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| Pacific Baza Michael Hare's place, Queensland, Australia December 30, 2016 |
On Friday morning I met Don and Heath for the first time when they kindly picked me up and took me to meet Mick at Michael Hare's place. It was a warm and sunny morning. Actually I was shocked by how hot it was by 7am.
As usual Michael's place was alive with small birds high up in the shadows of the leaves. For me, the best encounter was with the pictured Pacific Baza. It was a bit ratty looking but still an especially beautiful hawk. Very different to what I'd see in the Niigata winter at this time of the year.
I enjoyed talking about birding lenses with Don and Heath. They are Canon men seeking advice on upgrading from 300mm to something with more reach. We talked about whether the Tamron 600mm zooms are worth a go. I was almost going to get one when I went for my new Nikkor 200-500 and was aware that Tamron released and updated version I think they called a "G2" in October. If you have any advice on any of the new super-zooms with Canon mount, please let us know your experience and leave a comment below.
I am getting use to my new zoom despite it's extra weight and 'front-heavinessness'. I used my D7100 and it did well to catch focus on the baza even with backlighting.
Thank you to Michael Hare, Don, Heath and Mick to a super-fine bird outing to finish the year.
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| In the sun |
