Shetland Greeland White Fronts - silent shooting

The is about 50 Greenland White front  geese, soon to be known as USA white Fronts if Donald duck gets his way in Shetland at the moment.

I check several flocks of Greylag before finding 12 GWF opposite the boat shed at Tingwall. They were happily feeding and moving south.

It has a distinct white forehead and dark bars across its breast & orange legs. more obvious than picking out Bean geese, one Pinkfoot was with this flock.

The GWF is considered one of the rarest geese in Europe with around 7,800 individuals. 

It migrates south to Iceland and also Western Scotland , Wales and Ireland, with only the odd bird recorded from Eastern parts.

As well as the geese at least 50 Fieldfare feeding with 100 Starling. In a field a bit further south to the boats shed a good number of waders congregated.

Curlew (108), Redshank (17), Turnstone (6), Oystercatcher (56), Lapwing (75) Golden Plover (128) along with 50 Starling and 6 Blackbirds.

With the OM1-2 it is good to know that you can use silent shooting on a high resolution (50mp) shot. This takes away any mechanical use and reduces the strain on the mechanical shutter (so better when it comes to selling or exchanging- as they always look at how many shutter activations have taken place.

A silent shutter is far better when shooting wildlife as any noise would normally scare a bird or mammal. I was stood next to a Canon user and found the noise of the mechanical shutter to be very disturbing. He turned to me and asked why I wasn't taking any photos- I was using a silent shutter.

A benefit of using the OM1-2 silent shutter is that it also reduces camera shake and you can use higher shutter speeds. They can be found in most mirrorless and a few DSLR cameras.

On the sea in Shetland

Red throated divers have started to return to Shetland having been south for the winter

Still lots of Long Tailed ducks around, these at Grutness, having a dispute

A lot of chasing about be good to see. At Grutness 6 birds but over 80 at Westvoe

Lerwick Snow Bunting

Finally caught up with the snow buntings that have been -present in Lerwick for about a month. These have been feeding on seed put out by birders at the quarry above Clickimin.

The conditions were sunny but cold with ice and snow on the ground. At first the buntings didn't show, then a tractor came for a hay bale just as the snow buntings arrived, peering over the edge of a rock.

As usual for this species they were noisy and chattered until the tractor left then flew down to feed for a short time before taking off and flying off

Ten minutes later they were back and came to feed again for a short time then flew up to the highest point in the quarry.

The OM1-2 150-400mm was good at tracking using the settings previously showed. 

Shetland Birds a Mixed bag

 Managed to get out at last in good but cold weather, so headed down to the south end of Shetland. Going out of Sandwick it was evident that we had a fall of thrushes with around 15 blackbird, 30 Fieldfare and 10 Redwing and we have had a Robin in the garden.

Down at Spiggie a Bittern had been found but with no-one on site is was difficult picking it up and then only for a few seconds as it flew. Grey Heron, 6 Whooper swans, 12 Teal were also present at this end of the loch (North). 

Down at Virkie the three Taiga Bean geese had move with the flock of Greylag more towards Exnaboe but as soon as i pulled up the birds started walking away so only distant views.

At Boddam, several Common Seal were hauled out balancing on the rocks at the north end. Turnstone, Curlew, Redshank, Ringed Plover flew around and landed near a Grey Heron.

A morning at Grutness beach was quiet at first then 6 Long Tailed Duck flew in, later joined by two Red Throated Divers. Only a few waders on the beach - Redshank (4) oystercatcher (14) Turnstone (8) Sanderling (4) while GTBB(2) Common Gull (4) Shag (2) joined the others in the Voe.

Shetland Taiga Bean Geese

 Headed down to Virkie to see whether the Taiga Bean geese were still present. The three birds have been with a flock of Greylag for around ten days but stay separate.

It was not a good day with the gales and rain and when i arrived they were at the very back og the field. i decided to see whether they would be visible from the Virkie road and thankfully they just showed, but distant.

Managed to get a few photos before they headed back out of view. Taiga Been geese are browner and darker than other other grey geese. The yellow orange on the base of the bill usually covers half the bill

They breed from Western Siberia to Scandinavia with small numbers wintering in Scotland and eastern England.  

Shetland Little gull

 A still days for once so down to Sandsayre to check whether the Little Gull was still present.

It soon appeared and landed on the sea close by

I wanted some flight shots but it was overcast so shooting at between ISO8000 and ISO10600

These have cleaned up nicely with DXO 

The Black Redstart was still present but very mobile spending time in the gardens as well as down on the beach

A male Goldeneye came into the Voe and an Otter seen in the surf moving quickly away from me. All these photos were taken on a Olympus OM1-2 and 150-400mm

Om1 -2 Settings for BIF's

 Down to 1/500 to capture the spray ISO2500

Birds on the ground are much easier to photograph and you can use a slower shutter speed so less noise

ISO 12800 F5.6 1/1000

These are the settings i use for birds in flight (BIF)

1. AF- C  (continuous auto focus)
2. all focus points
3. bird Identification
4. Eye focus
5. sequential shooting settings
6. SH2- 25fps
7. Pro capture SH2
8. ISO auto-to a maximum of 12800
9. RAW
10. 1/4000 to 1/5000 second
11. IS - on
12. Exposure compensation +0.3
13. silent shutter
14. Lowest F/number
15. at least a 128GB card (high speed) you will take lots of photos

Point the lens towards the subject and keep in frame, it is difficult, so practice needed as it is a narrow field of view.

Press shutter 1/2 way to engage Pro capture and full press to take photos, i normally set this to 15 before shutter is pressed and 20 afterwards- be prepared to take lots of photos but as it is set for silent shutter it doesn't count  as shutter activations so less ware and tear.

The smaller or more active the bird the higher the shutter speed should be set. Photos will be much better in good light which will also result in a lower ISO. Try 1/4000 for BIF and 1/1000 for birds on the ground, they are still moving feeding, preening etc

Always be ready and keep the bird in fame then follow it on take off, try for a clean background if possible.

all 1/4000 second F5.6 ISO12800

ISO 12800 F5.6 and 1/4000 second

All sanderling photos cropped by 25% and noise reduction (DXO) used