After spending a day in Inchon South Korea, we flew into Vladivostok Russia. We had great guides the Explore Primorye Tour Company run by Rada Sumach and Sergey Abarok and we even had with us ornithologist, Tatiana Svatko. One of our stops was to Sergey grandmother's home north of Valdivostok where we saw this Eurasian Nuthatch. The entire time except for the last day it was rainy and foggy. I usually try to keep the ISO on the D7200 below 640 because of the noise but with the foggy conditions I had to increase it and in this photo I used ISO1250 and a shutter speed a little lower than I like of 1/800s with a wide open f/4.0.
Featured Photo 50: Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea): Babushka Visit, Primorskiy kraj, Russia
EQ: D7200, 500mm f/4.0 Taken: 6-21-2017 at 11:25
Settings: 750mm (35mm eqiv), 1/800s, f/4.0, ISO1250, 1/3EV Conditions: Foggy
Long-tailed Rosefinch (Uragus sibiricus), Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus), Chestnut-eared Bunting (Emberiza fucata)
Oriental Fire-bellied Toad (Bombina orientalis), Tikhoye, Primorskiy kraj, Russia
EQ: D7200, 500mm f/4.0 Taken: 6-18-2017 at 11:27
Settings: 750mm, 1/1000s, f/5.0, ISO800, 1/3EV Conditions: Raining
I came across this Oriental Fire-bellied Toad along train track near Tikhoye along with a Turtle Dove and a Black-faced Buntings.
Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis), Black-faced Bunting (Emberiza spodocephala)
Black-browed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps), Utinoye Lake, Primorskiy kraj, Russia
EQ: D7200, 500mm f/4.0 Taken: 6-18-2017 at 14:37
Settings: 750mm, 1/1000s, f/7.1, ISO320, 1/3EV Conditions: Foggy
At Utinoye Lake, we found numerous warblers including Black-browed Reed Warblers, Marsh Tits, Chestnut-eared Bunting, Red-rumped Swallows, and Oriental Reed Warblers to name a few.
Black-browed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps), Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)
Meadow Cranesbill (Geranium pratense), Fire Pink (Silene virginica)
There was also numerous wild flowers in bloom and the Meadow Cranesbill and Fire Pink where some of my favorites. After having lunch at the lake we continued down highway A189 into the Zemlya Leoparda National Park and on the way we made a few stops where we saw Azure-winged Magpie, Oriental Greenfinch, a fly over of an Oriental Honey-buzzard, and Yellow-throated Buntings.
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus), Zanadvorovka area, Primorskiy kraj, Russia
EQ: D7200, 500mm f/4.0 Taken: 6-18-2017 at 16:31
Settings: 750mm, 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO320, 1/3EV Conditions: Foggy
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica), Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus), Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans)
White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), Babushka Visit, Primorskiy kraj, Russia
EQ: D7200, 500mm f/4.0 Taken: 6-21-2017 at 10:53
Settings: 750mm, 1/800s, f/4.0, ISO800, 1/3EV Conditions: Foggy
Some other birds we saw at our Babushka Visit were White-backed Woodpeckers, Tits including a Japanese Tit, and Eurasian Magpies.
Eurasian Magpie, immature (Pica pica)
Japanese Tit (Parus minor)
Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius), Bukhta Steklyannaya (Glass Beach),
Primorskiy kraj, Russia
EQ: D7200, 500mm f/4.0 Taken: 6-21-2017 at 13:29
Settings: 750mm, 1/1600s, f/4.5, ISO1250, 1/3EV Conditions: Foggy
We stopped at Glass Beach where the beach is covered with polished glass that was most likely from a nearby landfill. A pleasant surprise was finding a pair of Blue Rock Thrush that were busy feeding their young. There was also Pacific Swifts flying over us and as we were leaving we saw a Daurian Redstart, which was in a dark part of the canopy.
Pacific Swift (Apus pacificus)
Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius)
At the end of my 6th day in East Asia I had seen and heard 71 new species and this was just the start of the adventure.
Russian Solider Stands Guard at Vladivostok WWII Memorial
Your comments are welcomed and if you have any questions about the photo or any other leave me a message.
Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus)