Shoebill in Uganda

Shoebill, Balaeniceps rex, Single bird on grass, Uganda, August 2018.  Olympus Em1 Mk2. 300mm f4 lens. 1/1600th at f5.6. 400 iso.

We hired a Toyota Rav 4 in Uganda and did a self drive in three of their National Parks. Murchinson Falls was by far the best, but all of them were exciting because they are much wilder than the parks we have visited in South Africa and Namibia. Krugger and Etoshia National Parks are enjoyable, but the infrastructure so good that they can feel like a giant version of Longleat Safari Park.

In Uganda the tracks are not well maintained, there is little in the way of sign posting and no fence around the camp sites.

We ignored Mountain gorillas at 600 usd per person per day, but Shoebill was a must and needs a boat trip. We did this from Enttebe going out onto Lake Victoria at Mabamba swamp. I now have another favourite bird!

We were robbed twice, passport, £1000 cash, camera lens and an Iphone amongst others things. The passport was the worst. Time consuming multiple trips to the embassy. The second time the thief got nothing as my wife fought him off while I bravely photographed him from a distance. Do you know this man?

Little owl in flight

I am always looking for the opportunity to use Pro capture. It is my favourite feature of this camera. I manually prefocused in front of the post the bird was sitting on and used 60 fps. So long as the bird flies in the right direction it is easy. One frame is bound to be sharp.

Little owl, Athene noctua, single bird in flight, Hungary, July 2018. Olympus Em1 MK2. 300mm f4. 1/4000th at f5.6. 3200 iso. Pro capture at 60 fps manually focused in front of the post.

Stock dove in flight

I spent a lot of time on stock doves and am disappointed that my best image of a bird taking off was an immature one. In fact for the last few days most of the birds have been young ones and the pheasants and partridges also visiting have been moulting and tatty. Not my favourite time of year for photographing birds.

Stock dove, Columba oenas, single juvenile in flight, Warwickshire, July 2018. Olympus Em1 Mk2. 300mm f4 lens. 1/8000th at f4. 800 iso using Pro-capture at 18 fps.