A7r, A7r2 - and why I'm keeping both ...

[k-hawinkler]

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS.

 

[k-hawinkler]

I just used the Merlin Bird ID app
https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/
and had it listen to our backyard birds for about half an hour.
In this timeframe the app identified the following birds by their songs:

• House Finch
• Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
• Spotted Towhee
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Western Wood-Pewee
• Lark Sparrow
• White-winged Dove
• Bewick's Wren
• Song Sparrow
• American Goldfinch
• Pine Siskin
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Mountain Chickadee
• American Crow
• Black-chinned Hummingbird
• Juniper Titmouse

Very cool!

Most of the birds I neither saw nor heard when the Merlin Bird ID app identified them.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Black-headed Grosbeak

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS @ f/2.8, 1/2000 s, ISO 2000.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Spotted Towhee

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS @ f/2.8, 1/2000 s, ISO 320.

 

[Knorp]

Most of the birds I neither saw nor heard when the Merlin Bird ID app identified them.

How should we read this, K-H ?

Or you're blind and deaf or the app is just rubbish and making things up ...

 

[scho]

I just used the Merlin Bird ID app
https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/
and had it listen to our backyard birds for about half an hour.
In this timeframe the app identified the following birds by their songs:

• House Finch
• Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
• Spotted Towhee
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Western Wood-Pewee
• Lark Sparrow
• White-winged Dove
• Bewick's Wren
• Song Sparrow
• American Goldfinch
• Pine Siskin
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Mountain Chickadee
• American Crow
• Black-chinned Hummingbird
• Juniper Titmouse

Very cool!

Most of the birds I neither saw nor heard when the Merlin Bird ID app identified them.

Yes indeed! Very impressive bird listening. I woke up to some hooting awhile back and Merlin told me it was a great horned owl (actually a pair calling back and forth across the valley below my bedroom window). Saw one of them the next morning.

 

[k-hawinkler]

How should we read this, K-H ?

Or you're blind and deaf or the app is just rubbish and making things up ...

Well Bart, it's a stunning app with excellent characteristics.
Not much wrong with it, occasionally it may misidentify a bird.

My eyes and hearing are not the best due to aging.
In particular if the birds fly around or are perched high
or just sit out of my sight, the Merlin app still can record the bird songs.
By watching the app on my iPad then hearing a bird noise the app immediately flags its bird ID.
Now I know what birds make which sound.
Nice.

I wonder whether you can also use that app in Europe.
I have my app also linked to a Cornel bird database of the US SouthWest.
For easy visual bird identification.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Yes indeed! Very impressive bird listening. I woke up to some hooting awhile back and Merlin told me it was a great horned owl (actually a pair calling back and forth across the valley below my bedroom window). Saw one of them the next morning.

Thanks Carl. Great stuff. +1

 

[scho]

Well Bart, it's a stunning app with excellent characteristics.
Not much wrong with it, occasionally it may misidentify a bird.

My eyes and hearing are not the best due to aging.
In particular if the birds fly around or are perched high
or just sit out of my sight, the Merlin app still can record the bird songs.
By watching the app on my iPad then hearing a bird noise the app immediately flags its bird ID.
Now I know what birds make which sound.
Nice.

I wonder whether you can also use that app in Europe.
I have my app also linked to a Cornel bird database of the US SouthWest.
For easy visual bird identification.

I think that Merlin was recently updated for world wide use.

Merlin lets you easily identify almost every bird species across the world

From casual bird buddies to ornithology obsessives, you can now trek to far flung corners of the globe and identify any feathered friend you find – as long as you have a smartphone.

newatlas.com

 

[Knorp]

Yes, it seems most parts of the world are covered. So I'll give it a try too.
And who knows someday it will recognise the elusive dodo as well ...

 

[k-hawinkler]

Merlin lets me know about our backyard birds that have not broken cover and are hiding somewhere In a bush or tree. Last evening House Finches were the most active vocalizing.

 

[k-hawinkler]

In this animation of 30 frames I have slowed down the last 8 by a factor of 3.

A1 + FE 400/2.8 GM.

 

[k-hawinkler]

90 Frames at full speed

A1 + FE 400/2.8 GM.

 

[Darin Marcus]

Merlin lets me know about our backyard birds that have not broken cover and are hiding somewhere In a bush or tree. Last evening House Finches were the most active vocalizing.

This reminds me of the movie The Big Year, which also has a nice connection to photography.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Curve-billed Thrasher

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter @ 560 mm, f/4, 1/2000 s, ISO 1250.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Curve-billed Thrashers digging for food!

Sony ILCE-1 + FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter @ 560 mm, f/4, 1/2000 s, ISO 2000.

 

[k-hawinkler]

 

[k-hawinkler]