One of many Red Necked Stints on the beach at Oshamanbe today. An immature I think. This is the 'default' common small wader in autumn. There were several loose skittish flocks strung out along the long beach. I had to use the 1.4 teleconverter and still needed to crop a bit. Other wader species mixed in among the stints included Terek Sandpiper, Mongolian Plover, Grey Tailed Tattler and Sanderling.
Not much else around. The first Glaucous Winged Gull of the 'winter' at Yakumo, a Peregrine carrying prey near our apartment..............
Summer seems to be coming to an end and it was the mildest (or coolest) I have experienced in Japan since I came here in 1999. Apart from one very hot week at the end of July/start of August the temperature has rarely climbed above 25 and we have hardly used our air conditioner at all (in summer we have one attached to the window in my working room). I'm not complaining by the way, I much prefer coolish summers to the usual hot humid ones we usually have to endure in Japan.
So war in Ukraine, religious terror in Iraq/Syria, ebola on the rampage in Africa, horrible sex abuse scandals in Yorkshire, fatal landslides in Japan....................but hey everyone lets cheer up: Man Utd are still as comically bad as last season and we should enjoy it as much as possible.
Still a great little wader even if they are common there! I just had to AF microadjust the 1.4x converter on the 500mm :( Lost a lot of shots in the Spring and put it away in disgust. Decided to try again. Seems to work OK at -10. I'll never understand digital cameras.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...........maybe I should try the AF microadjust. The bare lens seems fine but I'm not 100% happy with the 1.4X. I'm a bit reluctant to try it: it seems a bit fiddly to set up and I don't want to make the AF worse by cocking it up...............
ReplyDeleteIts easy to do and reverse/switch off.
ReplyDeleteI used a water level marker as a ref. point.
You don't need to use the distances quoted on the web.
Took about half an hour to hit the setting with the most accurate focus.
A bloke told me a banknote about 15 yards away was as good a test as any fancy chart!
Plus the info on each shot displays the amount of AF correction so you don't have to note it or remember.
Thanks, that distance thing was the main sticking point. Still even 15 yards is a big ask in my apartment. I guess I could do it outside, I even have a focus chart somewhere I think..................
DeleteAfter spending almost $12000 on the set up (camera/ens/TC) I have to say I believe I shouldn't have to do this, it should just AF perfectly from the start. The bare lens as I say seems fine and some of the dodgy shots with the TC may be just the narrow depth of field and limitations of AI Servo on the 7D.....................
Agreed it should all just work!
ReplyDeleteAt least it can be fixed without sending kit away - still a pain in the buttocks though.
Absolutely............
DeleteFourth attempt to comment. They ARE a great little wader and probably our most common one around Melbourne during their time with us. I'm taking a Queensland birder to visit Werribee today so hope to see some new returns. The last e-Bird list from there had 109 species earlier in the week so should be a good day!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you'll see this same individual down there in a month or two...............
DeleteFourth time? Why, what happened?
Despite all the worldly gloom and doom, Man Utd's duff start to the season has cheered me up, too.
ReplyDeleteIf they fail to beat QPR in their next game I'll be even more cheery.
DeleteQuite a nice defaul to have Stu. Terek Sandpiper, Mongolian Plover and Grey Tailed Tattler sound reasonable enough too - if only.
ReplyDeleteIf MU sounds bad from where you are you should try listening to all the crap over here 24 hours a day on NW news.
One good thing about living here and following sport from back home is I only watch the games, I don't have to deal with the aftermath as nobody here gives a damn. England lose the Ashes? Nobody has even head of cricket. Liverpool lose? Unless it involves Japanese players or Beckham nobody cares. England playes like crap and only beat Norway 1-0? Literally not a single person within a 100km radius is aware of the fact.............
DeleteIf Kagawa hadn't left I could have fun mocking Man U though.
Nice quality pic despite the crop. I only ever get waders as smallish dots in my photos and aren't worth showing anyone. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Russell, I couldn't even get small dots today though..............
DeleteHello Stuart,
ReplyDeleteI just went through your latest posts, interesting species for me since I live quite far from a shore line!
Lovely photos!
Regards
Thanks Noushka. Everywhere In Japn is fairly near a shoreline though.................
Delete