead.

For all the chicken shots I had to remove the 2x TC or I will not be able to fit the whole chicken into the frame.

My cannon is not that big actually compared to the others you see in the pic in the first post.

Here is a pic of my setup.

 

[daredevil123]

That pretty much covers my 4.5 days birding trip.

Last but not least, let me share more of the chicken crossing the road pics.

52. Walk here

53. Walk here

54. Walk there

55. Walk there

56. Walk so close no one can shoot... some less than MFD. Mostly 爆框 (burst the frame). So just relac one corner.

 

[pchengws]

Thank you for your sharing. That also encourage me to think of buying the TC. I always think TC will make shooting almost to impossible unless we must have fast lens. If I buy a 70-200mm f/4 + TC still usable? $$$$ issue.

 

[daredevil123]

Thank you for your sharing. That also encourage me to think of buying the TC. I always think TC will make shooting almost to impossible unless we must have fast lens. If I buy a 70-200mm f/4 + TC still usable? $$$$ issue.

F4 with 2x tc becomes F8. You will need a camera like D4, D800/e to be able to focus. For a 2.8 lens, 2xTC gives you F5.6 still usable. And TC works best with prime lenses. With zoom you lose a lot more sharpness. For 70-200/4 you should only use a 1.4 TC max to get reasonable focus performance and image quality.

If $$ is a concern, and looking at prices of the 2x TC, you might want to consider getting a cheaper long lens instead, like the Sigma 150-500, Tamron 200-500 or the recently released Tamron 150-600.

 

[pchengws]

Thank you Albert. I have D800, I can use the 105mm f/2.8 to reach 200mm but any longer looks like I need to wait for the Tamron 150 - 600. I read the spec seems good, but still waiting for more review and release of stock in singapore.

Cheers.

 

[madmartian]

Great series albert! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Enjoyed all your lovely shots of the beautiful birds. Thanks for sharing

 

[daredevil123]

Thank you Albert. I have D800, I can use the 105mm f/2.8 to reach 200mm but any longer looks like I need to wait for the Tamron 150 - 600. I read the spec seems good, but still waiting for more review and release of stock in singapore.

Cheers.

200mm is not even remotely enough for birding. The minimum will be 300mm for larger birds, and 500mm for smaller birds.

 

[daredevil123]

Great series albert! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Enjoyed all your lovely shots of the beautiful birds. Thanks for sharing

Thank you again bro! Glad you enjoyed the pics!

 

[Wang TH]

Wonderful shots

 

[daredevil123]

Wonderful shots

Thank you sir!

 

[Turbonetics]

nice added on shots...thanks for sharing