Reddish Egret

[Hunter58]

These clowns of the Heron/Egret family are my favorite to watch.

I blew a flight shot by clipping half the legs so I made it a profile shot.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Ditto my comment in your pelican thread...wow, what clarity and detail!
Nice work,
Nancy

 

[weepete]

Brilliant shots mate. I've seen loads of white egrets on my holidays to the states but not one of these before. I really like the colouration and the feathers on its their head and neck.

 

[WesternGuy]

Hunter, these are very nice. On my last visit to Merritt Island, I watched one of these guys run around looking for who knows what. It was a real, random walk, so you are right, they really are clowns.

WesternGuy

 

[dannylightning]

again, very nice shots. I need to check out a few new places around the area and see if I can find some different types of birds to shoot.

 

[sm4him]

Terrific shots! Would love to see one of these around here. About as likely as seeing, say, American Avocets.

 

[MSnowy]

Very nice set!

 

[baturn]

Wonderful shots!

 

[Hunter58]

Brilliant shots mate. I've seen loads of white egrets on my holidays to the states but not one of these before. I really like the colouration and the feathers on its their head and neck.

We don't see these as often. I get maybe a few a year. They are pretty birds.

Hunter, these are very nice. On my last visit to Merritt Island, I watched one of these guys run around looking for who knows what. It was a real, random walk, so you are right, they really are clowns.

WesternGuy

When they put their wings up over their heads they create shade on the water so they can see the fish beneath the surface, it's a birdie circular polarizer. When they are running around what they are doing is following the little schools of fish.

Thanks everyone for the comments.

 

[Gary A.]

The bird is great, but the OOF background is a bit distracting. How long have you been shooting birds? You have remarkable consistency and I imagine patience.

 

[Hunter58]

The bird is great, but the OOF background is a bit distracting. How long have you been shooting birds? You have remarkable consistency and I imagine patience.

It's by design that I try to get the background out of focus as much as possible, that's pretty much standard for bird photography (single bird in the frame). The problem in this situation is the oyster beds were very close behind the bird. It probably could have gotten it a little better at f5.6 rather than f8. If there was nothing but water behind the bird the images would be much better. I agree they are a little distracting.

I've been back at shooting birds 3 years this month. Patience is not one of my best traits but I have learned to be more patient which has helped a lot. The other thing that helps is getting to know the birds behaviors and to be able to predict what they will (or should I say might) do. It's challenging but you do get better with experience. I only shot with a 300mm lens for a long time and I learned how to get close(r) to the birds, now I shoot at 500mm but getting close still helps.

 

[Gary A.]

Yep, every genre has a learning curve. Experience and consistency (keeper rate) go hand-in-hand. I really appreciate your stuff. Seeing your images makes me want to hit some wetlands, but unfortunately I gave my Bigma away.