A day at Bolsa Chica with the 1D Mark IV and 500mm f4

[gatorbill-75]

These are from a couple of weekends back, all shot with the 1D Mark IV using the 500mm f/4L IS lens sometimes using the 2xTC. It was a great day with a wide variety of birds including a 30 minute fishing exhibition put on by the Reddish Egret during which time he caught about a dozen fish. The Reddish Egret's fishing technique is an amazing sight to see as he chases the fish, jumps at the fish, and shades the water from the sun with his wings outstretched while he intently looks for his prey.

1. Juvenile Male Red-breasted Merganser

2. Great Blue Heron

3. Red-tailed Hawk

4. Male Green-winged Teal

5. Northern Harrier

6. Snowy Egret

7. Female Belted Kingfisher

8. Female Belted Kingfisher flipping a fish

9. Great Horned Owl

10. Reddish Egret with fish #1

11. Reddish Egret with fish #2

12. Reddish Egret fishing #1

13. Reddish Egret fishing #2

14. Reddish Egret fishing #3

All of the above samples images are available at the following Zenfolio gallery:
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography | Canon 1D Mark IV

The first Reddish Egret fishing 28 shot sequence is of a single burst and the bird was relatively close, and so these are only cropped down to about 5 Mpixels and the frame was mostly filled. These photos are available in the following Zenfolio gallery:
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography | Reddish Egret Fishing #1

The second Reddish Egret fishing 26 shot sequence is also a single burst but the bird was further out and so these were cropped to around 3 Megapixels but as can be seen the frame is not as nicely filled as in the first sequence. These photos are available in the following Zenfolio gallery:
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography | Reddish Egret Fishing #2

The third Reddish Egret fishing 33 shot sequence is a collection of my favorite shots of the bird fishing that day. These photos show him chasing the fish, jumping on the fish, and stalking the fish with his outstretched wings sun shading technique. These are available in the following Zenfolio gallery:
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography | Reddish Egret Fishing #3

The entire set of photos from that day (minus the Reddish Egret fishing sequences) is located in the following Zenfolio gallery:
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography | Latest Wild Birds

Comments and suggestions for improvement are always welcome,
gatorbill-75
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography
Bill Fleites's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

 

[FattyMcJ]

Amazing shots! I keep scrolling up and down with my jaw hanging. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Mesoam]

crisp shots, love the snowy egret

 

[USM IS]

Very, very good capture's. I see only fantastic images......Mike

 

[EricD]

Very nice selection!! Love that Harrier shot!

Tight work!

 

[gatorbill-75]

I had a correction on the Merganser that makes it a juvenile male and not a female.

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments.

gatorbill
Zenfolio | Bill Fleites Photography
Bill Fleites's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

 

[chammer]

very nice shots, but am especially diggin the last few of the egret.