Oostvaardersplassen, birding with new firmware, Fujifilm X-T3 and 100-400mm
Full screen gallery below
I’ll keep this one short. After a few weeks not really taking any photographs I needed to go outside and shoot. My plan was to go early into the woods, specifically to Spleuderbos as I did here, but the lack of mist and the promise of a clear beautiful day I decided to go birding at the Oostvaardersplassen.
The added bonus this day was that Fujifilm released the new firmware version 4.00 earlier that week. So a good opportunity with good light, good weather to go and shoot some birds. And good light and weather it was. It started out cold with clear blue skies and a lovelly winter sun to light up all the forest colours in the Oostvaardersplassen nature area. Obviously these were not forest colours as its mainly wetlands and reeds, but the sun made for a very subtle yellow and orange glow on everything. I loved it! Good to be back and enjoying the Fujifilm X-T3 and the Fujinon 100-400mm.
Lets discuss the firmware first. In my mind it’s not suddenly a completely different camera, it was great, it’s still great and yes it also has some shortcomings. In general shooting conditions I found that the AF-C is more “sticky” and precise. I have less out of focus shots, or lets say more tack sharp shots. What did surprise me was that the focus tracking, which I used mainly for fast focus and recompose, worked great! Really great! With photos that ended up sharp, where as before they were just a tad out to focus/unsharp. So great! The tracking itself I barely tested, but will the next time!
The hike started out quite mellow, not much to see, but a good way to start of the morning. The first small birds were showing themselves and after a few kilometers the larger birds of prey were also present. This time I was overwhelmed with the many robins that were sitting in the sun. I haven’t seen that many, ever!
Continuing my hike, I missed, but my friend Marnix (see website here), saw a fox sitting and observing some geese in the reeds. I guess the fox was thinking if it would be worth catching one or just let it pass as there were quite a few geese there. Maybe it had a relaxing morning as well and the fox didn’t want to end up in a fight with several geese. All in all a nice site to behold.
We took our route further to two observation huts, where at one we saw a bald eagle in the distance and heard of an osprey being at the other hut. Sadly I missed the osprey, really wanted to capture that one, but the bonus was that at the time I was there a peregrine falcon was present! yes!
So in the end a lovely day with some really nice shots and just to be out and enjoy the weather, nature and a good hike was all I needed. Couple that with photography and some great shots, even beter! Ow, and almost forgot, the konik horses were also present, accompanied by “hairdresser” birds ;-)
For now the photos! And don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. All photos are taken with the Fujifilm X-T3 and the Fujinon 100-400mm. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
