The Great Blue Herons and the Eagle

[Aloicious]

I was out at the wildlife refuge today, got some okay shots, I'll post a few others in another thread to keep from having TOO many images in one...

I got an interesting series between an eagle theif and a group of great blue herons...these are all severe crops just before dusk, so ISO is cranked up a bit too much also, so the IQ isn't what I'd like, but I thought I'd share 'em since it was an interesting interaction between them.

One of the herons caught a nice big fish and brought it back to the group:

Mr. Eagle flys by and spots the nice fresh fish on the ice surface:

He decides that fish would make a nice dinner so he flips a 180 and heads back...

The Herons see hom coming and start yelling...

but he just swings in and picks up the fish and carries it WAY out to the other eagles sitting on the ice..

but...

I MISSED FOCUS $@$%#&$%^!%@#$!!!!

heheh oh well...it was still pretty comical to watch, the herons got all pissed off and then sat around and sulked after the eagle left...

 

[coastalconn]

Very cool sequence! I would have been happier than a, lets just say I would have been insanely psyched to see that in real life!

 

[Aloicious]

it was a blast to watch. I made a separate thread for the other birds I saw while I was there, but this whole interaction was really interesting.

I've been toying around with some settings trying to learn the lens and wildlife setup better...some worked better than others, but I got my first owl, first heron, and these were my first eagle shots, all on the same visit, and I was only there for maybe 1.5 hours, total...

 

[WesternGuy]

Avian photojournalism!! - nice capture of this interaction. I can just imagine the GBHs saying - "are you going to stop him?" - who me? no, I'm not getting in is way...:mrgreen:

WesternGuy

 

[sm4him]

That reminds me of this commercial:



Heron 1: "I'm gonna stand up to that big bad eagle!"
Heron 2: "no you're not."
Heron 1: "I know."


Awesome photographic story there! THIS is why I keep going out and sitting in the same spot, hour after hour after hour...because every great once in a while, we get to see something like this, and then we're hooked.

As far as missing focus on the last shot: One thing I have to constantly remind myself when I "miss the shot." (which happens with incredible frequency!)--I GOT TO SEE THAT! Sometimes I, and photographers in general, get so caught up in "getting the shot" that we kinda forget to experience the moment. Not many people get to see an interaction like that!

 

[Aloicious]

hahah...thats totally how it was.

In fact I bet I missed focus on the last one becase I was having too much fun watching it...I'm not too bummed about it. there were probably 4-5 other photographers and birdwatchers there with me watching it and laughing about it. one birdwatcher had her kid there (probably 7 or 8 years old) and he was super excited about seeing it.

 

[Derrel]

To the victor goes the spoils...

 

[Mully]

#5 is very cool !! like the whole set