This afternoon i was spending almost two hour observing "my" crane family. For 1 hour and 45 min I only saw the parent birds and the first chicken (No 1) hatched yesterday. Both parents acted somewhat different compared to the day before. They were more "nervous" than earlier and the male came back to the nesting swamp much more frequently.Suddenly I saw another chicken, somewhat smaller than No 1, and he/she didn't move much, and when moving the movements were slow compared to the elder sibling. I felt very happy and managed to get some photos and a couple of minutes of video before the male parent "forced" them close together and laid down on them.My equipment today was: Canon EOS 1DC with Canon EF 200-400 mm/4 L with 1.4x extender (for stills)Canon EOS 7D MkII with Tamron SP 150-600 mm/5-6.3 DI VC USD (for video 1920 x 1080p) recorded on an Atomos SHOGUN recorder.Light conditions were difficult for filming with heavy cloud frequently passing by covering the sun causing the EV to differ 2-3 steps. That's a problem with filming in Manual mode. Focusing was also conducted in manual mode and the peeking function of the Shogun is very helpful since the DOP is very narrow. When testing to shot some stills with EOS 7D MkII and the Tamron lens in AF-mode the combination is very fast and reliable. To that you have the 10 f/s frame rate and a big buffer and fast processors, making this combination an excellent tool for wildlife shooting. I'm very satisfied -only lack a 4K video possibility!Video from the last days will eventually be published on Vimeo ( I will post links!)It's very hard to get the young chicken to appear "sharp" in a photo. This is possibly due to the fact that they don't yet have normal feathers, but more like a very dens and thick "fur". This is probably very heat conserving and water "resistant". In a photo of a young chicken close to an adult crane the adults feathers look sharp while the chicken is not looking so sharp.Unfortunately I was not the only one to take interest in these birds. About a week after hatching the two chicken, one after the other disappeared. This was probably the due to the fox family with four cubs having their lair not far from the cranes.Such a pity, but I can only hope that the cranes come back next spring.
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldManChicken No 1 showed himself a lot today in spite of being just 1 day old.Canon EF 200-400 mm/4 L
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane chicken No 1
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Born May 4th Canon EF 200-400 mm Camera:Canon EOS-1D CISO Speed:400Exposure:1/1250 secAperture:f / 7.1Focal Length:560 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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Canon EF 200-400 mm/4 L
Chicken No 1 made several attempts to climb his mothers wing, but none of them succeeded. His/hers own wings are still too small.Canon EF 200-400 mm/4 L
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane mother with chicken No 1
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Trying to climb mothers wing but constantly fail and fall off. EF 200-400 mm Camera:Canon EOS-1D CISO Speed:400Exposure:1/640 secAperture:f / 9.0Focal Length:560 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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Tamron 150-600 mm/5-6.3
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane mother with chicken No 1
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Tamron 150-600 mm Camera:Canon EOS 7D Mark IIISO Speed:400Exposure:1/1000 secAperture:f / 8.0Focal Length:600 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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Tamron 150-600 mm/5-6.3
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane pair with chicken No 1
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Tamron 150-600 mm Camera:Canon EOS 7D Mark IIISO Speed:400Exposure:1/1000 secAperture:f / 8.0Focal Length:600 mmFlash:Did not Fire Tags: CRANE
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Proud father taking off from the nesting swamp to go feeding.Canon EF 200-400 mm/4 L
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane male flying away for feeding
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Canon EF 200-400 mm Camera:Canon EOS-1D CISO Speed:400Exposure:1/800 secAperture:f / 7.1Focal Length:560 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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Proud father taking off from the nesting swamp to go feeding. Gear now fully retracted.Canon EF 200-400 mm/4 L
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane male flying away for feeding
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Canon EF 200-400 mm Camera:Canon EOS-1D CISO Speed:400Exposure:1/800 secAperture:f / 7.1Focal Length:560 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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Finally, after 105 min the newly hatched sibling shewed himself/herself (to the left).Tamron 150-600 mm/5-6.3
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crain pair with both chicken
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:26 PM
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Tamron 150-600 mm Camera:Canon EOS 7D Mark IIISO Speed:400Exposure:1/1000 secAperture:f / 8.0Focal Length:600 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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Tamron 150-600 mm/5-6.3
Aug 16, 2015Aug 16, 2015TheOldMan
Crane pair with their two chicken
Capture Date: May 6, 2015 02:27 PM
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Tamron 150-600 mm. The second chicken was probably hatched while I was observing. Camera:Canon EOS 7D Mark IIISO Speed:400Exposure:1/1000 secAperture:f / 8.0Focal Length:600 mmFlash:Did not Fire
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