Safari !!

Soon I will be off to East Africa for a photo safari -

I have taken out and polished my long lenses, the 200-400 mm f/4 heavy weight, the newly acquired and much preferred lightweight 300mm f/4 and the more cumbersome because of its extended tubus 200-500 mm f/5.6. 
What else can I do to prepare? 
How can I practise for shooting the kind of action I am hoping to see? Cheetah chases, lion families playing with their cubs, leopards hidden deep in the undergrowth, vultures circling in the air ... all these situations require a very good autofocus technique, with 3D-tracking, often in low light in the early hours around sunrise. And good nerves in the middle of the action when you might be watching a lion family munch on a wildebeest carcass and you try to focus on the bloody noses while stealthily a jackal or a hungry hyena enter the picture from the side .. and one of the lion jumps up so fast and chases them away, that you are so stunned that you forget to press the shutter release to get the action on your camera ... 

One spends so much money on a few days of African safari, one might as well take it seriously and practise shooting technique before. In the tented camps there is no time - and often no wifi or even electricity to study handbooks and download manuals.
But where could I practise this kind of wildlife photography? Not in a zoo, there is too little action and zoo animals rarely have the space to move freely. 

I decided on a "garden bird safari": most birds are small and difficult to track, they move irregularly, they live in trees hidden by leaves and branches, where autofocus has a hard time. I started on the farm where my horses are stabled - I knew of a kestrel living there that I wanted to track, see if I could find it, stir it up and take pictures.  

He seemed to be waiting for me  - "what does she want from me?"
D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/2500 sec - ISO800

Kestrel  (Falco tinnunculus) in "Rüttelflug" (stationary flight) searching for mice
D500 - 200-500 mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 -  1/400sec -  ISO 400

... would be better with his head visible ... 

D500 - 200-500 mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/2500 sec - ISO 560

off you go ....

D500 - 200-500 mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/2500 sec - ISO 560

a swallow picking up mud for her nest under the roof

D500 - 300mm - f 4 - 1/1000 sec - ISO 180

 ok, quite sedentary, but beautiful colours and not often seen : a Goldfinch or Stieglitz (Carduelis carduelis)
D500 - 300mm - f 4 - 1/2000 sec - ISO 140

a common sparrow (Passer domesticus) on a wavy rape blossom 

D500 - 300mm - f 4 - 1/2500 sec - ISO 160

ein Rotschwanz (Phoenicurus)

D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/2500 - ISO1600

I found quite a few subjects in my own garden as well

a Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) 
D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/1600 sec - ISO3200 

a young blue tit not yet blue on its head 
D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/320 sec - ISO220

I knew Blue Tits and Coal Tits, but what is this living in our cedar? A tiny bird, hopping around like a mini tit in the dark of the tree and hard to focus. And such a long tail: it must be a Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)!
D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/4000 - ISO5600

 Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) 

D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/800 sec - ISO1800

Apparently he lives in a cozy dry space under our roof! 

D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/1600 sec - ISO10.000

European Jay or Eichelhäher (Garrulus glandarius)
D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/2000 sec - ISO360

D500 - 300mm - f 4 - 1/4000 sec - ISO125

We had more cohabitants this spring: this pair of Spotted Flycatchers or Grauschnäpper (Muscicapa striata) built their nest on our terrace in June. 

D500 - 300 mm - f 4 - 1/2500 sec - ISO2200

D500 - 300 mm - f 4 - 1/2500 sec - ISO2500

D500 - 300 mm - f 4 - 1/4000 sec - ISO2500


The next picture is uncropped and taken with a 2fold converter on the 300 mm lens: it is quite ok - although I don't like converters and cropping is often preferable. But on the D500 the 300mm lens plus converter combo is equivalent to 900 mm at f/8 - easily handheld is that quite unbeatable, if there is enough light and the background not too crowded. 

D500 - 300 mm f/4 lens - 600 mm (2xconverter) -  f 8 - 1/400 sec - ISO900

a nuthatch or Kleiber (Sitta europaea)

D500 - 300 mm - f 4 - 1/200 - ISO640

and again, climbing a birch tree head downwards

D500 - 200-400mm - 400 mm - f 4 - 1/1250 sec - ISO400

a  female blackbird (Turdus merula)

D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/400 sec - ISO4000

She is busy...
D500 - 200-500mm - f 5.6 - 1/1600 sec - ISO2000

... while he is singing. 

D500 - 300mm - f 4 - 1/200 sec - ISO450

A pair of Buzzards live in the neighbourhood: 

D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/3200 sec - ISO140

They often have aerial fights with crows - these are so fast and happen so suddenly that I never manage to get a picture. Here, the crow just attacked the buzzard and is leaving a bit dishevelled. Buzzards are so large and so elegant, quiet and calm flyers, they don't seem to be bothered too much. 

D500 - 200-500mm - 360 mm - f 5.6 - 1/5000 sec - ISO400

D810 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 8 - 1/800 sec - ISO280 
3D-tracking is pretty good here - despite the rather distracting city background with similar colours, the sea gull is in focus. 

And who is this? I did not expect cats here - large or small!  

D500 - 200-500mm - 500 mm - f 5.6 - 1/200 - ISO320

We'll see what I bring from Africa.