Please enjoy my birding adventures in the south coast of British Columbia. Equipped with a 4K walking cam and a video feed of the viewfinder of my photography camera with a 500mm lens, I will attempt to photograph and identify as many species as I can. If you see or hear any birds in my videos that I missed or misidentified, please comment below with what you saw or heard. Let's go birding. Pat
question about the Z6ii, do you also see the viewfinder go blank every time you take a picture or is it something only we are seeing when you record the camera feed ?
Yes, my viewfinder goes blank as well when I press the shutter. I am using the camera in manual shutter mode. I’m coming from a dslr so it’s what I’m used to. If the camera had stacked sensors I’d be more open to using an electronic shutter. Thanks for watching and the question!
It was interesting realizing that birders also pay attention to the common birds around you. For example you stopping to take a picture of the Canada Geese. It shows you that it’s easy to forget what neat birds they are!
It’s very easy to take for granted how wonderful the common birds are around us. Birding is great where no one species is more important or better than another. Except for warblers. Ha ha! Thanks for watching!
Beautiful place there :D And I like the "real time shooting" view of the camera (like 0:24).. so nice for a beginner, like me, to see it :D EDIT: do you use Back Button Focus?
What a lovely walk and lots of pics! Thank you for posting this. I see these birds where I live too. A slight suggestion, get a tripod or rest your camera on a surface to help you as it keeps that camera gear steady as it is heavier with those big zoom lenses.. The focus on the birds should be on the eye as much as possible which will get you more consistent shots at a high percentage. Its not easy to focus on the eye handheld, I have been doing that alot as I walk out back of my home. Its easy for the birds to fly off fast so I just ordered a hide....a camo style hunting tent that you drape a large weave cloth over...then you get inside, put your camera on a small table or surface, poking just the end thru the covered window. The special large weaves easily opens for a large lens...now you are completely concealed to take pics wherever you want. This is when you have time near your home where it is safe to put one. Left a few days the birds get used to it and then you begin to use it. Feeders, perches and branches placed nearby to stage it if you want. You got some great shots! What is the gear you are using?
Thank you very much! Your hide sounds like a lot of fun and a great way to get some spectacular photos! I love getting feedback so thank you for that as well! I am actually using a monopod for my birdwalks which I find gives me the right mix of stability and speed. Currently I am using a Nikon Z6ii with a Nikon 200-500 f5.6. When things go right I am very happy with the images using this combo. Focus is tough. Many times I will put the bead right on the eye of the bird in pin point and be disappointed with the results even though the camera thought it was in focus. I hope to upgrade to a more pro set up one day but for now I am happy with the results. Thanks for watching and the comment!
@@patgoesbirding You are so welcome! I have an older camera I have been using. However I do have a Sony A73 so no I do not have professional gear, My nikon D5300 was a gift from my late twin. I just have a 70mm to 300mm lens as a zoom max. My sony has great lenses that my prof photographer daughter gave me! But the furthest zoom is 210mm for my sony. I did notice camera shake as well as your focus never stayed on the eyes? Not sure why that happened and I thought maybe you did not have a tripod. External Button activation to take pics can be helpful also in preventing any shake but trouble shoot that focus. Even with my inferior gear it will track the eyes great. In both my cameras there is eye focus choices. Does your internal camera have a setting for this? Usually you have to turn that on to get it to track the eyes. I just love your photos you got!!!
@@romy4593 Very nice cameras also extra special with sentimental value! I agree I could nail the focus more often! I’m not sure what shots you are referring to exactly but sometimes I’ll focus on a different part of the bird if I feel there are branches too close to its head that it may focus on instead. Most times though it is probably user error. I’ll have to check out my camera’s eye detect feature a bit more as I don’t currently use it. Thanks!
@@patgoesbirding How kind of you to say. I looked up your camera and this will put your photos over the top!! Go to the Custom Settings menu and select Face and eye detection on in a4: Auto-Area AF Face/Eye Detection. I did this with both of mine and you can see reflections in the eyes of animals I shoot. You will love this! Your camera has excellent tracking for eyes and this is a standard all wild life photographers use. I have been studying hard to get what I can out of what I have. I am planning on getting that same lens you have, the 200mm to 500mm lens. There are a lot of pros out there using gear like ours and getting outstanding results. Eye tracking is essential to you! Your shots were excellent not using that!!! I take pics of birds in the middle of leaves, behind branches etc...I use the eye tracking to do this! I have taken pics of birds right thru my window and gotten some stunning results! My husband was looking at my tiny bird pics in the middle of Ivy. Boca in front and behind with a focused bird in the middle. He was impressed but really is about the eye focus! I shot an Osprey way over my head and over two stories up in the air. I could not tell he was one and thought "oh a practice shot of a gull, ok" so I panned and tried to point at the tiny head I could just make out..... then when I was downloading my shots...I got epic shots of an Osprey in flight perfectly focused! I was max zoom and very unusual to get a shot like this. I am literally going to print this one for my wall in my home...it was a total shock! That 70mm to 300mm Nikkor Lens really does not get far off shots like this. It was the eye tracking that pulled in that focus. I can't wait to get a lens like yours!! If things go right this month, I will get two used lenses, the 200 to 500mm Nikon and a Sony zoom choice up to 600mm. I just need to decide which model of Sony lens. There are some other lenses so I will compare them before I decide on that one. My daughter is in the top ten photographers on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our entire family does photography and my husband has a youtube channel called yachtlens. I was out taking pics with the Sony and the Nikon at a boat show last month. He is putting up a website and will have my photos there soon.
@@romy4593 Thanks so much for looking it up! I will definitely check out the eye-detect setting! The Nikon 200-500 creates amazing images and for its price point it’s hard to beat. Very cool you are a family of photographers! I love that feeling that the Osprey shot gave you, where you see it and just go whoa… did I shoot that?? Then you get super excited and look for the next chance to get out again! Awesome, thanks for sharing!
Hello, I love watching your video and the birds really good. I will come Vancouver in September with my mother that she really likes birding too. We are from hongkong and I don't know too much about there. Do you have any recommendations places for birding in Vancouver city and Vancouver island?
Thank you very much for your comment and question. September is an excellent time of year for birding around Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and there are hundreds of good birding spots all around. Stanley Park in Vancouver is huge and fabulous for birding. I recommend anywhere on the Sea Wall and the trails around Lost Lagoon are excellent. Beacon Hill Park in Victoria is also an excellent birding spot. I recommend ebird.org to anyone looking for birding spots. If you go to the explore tab then Hot Spots you can either type in a location or zoom in on a map and it will show you all the good birding spots and what was most recently reported seeing there. I hope you and your mom have a wonderful time and I know you will see some beautiful birds!
Thank you very much about the information you give me. It's really useful.did you been birding in nanaimo? Is it a good place too?I think I will stay few days in Vancouver island but still thinking between victoria or nanaimo.
Man, I just love waxwings--such goofy-looking but regal guys! And that's lovely iridescence on the wood duck; you'd think I would have noticed that before with all the wood ducks I've seen, but somehow not. 😂 Great vid, thanks!
Love those chestnut-backed chickadees--I feel like no matter how long you bird, almost everyone still considers chickadees/tits "one of my favorites" 😅 They're just so cute, and fierce! Nice to see y'all's hummingbird options too (I'm here in "ruby-throated only" land, haha.)
This is cool how you show the camera-eye view through this, and as someone from the east coast I like seeing some western birds like the golden-crowned sparrow! Nice little birding trip, thank you.
Thank you! The last few times at the marsh there wasn't any signs of activity at the nest so I was really happy when I saw that eagle show up! Hopefully there will be some new eaglets this year!
Thank you! It was Super Cool!! I had a ton of fun that outing, hope the video shared some of my fun! Thanks again for watching and the support! Headed out the door to film #12….
I’m so excited that you’re back! I’ve been looking for your posts every day! My fiancé and I love watching your videos; really gets us in the birding spirit!
Nice vid. I went out birding the last couple of days and the bird migration is really underway here, at one local park the riverside forest was alive with Yellow rumped warblers. I saw probably close to a hundred of them, they were everywhere. Some other notables included: Belted Kingfishers, Osprey, Coopers hawk pair, Common Goldeneye pair, Buffleheads, House finch, Purple finch, American goldfinch, pileated woodpecker pair( drilling a new nest hole in an old tree) and lastly a Pied billed grebe. Can't wait for the rest of the Warblers to start showing up (my favorites). We're lucky to get so many different spiecies here. Cheers.
Wow, that sounds like some great birding! Would love to see that many yellow rumps! Love all the warblers as well! Hope to get some nicer shots of them soon! Thanks for watching and your comment, just great!
Thank you very much! Sometimes it feels like it's a struggle out there to get nice photos but I'm often pleasantly surprised when I look at them at home. I think that may be more about the beauty of the bird rather than the photo! So as long as I don't mess it up too much or too often, I'm happy. Thanks again for watching and the comment! I filmed the next one this morning and I should have it ready to watch on Wednesday. Thanks again for your support!
@@patgoesbirding Of course Pat, I'm getting into birding so watching other people's experiences are important to my own. I'm starting a portfolio of birds and a log of species, so watching other people also motivates me to get out there and keep going! I'm happily looking forward to the next video. Can't wait :)
@@TattedAndy That is awesome Andy! I would say at least half of what I have learned was passed down to me from other birders and the other half was learning by doing. That is wonderful to hear, I figured this was the best way for me to share my joy in birding. Happy birding!
Really enjoyed your vids. Watched a few of them and they are very entertaining. You have a wonderful, healthy attitude to your birding and a very nice running narrative. I do bird photography in central Canada, so its nice to see different varieties from another part of the country. you do manage to get some great pics while juggling all your gear so well done! Keep it up! I look forward to more posts.
Thank you very much! That means a lot to me coming from another bird photographer! I’m still working at mastering this way of sharing the gift birding has brought me but I am going to work hard at it this spring and upload regularly. Would love to go birding in your part of the country one day. Thanks again for the motivation! Pat
Thanks for checking out my Bird Walk! I’m trying to share as much of an authentic birding experience as I can. I encourage comments and please feel free to identify anything I may have missed or incorrectly identified. Let’s go birding!
