Photographing Tawny frogmouths at night?

[tandeejay]

The Tawny frogmouths that were in the trees in my back yard disappeared for a few months, but now they are back, but during the night...

they like sitting on the old swing set frame making a barking noise.

anyone have advise on how best to photograph them under these conditions?

I have my 80-200 f2.8, or my 150-600 f5-6.3 which while longer than the 80-200 is much slower... I'm thinking my faster 50mm f1.8 will be too wide to be much use.

When they arrive, there is still some twilight left.

Would rather not blind them with a flash if possible....

do I have any hope of getting them at this time?

Regards
John

[Geoff79]

I'm the last to offer advice on such a subject, but to me there's only one option - boost the ISO as high as it goes where you know it will give you a workable result, and hope they don't move. Actually, on that, these creatures don't really move that much, do they? So yeah, if it was me I'd be using a tripod to frame them and hope they keep nice and still, boost the ISO, and hope they still stay nice and still. Good luck with it, and be sure to post the results. :)

[tandeejay]

Thanks for that Geoff. I won't be able to try until Monday. I'm doing some photography for my church tomorrow evening for a Yr 12 Graduation event.

[Glenda]

Yes I'd go with a really high ISO too. If there is some light still around I think you should be able to get a reasonable shot. If you do need a flash some sort of diffuser might help soften the light and make it less blinding for the bird. I've seen people use bubble wrap as an option for this.

[arthurking83]

could you use a torch?
Tawnys are a nice bright colour so in the dark will expose ok with some light.
If you try a torch, just be weary of LEDs and how they can have massive colour inaccuracies(terrible CRI), so try to get a grey reference point of some type to colour balance it later. I find just a test shot and 'click to whitebalance' is usually good enough.

I have a fruitbat that comes every night to feed on a plum tree in my yard, and thinking doing the same(similar).
It doesn't see the light(so to speak) but as soon as I move it notices me.

I had a pair of Tawnys in a Jacaranda at the rear of my yard too for a while, and always during the daytime. No nest that I could see.
But I was in the process of building a shed right near the tree, and once the excavation work started it scared them out, have yet to return :(

The fruitbat is going to be hard due to it's colour!

[tandeejay]

could you use a torch?
Tawnys are a nice bright colour so in the dark will expose ok with some light.
If you try a torch, just be weary of LEDs and how they can have massive colour inaccuracies(terrible CRI), so try to get a grey reference point of some type to colour balance it later. I find just a test shot and 'click to whitebalance' is usually good enough.

I have a fruitbat that comes every night to feed on a plum tree in my yard, and thinking doing the same(similar).
It doesn't see the light(so to speak) but as soon as I move it notices me.

I had a pair of Tawnys in a Jacaranda at the rear of my yard too for a while, and always during the daytime. No nest that I could see.
But I was in the process of building a shed right near the tree, and once the excavation work started it scared them out, have yet to return :(

The fruitbat is going to be hard due to it's colour!

I've had tawnys around my place for years, and I've noticed that they will hang out in one of half a dozen trees for months and you will be able to find them during the day in one of those trees nearly every day (no nest in site), then part way through spring, they vanish and you won't find them in those trees for several months, after which they reappear in the original set of trees again almost daily.

My Tawny's had disappeared, (and at the moment still aren't in their usual trees during the day), but one evening we noticed an unusual noise outside, and after hearing it every night we went outside and discovered two Tawnies sitting on the old swing set frame. I'm almost certain they are the same ones from the tree.

My thought is that when they disappear, they have gone somewhere else to nest. However, I have no concrete evidence for that, just speculating :nod:

Looking at the white streaks on the side of the old swing set, I'd say the Tawny's have been roosting on that swing set for quite some time :)

Most of the torches we have in our house are newer LED ones, but I do have an older "incandescent bulb" torch that could do with new batteries... I'll dig it up. I think it takes 4 D cells...

[tandeejay]

Early evening tonight, after I finished work, the Tanwnies were on the old swing set frame. So grabbed my 80-200 and managed to get this:

145448

This was at ISO25600, F2.8, 1/15s, at a focal length of 125mm (hand held).

I then applied Topaz Denoise AI with the Low Light setting.

I believe the one on the left is a juvenile, which backs my thought that they disappear from my back yard for a while to go somewhere to nest. Then once their little ones have fledged, they returned to my back yard :)

[Journeyman]

Hello Tandeejay,
Lovely photo of the Tawny, your patience is well rewarded.
Very steady hands.
Kind regards, Journeyman