Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Birds from the End of the World Part One.

Ushuia at the southern most tip of Argentina is the closest city to the Antarctic continent. I spent a few days there of rain, snow, ice and cold with a few rays of sun. Photographing was trying due to many factors including lack of light so I was shooting mostly at ISO 400 and shutter speeds between 1/50 to 1/125 with a zoom lens at 400 mm which has an aperture of f 5.6. I was fortunate to get a few shots of birds that I have never seen before. So I will not elaborate much as to their identification. This kingfisher I photographed at the national park near Ushuaia. This bird was very tame for a kingfisher, I was able to approach him within 30 feet. and he just dived from the branch into the lake below catching small fishes. I did get a few shots with a life fish in the bill but due to the low light they were blurred.

There are a few geese that are unique to this area and the one to the right is the flightless steamerduck, notice the size of the wings. These were relatively tame and easy to approach and as usual the male was the better looking of the two.

This goose is very common in the area and reminds me of a barnacle goose but is bigger and brownish in color. It is know as the kelp goose. This a female, the male is totally white and they are usually found together.


I am sure that you have seen
caracaras all have seen caracaras, these are really opportunistics and feed in anything they can get. Very colorful birds and probably the most abundant in this area.) Although they are supposed to be tropical birds' no one told them.

I will stop at this time and continue soon with more images of the wildlife of the area.

7 comments:

Tim Rucci said...

Nice to see you post again Jose, as I was just thinking that your blog has been quiet for too long. Those are some really sweet images you posted - looks like you made the best of a tough lighting situation.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Jose. It is good to have you back again.

It seems as if the conditions were not ideal for photography but these are great images.

I love the kingfisher but those ducks wings are very small.

I have never seen a caracaras. Those feet are certainly made for gripping its prey. Are they large birds? I am thinking they are maybe the same size as a hawk?

I am looking forward to seeing the rest of your pictures as always, especially the falls. :)

Les Barr said...

Interesting birds. Nice Images. Did not even know they existed. Learn something new all the time. Thanks for sharing.

Craig Glenn said...

Very nice photo's Jose. The kingfisher is so interesting. Thanks for sharing these great shots.

Craig Glenn

Juan C. Aguero said...

Saludos Jose, es bueno que estes de regreso con este trabajo, buenas fotos.

Ken Conger Photography said...

Don Jose I see you made the best with some challenging light conditions for photography. I really like the Kingfisher image! Blue Skies.

Unknown said...

Hi Jose. I really like the Kingfisher shot. His colors are great. The duck with the expanded wings is a close second. For some reason I really like how the water came out in the shot. Overall, very nice!