Black Kite Eyeballing (鳶に見つめられる)

Getting Lucky (ラッキーチャンス)

It's not often these guys let you get close to enough to where they perch to take a decent pic. This black kite moved a few times, but finally got used to me following him and let me get reasonably close for a decent shot. (taken on the same day as the one below)
普段、鳶は人を見たらすぐに飛んでしまうからなかなｋ良い写真撮れない。このやつは何回も移動したけど、だんだんなれてきたから近くまで行けた。（したの写真と同じ日に撮った。）

Black Kite in Flight (飛んでる鳶)

I had some pretty harsh light for photography yesterday, but I had the afternoon off, so I wanted to make the most of it. I went to the local river and sat watching the black kites doing their normal routine. Although the bigma is considered a bad lens for birds in flight, I was pretty happy with some of the results I got yesterday.
昨日は写真撮りに行ったけど曇ってたから写真に最適でもなかった。それでも、撮れたのはかなり満足できた。川の辺に行って鳶を見て、シグマの50-500mmレンズで撮った。

Food Fight: Kites v Crows (鳶対烏)

Last weekend when I was on my way home from the photography club trip, I stopped to watch the kites and the crows fighting over the dead fish that for some reason were strewn all along the river banks. Crows often hassle the kites when they fly through their air space, and the kites just fly away. But this time the tables were turned, and the kites were very aggressively fighting off the crows who were sneakily trying to snatch the fish away from the kites. I was too far away, and the pics are cropped and enlarged, so they are not great quality, but you can still see what is going on. It was very amusing.
先週末、写真部の撮影会の帰りに、川で鳶と烏の喧嘩を見てた。何故か分からんけど死んだ魚はあちこちにあって、鳶と烏がいっぱいおった。普段は、烏が鳶を追いかけて逃がすけど今回は、逆で鳶の方が攻撃してた。遠くて、写真を拡する必要があったからあんまり綺麗な写真でもないけど、その内容は面白いと思う。まあ、見るのはとても面白かった。

Kingfisher (カワセミ)

I went back down to the same spot I took those egret photos the next day, and got a few good shots of some black kites, but I quite like this shot. I spotted this little kingfisher sitting in the shade on a rock. The shot was a bit dark, and my zoom not big enough, but I quite like this. You can see the kite shots in the following gallery:
www.giphsub.smugmug.com

大鷺を撮った次の日、同じ場所に行ってみた。こんどは鳶とかの写真も撮れたけどこのカワセミの写真が気に入った。陰に座ってたし、望遠は足りんかったし、あんまりはっきり見えないけどこの写真が好き。鳶とかの写真を見たいなら上のリンクをクリックして。

Black Kite

Here is another shot of one my favourite birds in Japan - the tonbi (black kite). Usually you see these fellas from below, so it is quite uncommon to see what they look like from above.

I've been spending the last few days tinkering with my photos website and changing bits and pieces. Check it out at http://giphsub.smugmug.com/ or click on the link for Giphsub Photography on the right.

First attempt...

Well this is my first time at blogging, and seeing as I enjoy getting out and taking photographs, I thought I would make a bit of a photoblog. Not really being a writer by nature, I thought I'd let my pictures and photography do most of the talking. I hope to be able to update this quite frequently with some of my favourite pics I have taken and will take. So here is the first splash. This is perhaps one of my favourite photos in my collection. It is a tonbi, or black kite. I took this up in Tottori Prefecture in Japan, which sits on the Sea of Japan, facing out towards the Korean Peninsular. I love these birds, and was very happy to have gotten this shot.

Any comments, hints or advice on my pics are definitely welcome. If you like my pics, then link my blog to your site! I'll happily reciprocate.