The first video this year is from an
excursion to Sicily around May 1st. The Pied Avocet (skärfläcka)
has long legs but they are nothing compared to those of its close
relative, the Blackwinged Stilt (styltlöpare). Here is a very
short clip from between Trapani and Marsala on 1 May 2018. Panasonic GH5
with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter. This was not an
easy task since the bird moves fast and in unforeseeable ways! More from
this journey to come.
In the following collage you see some whinchats
(buskskvättor) in different seasons: first one just about to leave
Marettimo west of Sicily on 30 April 2018; then a family (I think) near
Hålanda in mid-June 2017 (where you also hear an osprey); then one
singing in our Hålanda garden in mid-June 2018. Panasonic GH4/GH5 with
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, Telinga Pro 5W with
Stereo DAT mic. The first clip from the third occasion, here from 0:35
to 1:05, was however recorded without the Telinga device so all the
background "noise" from rural activities is heard too. Finally one
sitting on a thistle among high grass in August 2012, warning its
offspring – the sound that one so often hears in the right kind of
landscape.
Then a bird that I have long wanted to
film and quite unexpectedly ran into during a walk in the mountains: A Gyr
falcon (Falco rusticolus, sv.: jaktfalk), most probably near its
nest, somewhere in northern Lappland in early July 2018. Camera:
Handheld Panasonic GH4 with Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40/2.8 lens, distance
150–200 m. The gyr falcon has a wing span of around 120 cm and is one of
the fastest fliers of all birds. The flight parts were filmed at an
effective focal length of 160 mm and upscaled with a factor of 2, so
don't try to see the movie at more than 720p. The inbuilt mic was used
without any wind shield, and the wind noise regrettably makes it
impossible to hear the bird's characteristic call on the video.
And now, a true rarity. This little beauty
visited Hålanda on August 7–8, 2018. In the background of the first
scene: Hålsjön. My wife and I first thought it was a Snow Goose
(snögås, blå form) and reported it as such, but we have since then
learnt that it is a Snow Goose x Bar-headed Goose hybrid (hybrid
mellan snögås och stripgås).
First part: Handheld Panasonic GH4 with
Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40/2.8 lens, inbuilt microphone. Second part: GH5
with Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200 + 2x teleconverter, Telinga Pro 5W
with Stereo DAT mic.