We’ve always had a successful colony of barn swallows for years. Last year, some magpies started predating their nests so fewer broods succeeded. This year, the swallows returned in April and the magpies were waiting for them. To date we’ve had no successful broods and many of the birds that returned have left for safer territory. All we hear is the remaining ones being constantly attacked, all day long. Any ideas to deter the magpies would be welcome. They nest high in open carports. This only started in the last couple of years, we have had years of successful broods until now. I know it is nature, but…
(Pied) Avocet at Upton Warren, Worcestershire. There’s a saline spring so we get some waders and shore birds here. I’ve volunteered here since I retired, cutting barbed wire, pulling old posts from the mud and hedge laying. I need to practice to get good birds in flight pictures. But given I’ve had my new camera for a day, I’m pleased with this.
…and the credit goes to the ant who was sitting on his feeder, making him think twice.
A very frustrating hummingbird season since they are pretty suspicious this year, undoubtedly due to the murky political environment, spending maximum a few seconds under the tree and then disappearing into the blue. Sometimes I sit over an hour behind the viewfinder and there are no shows. There is no way that in the old days I would have waited for any of the girlfriends that long…
2022 Audubon photography awards are out. Definitely worth a look as fabulous bird photographs, (though depressing for those of us who aspire to this sort of quality!) Perhaps @Haim should enter? perhaps he has…
JPG from new camera and lens. I’m intending. to use Capture 1 to process the RAWs.
But I thought I’d start simple as I’m still learning the new kit. Fuji H2S with 150-600.
Ive been shooting jpg but with a more serious interest in nice bird photos I need to shoot at higher res – maybe the highest res jpg my camera will do.
You will get bigger files and may fill up your memory card sooner, but I don’t think there’s a reason not to use the bigger JPG. When you export them to websites, you might have to upload a smaller version. I suspect the virtues of RAW are not clearly apparent on computer screens, though they can bring out the feather details in the white plumage of the Avocet which are burned out in my earlier picture. I’ve switched now to taking RAW + JPG, so will see if I can produce a difference in image quality.
I would first try the free software from your camera manufacturer. You can download it from their website. Apple’s own Photos will open, convert and edit files. I miss Aperture which was discontinued though. Lightroom? There’s a free trial version of Capture 1 you could play with.
I have used Gimp - free in the past- which has a lot of Photoshop functions. But I tried Capture 1, so I’m persisting. I fear they all have a steep learning curve. Part of the attraction to Fuji for me was that the JPGs have decent colours.
