Forest birds

While I was photographing squirrels in Flatanger, we also got visited by a group of small forest birds. One of them was the Eurasian Jay. Just as with the squirrels, it was hard to capture them in the darkness, so it was only when they were sitting still I had any chance of getting of a shot…

Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Jay
Eurasjon Jay eating
Eurasian Jay eating
Sparrows (?)
Sparrows (?)

I also saw a lot of sparrows (I think) perching on a nearby branch. It was difficult to get them all pin sharp, as they were moving around a lot. Additionally, the forest darkness meant that I had to use a large aperture, leading to a small depth of field…

Also, check out my friend Jon’s photos from the same trip

Squirrels in the forest

Last fall I was on a trip to Flatanger to photograph sea gulls and white tail eagles. We also spent some time in the forest to photograph small animals such as squirrels.

A squirrel in the forest
A squirrel in the forest

It was very dark, and difficult to get focus and exposure right. It was especially difficult to capture them when they where jumping, but I managed to get one or two decent shots.

Jumping
Jumping

It was a continuous test of reflexes and trigger skills…

 

Ready to jump
Ready to jump
Jumping
Jumping

As you can see, it was difficult to get the moving squirrels pin sharp, since they were moving so fast and the forest was very dark… Sometimes I managed to follow the squirrel and get a blurry background, but mostly it was a miss. The photos are mostly taken at ISO 3200 (it does say something of ISO improvements over the past years. Remember the ISO 3200 films of the old days?)

It was easier to follow them on the ground as they were digging to hide their catch.

Saving for the winter
Saving for the winter

I also shot some forest bird life, but that is a topic for another post…