Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

Just before a cheetah run at the Columbus Zoo in September there was a silvery-cheeked hornbill show at the watering hole. As with the Minnesota Zoo's bird show, Rogue was free-flying, and she flew to a log on the other side of the water before I realized what what going on.

Rogue picked-up fruit with her beak and gave it a toss to her mouth.

 Rogue then flew back across the water.

Aerial Catch

Ember, a black kite, demonstrated its hunting prowess at the World of Birds show at the Minnesota Zoo in August. The bird flew along a walkway to the left of the seating area and a keeper/trainer tossed something enticing into the air. (More flipbook action!)

In 2018, I didn't try to follow a bird in flight. Photographing cheetah runs gave me practice following moving animals, and today I'm happy with my first shots of flying birds. My camera settings for the birds were workable: Continuous autofocus was most important. Shutter priority would have made more sense than aperture priority (f/8), but the day was bright enough with ISO 560 that the slowest shutter in these shots was 1/750s.

I know a little more about what I'm doing, and my equipment has changed. In 2018 I used a Nikon D50, which was introduced in 2005. That camera croaked the same year, and I began using a D7000, which was introduced in 2010. In April of this year, I upgraded to a D7500 (introduced in 2017, and Nikon is still selling it). I also have a longer lens with vibration reduction. (I buy my equipment used and have no complaints.)

A blue-bellied roller in flight?

I first became familiar with the blue-bellied roller a few years ago at the Toledo Zoo, and it's one of my favorite birds. The missing gardener and I were stunned when we saw flashes of sky blue on its wings when it flew. (We call such features "secret feathers.") Naturally, I want to capture those wings.

The rollers in Toledo didn't fly much. They mostly sat as high as they could under a skylight (the aviary is indoors), and we felt a bit sad as we projected wistful longing onto them. One June day in Columbus, a roller was flying back and forth between a perch closer to me and one farther away, and I seized the opportunity. Here's the far perch:

All I had to do was take a photo right after the bird lifted off. One of my early attempts wasn't good, but it gave me some confidence.

Things went downhill from there. Here's a liftoff from an artificial vine:

I made numerous attempts and concluded it was very unlikely that I'd be able to predict when the roller would take off. Also, I wondered if the camera's autofocus was fast enough to adjust to the bird's movement, so I tried manually focusing a little in front of the launch point. The lens doesn't have a distance indicator, so I had to guess, and the results were blurry.  Then I decided to try to take the picture before the bird landed. After all, I knew where the roller would land and when it was approaching. I got some half-decent shots, but none with wings fully spread.

January, 2024: Now I know I should have used continuous autofocus, which is made for moving subjects, instead of single-point autofocus, which is best for stationary or slow-moving subjects.

A different day I managed a cool shot:

I didn't even try to track the bird in flight because I don't have that skill. I'll keep practicing.

I had better luck in the parking lot one day. I could track this gull I think because it was farther away than the roller.

The roller does pose nicely.