UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers at DVinfo.net

Mick Jenner · February 22nd, 2011, 10:14 AM

Hi all,
Not quite what I had in mind when I first thought about the theme, but a combination of bad light and rain limited when and what I could film. Managed three bright days!
Pagham Harbour located on the south coast of the UK (not far from Portsmouth for the information of you football/soccer fans out there) and is the the home to many winter migrants including Brent Geese. These geese fly thousands of miles from the Russian Tundra to over winter in the harbour and on the adjacent farmland ,much to the local farmers annoyance as the comsume vast amounts of crops, but can't be shoot as they are protected.
As the tide rises they fly from the harbour to the fields on mass, with as many as two thousand or more in the air at any one time, returning later as the tide receeds to again feed on the exposed the mud flats.

I will let the film explain

Trond Saetre · February 22nd, 2011, 01:26 PM

Hi Mick,

That was a huge flock of birds!
I like the story you tell. Now I can say I learned something new today.

Not the easiest task in the world to film birds as they move so fast, and your panning/tilting is sometimes a little rough. But that's just a detail.

Well done!

Mick Jenner · February 23rd, 2011, 06:27 AM

Hi Trond,

Thanks for watching pleased you enjoyed it and learnt something. Unfortunately for some reason vimeo encoding does tend to make some of my panning and follow footage look more choppy and stuttery than the original. I am exerimenting with a new encoding programme at the moment to try and eliminate this. As you say filming fast flying birds is difficult, especially if using a long lens with a narrow field of view, l do have a lot of unusable footage!!

Mick

Mike Sims · February 23rd, 2011, 12:48 PM

Hey Mick. We get these birds (different subspecies) as rare winter visitors in Texas. I only get to see them in ones and twos. What a pleasure to see a proper flock! Interestingly, we call them Brant (after genus Branta). I think it must be less a goosander/merganser and more a colour/color thing! I really like the way you made a story of the birdwatcher looking for the birds, finding them, and then going home. Well done.

Mick Jenner · February 23rd, 2011, 01:07 PM

Hi Mike,

Thanks for watching and your comments.

Brants or Black Brants as they are known over here are rare vagarant visitors from E Siberia, Alaska and NW Canada. As you say it is down to slight clour differences but there are claims that they are seperate species.

Mick

Catherine Russell · February 23rd, 2011, 02:39 PM

Hi Mick:

You are right, what a sight to behold! I have never personally experienced birds of any kind in these numbers except vicariously through UWOL films. Thanks for the treat. I liked how the music came in with the geese. I could have stayed the entire 3 minutes surrounded by this flock in flight and awed by their motion patterns in the air.

Well done Mick! It's nice to see you becoming a regular UWOL crew :)

Cat

Dale Guthormsen · February 23rd, 2011, 08:48 PM

Mick,

I never tire of watching geese, I watching them wiffle in when they are comfortable, what a sight.

I liked how you started with the small numbers and built to the full flock, weel conceived and exacuted. Perhaps some closer up type shots of the mass but I realize one can not always get that kind of shot!!

I very much enjoyed your piece!

February 22nd, 2011, 10:14 AM	#1
Mick Jenner Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: West Sussex England Posts: 843	UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers Hi all, Not quite what I had in mind when I first thought about the theme, but a combination of bad light and rain limited when and what I could film. Managed three bright days! Pagham Harbour located on the south coast of the UK (not far from Portsmouth for the information of you football/soccer fans out there) and is the the home to many winter migrants including Brent Geese. These geese fly thousands of miles from the Russian Tundra to over winter in the harbour and on the adjacent farmland ,much to the local farmers annoyance as the comsume vast amounts of crops, but can't be shoot as they are protected. As the tide rises they fly from the harbour to the fields on mass, with as many as two thousand or more in the air at any one time, returning later as the tide receeds to again feed on the exposed the mud flats. I will let the film explain uwol 19 Long Distance Travellers on Vimeo Last edited by Mick Jenner; February 22nd, 2011 at 12:57 PM. Reason: spelling

February 23rd, 2011, 06:27 AM	#3
Mick Jenner Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: West Sussex England Posts: 843	Re: UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers Hi Trond, Thanks for watching pleased you enjoyed it and learnt something. Unfortunately for some reason vimeo encoding does tend to make some of my panning and follow footage look more choppy and stuttery than the original. I am exerimenting with a new encoding programme at the moment to try and eliminate this. As you say filming fast flying birds is difficult, especially if using a long lens with a narrow field of view, l do have a lot of unusable footage!! Mick

February 23rd, 2011, 12:48 PM	#4
Mike Sims Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 880	Re: UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers Hey Mick. We get these birds (different subspecies) as rare winter visitors in Texas. I only get to see them in ones and twos. What a pleasure to see a proper flock! Interestingly, we call them Brant (after genus Branta). I think it must be less a goosander/merganser and more a colour/color thing! I really like the way you made a story of the birdwatcher looking for the birds, finding them, and then going home. Well done.

February 23rd, 2011, 01:07 PM	#5
Mick Jenner Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: West Sussex England Posts: 843	Re: UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers Hi Mike, Thanks for watching and your comments. Brants or Black Brants as they are known over here are rare vagarant visitors from E Siberia, Alaska and NW Canada. As you say it is down to slight clour differences but there are claims that they are seperate species. Mick

February 23rd, 2011, 02:39 PM	#6
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Re: UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers Hi Mick: You are right, what a sight to behold! I have never personally experienced birds of any kind in these numbers except vicariously through UWOL films. Thanks for the treat. I liked how the music came in with the geese. I could have stayed the entire 3 minutes surrounded by this flock in flight and awed by their motion patterns in the air. Well done Mick! It's nice to see you becoming a regular UWOL crew :) Cat

February 22nd, 2011, 01:26 PM	#2
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Hi Mick, That was a huge flock of birds! I like the story you tell. Now I can say I learned something new today. Not the easiest task in the world to film birds as they move so fast, and your panning/tilting is sometimes a little rough. But that's just a detail. Well done!

February 23rd, 2011, 08:48 PM	#7
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Re: UWOL 19 Long Distance Travellers Mick, I never tire of watching geese, I watching them wiffle in when they are comfortable, what a sight. I liked how you started with the small numbers and built to the full flock, weel conceived and exacuted. Perhaps some closer up type shots of the mass but I realize one can not always get that kind of shot!! I very much enjoyed your piece! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen