A few days ago I said goodbye to my old Canon 7D mk1. My followers know how much I have been complaining about it in recent months – it certainly took me far too much time to scrap it and get a new camera. I contemplated making a big move to a mirrorless Olympus system, but at the moment I have no mental capacity for such big moves.
So I went for a rather uninspiring upgrade, to Canon 7D mk2. Since I got it I have been out twice but pretty briefly, and without time for proper photo sessions to get to know all its new features. Yesterday I posted some photos from the southern Arava that I think are pretty good. I was very pleased with the focusing system and with the shutter release speed. Makes shooting birds in flight much more efficient – my favourite type of photography.
On Wednesday I had a meeting in Ma’agan Michael towards the construction of a new bird park there. Conveniently, we had the meeting on an observation tower, at eye level with lots of passing birds. It was my first trial of the camera, and I was unfamiliar with all the buttons yet. My boss was rightfully annoyed that rather than contributing scientific wisdom to the meeting I fired off photos at every passing bird, like a child with a new toy.
Well actually that’s exactly what I am… Luckily my boss knows me well enough to forgive me for these minor incidents (I hope). Here’s the first batch:
Asian Black-winged Kite
Pied Kingfisher
White-winged Tern – still in full summer plumage
During this work visit we drove around the proposed bird park, and actually saw tons of birds.
Yoav Perlman
I have been birding since the age of 9, and from the age of 15 I started working professionally in birding. I have been working for the Israeli Ornithological Center since 1998. I was a member of the Israeli rarities committee between 2001 - 2007. I have an MSc in Ecology from the Ben Gurion University. I did my research on the ecology of Nubian Nightjars in Israel, and spent hundreds of nights with these fascinating birds. I lead tours in Israel, and especially focus on Nubian Nightjars obviously. I traveled and birded Asia extensively, and also Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and North America. I am married to my lovely wife Adva and father to two sons - Uri and Noam, and one daughter - Libby. Currently I live in Norwich, where I am starting a PhD project at UEA.
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