For us to sit in one place for two weeks, especially anchorages as busy as those around Faro and Culatra Island, takes a special draw. Here it is the bird life of the Parque National de Ria Formosa.
There are miles of shoreline and wetlands, with thousands of birds to watch.
We’ve often anchored Wind Horse as close as a boat length from the shoreline, in order to get the best view of the egrets and storks feeding. At other times we’ve been out in the dinghy, or on occasion crawling in the mud to get a better shot.
The equipment used is primarily as follows: Canon 7D body, Canon 100/400 zoom, Canon 500mm F.4 prime, together with a Wimberly panning head on a carbon tripod. The latter is used from the deck of Wind Horse and from the dinghy where we tie the three legs of the tripod to the steering station. On occasion, the 500 F4 is hand held.
Click here for the Slide Show.
Posted by Steve Dashew (August 2, 2010)
August 4th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
What else can I saw except WOW! I am so envious.
August 5th, 2010 at 12:36 am
Thanks Nancy:
Good glass and thousands of attempts per keeper = what you see. But then, in your own backyard there are sights of equivalent interest.
August 8th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
I can’t help but wonder if the bird life we take for granted up here- loons, herons, swans, the various songbirds and raptors- would be considered exotic by someone from overseas. One becomes accustomed to that which is nearby.
Thousands of attempts per keeper, indeed. It’s amazing how much image data you can churn out with a quick-focusing lens and several frames per second of rapid-fire drive. “Card Full”, what, already? But it’s the only way to get these kinds of wildlife shots, especially with fast and easily startled animals.