Flock of red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea)
Fact: The world's most abundant bird species (excluding domesticated species), with an estimated adult breeding population of 1.5 billion!
I was focussing on some hippos in the Dam when the noise made by these flocks of Quelea drew my attention. Literally thousands of them came in from the west, had a short stop in the floodplains of the Dam and continued East, flying straight over me in burst of hundreds at a time. An awesome sight, with the sun behind them. I'll be posting a few more impressions of this event.
Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Botswana
Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/160
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Center-Weighted Average Metering
Exposure Compensation +1/3
ISO Speed 1250
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Focal Length 700.0 mm
AF Mode AI Servo AF
Drive Mode High-speed continuous shooting
Tripod + Wimberley head
Always an awesome sight, but very difficult to capture as a photo. One of the few bird shots where you do not need an excuse for not being sharp or in focus because it must be impossible.
Hi Vincent,
definitely unusual and most of it I like..........some of the brighter wings in the grasses are distracting........while the ones in the air seem to add to the image. Neat swarm............looking forward to the others!
Impressive and creative. The bottom looks pretty clean. The top could stand losing a few birds along the frame-edge. Roman is right-on re: the four bright backlit birds near the center. It would be easy to QM or Patch Tool them out. All of the above only if they fit with your personal ethics of course.
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