So another trip to Beamish wild and another attempt to capture birds of prey. Ideally in flight but some of them are such fantastic creatures that you have to take shots as they bask in their glory. For that I’d say check out the Sea Eagle. Capturing any bird in flight is a task. I have such admiration for those who seem to do this effortlessly. In general I am shooting on continuous focus and spot. The trouble usually seems to be that as they move so quick, the camera struggles to keep up. I have also tried to manually focus on one spot and shoot in burst mode in the hope that as the bird passes through my spot I will capture it. Other struggles are things like wanting to shoot with an aperture of around f/5.6 or less to blur out the background but that given even less room for error. So, I’ve tried shooting at around f/11 for the increased depth. It’s an ongoing battle but I’m slowly getting there!
Here are my picks from the visit (by the way, if you are from the north east I’d really suggest visiting Beamish Wild if you havent. It’s a great day out, especially for kids where they can interact with the birds and learn about them).
Stellar Sea Eagle
Snowy Owl
Stellar Sea Eagle
Short Eared Owl
White Backed Vulture
Common Buzzard
My Eyes Open 
Beautiful shots, really great. I personally love photographs of raptors I find them very intriguing.
Great shots 😀 my friend works there as a falconer, I must go and visit! Your Short-eared owl, though, is an Eagle Owl! And the Buzzard is a Red Kite 🙂 LOVE the shots of the Sea Eagle, what a magnificient bird!
Hi, many thanks for the comment, much appreciated!
Yes, the Sea Eagle is a wonderful bird. I could stand and watch him for hours.
It’s funny you mention the bird breeds. On Flickr, on my shot of the Owl I actually say I couldnt decided between an Eagle owl or Short Eared. It’s ears certainly have the spike on the Eagle Owl so I was torn.
The Buzzard though, what me me think that it wasnt a red kite was it’s tail? Dont Red Kites have a much more forked tail?
I find it very interesting though. As my interest in photographing these grows, as does my interest in the different breeds. I find it’s not just wanting to capture the bird, but learn about it also. All good!
Great that this spiked your interest in birds of prey, they are amazing animals! I volunteer at our local bird of prey centre, so there’s a good few shots over on my blog of various feathered friends.
Looking at the kite, you’re right about the forked tail, but looking at the colouring, it’s definitely a red kite, with that almost silver head. Buzzards have white underneath the wings, this guy doesn’t 🙂
Ah right, thanks again for the heads up! I’ll be going to the centre a fair few times now so eventually all these little tips will sink in!