wow!lucky you
you'll be able to shoot sunbirds out of your window!
These are better shots despite the strong blacklit. Do keep us posted about the progress of the couple. Thanks for sharing and Happy CNY to you, Raymond
Hi, Raymond ,Congrat to you for having this chance to document the bird nest building and eventual eggs laying and chicks feeding before they fly off.
Relax,man.The nest building will takes about 7 to 8 days.So you have plenty of time.They have already chosen your balcony because they need the protection from the weather.
After completing the nest,the Sunbird will be away for a couple of days.Relax again,she will come back to lay her first egg(mostly 2 eggs).
After that, its incubating the eggs for another 14 days.You will not see much activities going on then aside from the occasional breaks that she takes for feeding and stretching herself.
When the chicks appear in 14 days time,that is when you can expect lots of activities including the father joining hands in feeding.You will also witness the mother clearing the egg shells and wastes from her children.The chicks grow fast and in about 10 to 14 days,they are ready to fly.No flying lesson here.Off they shoot from the nest.:bsmilie:
Its good to document in pictures and in texts.A wonderful experience,like striking lottery.:bsmilie:
I think you should get youself a Teleconverter for your 70-200 to get close enough.A little flash will bring out the color of the beautiful birds.As for me I will use ISO 800 and use the camera Auto mode adjusted to -2/3 EV flash -1 EV
You are lucky. They only visit me to get food from my Bonsai plant I placed on my A/C ledge. Never had the chance to see them build nest yet. Woke me up every morning with their singing.
You can actually setup your equipment on your balcony and use remote to shoot. Just aim at the nest. Best is shoot video lah. At this close distance can set fill flash at -2 to -3ev. Just dont fire too often. Becareful not to spoke them as they will abandon the nest if they felt threaten.
Nice close-up and thanks for the updates. Btw is that you in pic 3 :bsmilie:
so how you water the plants?
no wonder you can use a 50mm prime..so near..
Exactly... I was really close to the birds.Oh wow, you manged to get such close-ups of the cuties.
hi,Raymond,you mentioned that the sunbird went direct into the nest and leave in a very short time ?If that is the case ,she haven't laid her egg yet.
If she went direct into the nest and rest there facing out of the opening,she is incubating the eggs.In 2 weeks time the eggs will hatch.
Actually you are being worried too much. It is perfectly okay to walk into you balcony to water the plants without worrying that you will scared away the sunbirds.I have seen bird nest built near swimming pool with heavy human traffic. There was once she built a nest in my brother garden and he can even water the plants right under the nest without scaring off the bird. Too bad that I don own a Dslr then.