Air Acrobatics

[Tordan58]

the other day I checked out a location that looked interesting on the map, quite large ponds with plenty of reed. A short detour on drive way back from home followed by 1 km walk. I was pleased to spot not one, but two couples of Marsh Harriers.

Sharing some decent photos taken at quite some distance, 100-200 meters with the SW scope and the E620, pictures cropped. These birds are really fast, difficult to focus meaning low keeper rate.


Female


Male


Other couple in display behavior


(If you wonder, the structure appearing in the backgound on left is the blade of a wind mill)




Thanks for looking
Tord

[Grumpy Hec]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Impressive stuff!! Some real skill and commitment to the subject has gone into these.

Hec

[David Morison]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Excellent, apart from the skill of keeping them in the field of view with such a large magnification you also have the skill to MF accurately and consistently.

David

[Tordan58]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Thanks.

I find the magnification provided by 600mm about right for these conditions. It's possible to get even better/more detailed results with 1.4 TC but then the image at is F/11 darker than desirable, focusing is really difficult, depth of field even narrower so the keeper rate drops dramatically. With 2.0 TC it's close to impossible.

With the E-M5 and its EVF it's easier. (EM-5 currently at workshop).

/Tord

[jdal]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Fabulous shots Tord.

Do the turbines ever kill these birds? The one in your image seems quite close.

[Tordan58]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Fabulous shots Tord.

Do the turbines ever kill these birds? The one in your image seems quite close.

Yes, they do take their toll. The turbulence they cause is capable of sucking them into the risk zone being hit. With a length of 30 meters and rotating at 20rpm, the tip of the blade has a radial speed exceeding 100 km/h and it takes less than this for a fatal hit.

This particular wind mill is about 3/4 km away from the footage location so it's maybe OK but I have seen dead birds of prey at other places.

/Tord

[jdal]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Thanks for the response. Are there regulations of some sort to mitigate this risk for what I assume are a protected species of bird? I was aware that the turbines killed some birds, I was wondering if it accounted for any deaths of rare species.

I know that in the UK they do a full year survey of onshore turbine sites before applying for planning permission, and this includes studying the flight paths of birds. This flight path data is then used to predict how many birds you could expect a turbine of a particular type in a particular location to kill. This data is taken into account in locating the individual turbines. My daughter has done these surveys before, which are conducted to BTO standards. So they do try, although I think this has more to do with pre-empting problems when applying for planning permission than protecting birds

[David Morison]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Thanks.

I find the magnification provided by 600mm about right for these conditions. It's possible to get even better/more detailed results with 1.4 TC but then the image at is F/11 darker than desirable, focusing is really difficult, depth of field even narrower so the keeper rate drops dramatically. With 2.0 TC it's close to impossible.

With the E-M5 and its EVF it's easier. (EM-5 currently at workshop).

/Tord

More and more I am using the Canon EF400mm f5.6 and the 1.4x (560mm f8) with the E-M5 and am pretty happy with the results, although I haven't tried flight shots yet. Whereas with a 300mm and AF I quite often get oof images, with MF if it isn't in focus I don't take it - getting back to the way we all used to do it!

David

[David Morison]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Thanks for the response. Are there regulations of some sort to mitigate this risk for what I assume are a protected species of bird? I was aware that the turbines killed some birds, I was wondering if it accounted for any deaths of rare species.

I know that in the UK they do a full year survey of onshore turbine sites before applying for planning permission, and this includes studying the flight paths of birds. This flight path data is then used to predict how many birds you could expect a turbine of a particular type in a particular location to kill. This data is taken into account in locating the individual turbines. My daughter has done these surveys before, which are conducted to BTO standards. So they do try, although I think this has more to do with pre-empting problems when applying for planning permission than protecting birds

I know in Lincolnshire the largest number of deaths from turbines is with Swans as they cannot alter course as rapidly as even Geese, of which there are many, many more around. Another issue is with Bats where it appears the low frequency pulse of the blades seriously interferes with their echo-location of prey.

david

[Tordan58]

Re: Air Acrobatics

More and more I am using the Canon EF400mm f5.6 and the 1.4x (560mm f8) with the E-M5 and am pretty happy with the results, although I haven't tried flight shots yet. Whereas with a 300mm and AF I quite often get oof images, with MF if it isn't in focus I don't take it - getting back to the way we all used to do it!

David

David,

You should give it a shot, having seen the samples you have taken with this lens I guess you should be able to get great results on BIF. How is the focusing operated? Helical? Knob? What support are you using? I use a gimbal head that is extremely useful for this application.

My experience from the E620 AF combined with long focal lengths on subjects in motion is not that great. (I haven't tried the E5). Only in rare occasions the AF locks exactly where you want, usually you get semi-sharp pictures showing OOF enough that makes the difference. With MF you are in full control, the trick is to shoot a sequence with slight refocusing for each frame and hope you will nail at least one. Still in learning process...

/Tord

[Tordan58]

Re: Air Acrobatics

Thanks for the response. Are there regulations of some sort to mitigate this risk for what I assume are a protected species of bird? I was aware that the turbines killed some birds, I was wondering if it accounted for any deaths of rare species.

I know that in the UK they do a full year survey of onshore turbine sites before applying for planning permission, and this includes studying the flight paths of birds. This flight path data is then used to predict how many birds you could expect a turbine of a particular type in a particular location to kill. This data is taken into account in locating the individual turbines. My daughter has done these surveys before, which are conducted to BTO standards. So they do try, although I think this has more to do with pre-empting problems when applying for planning permission than protecting birds

Hi,
All wild birds (and mammals for that matter) are protected species in Sweden, under the jurisdiction of the "Act of Hunting" (not sure about the correct English wording).

Species are then categorized using the International Standard LC/NT/VU/EN/CR/RE. We have a quite healthy population of Marsh Harriers, 4000 couples or so, they fall within the LC category so no special concerns.

Windmills are subject to an application procedure where environmental issues are considered: noise pollution, proximity to human habitation, bird migratory paths, ruining landscape etc. But at the end it's a trade-off, these aspects are sometimes down-prioritized for economic reasons. But the awareness is quite high and power companies are sometimes denied setting up windmill parks, for environmental reasons.

I could dig deeper into this if you are interested.

/Tord