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Egrets Hunting from my archives 11-17-2015
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Feb 24, 2019 18:16:29   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
This is more than a bit long winded so for those who wish to just see the pictures I will caption each. I will also post this in "BIF BOW".

Water birds from my Archives - 11-17-2015 at the Riverwalk Parkway in Riverside, CA. The post of the Green Heron was done done the same day. In fact the Heron hunting and the Heron flying south bound were done before and after I got #2 - #10. The essay had 12 images between the two egrets so I cut one of the landing flair to meet the 10 shot limit.

Egret #1 - trolling I have observed egrets do this several times. Fly low and trail their feet in the water to stir up the minnows. I even saw one twist that long neck back and snatch a minnow by its feet and continue trolling. Of course I wasn't looking through the camera when it happened.

Egret #2 - I saw this one trolling and then it landed on the far side of the pond looked around and lifted off making a circle half way around the pond only a couple of feet above the water and flared out for a landing right in front of where I was standing on the slope leading down to the water. The bird landed running in pursuit of some minnows. (there is a submerged concrete curb around the water plant area that the egret landed on) He continued left to right chasing and striking at the minnows with an occasional pause. I saw him get two minnows. Then the school of minnows reversed and went back between and around the egret's feet and the egret did the "twist" in only one step and chased them back to the left. A few missed strikes, a couple of pauses and he realized the school had split with some hiding under the plant roots by the shore where they couldn't be reached and most of them going into the deeper water on the pond side of the curb. So the egret took off, circled the pond and left north bound upstream under a footbridge. There are 10 pictures of this sequence (the whole thing was less than 1 minute and I tracked the bird all the way shooting several slow bursts of 3 to 10 shots each. A total of about 60-70 images and I culled them down to only about 15 or so before I made my selections and proceeded to the Post Processing of them. I had my 100-400L mk I at 300 mm, 1/800 @ f/8.0 and ISO on Auto (varied from 160 to 1600 in these shots since the bird went from shade to open shade with bright sky fill light to partial sunlight).
Since the moving subject was often only 90-95% focued and the white feathers so contrasty I processed to get a sort of magazine illustrator painting look on some of them with a touch of a soft dreamy look. The jump from green to blue water and cool to warm colors was a combination of the light (shade, reflected bright sky etc) and my mood when I did the PP work on each image.

Trolling for lunch
Trolling for lunch...
(Download)

Glide in to land, feet coming forward.
Glide in to land, feet coming forward....
(Download)

Wings flared and legs bent to absorb the landing a split second before touch down.
Wings flared and legs bent to absorb the landing a...
(Download)

Landed at a run, wings out for balance.
Landed at a run, wings out for balance....
(Download)

First strike got a minnow,wings still unfolded.
First strike got a minnow,wings still unfolded....
(Download)

Just seconds later wings folded and running in pursuit of the minnows again.
Just seconds later wings folded and running in pur...
(Download)

Three or four rapid strikes, one of which got a minnow.
Three or four rapid strikes, one of which got a mi...
(Download)

The school of minnows reversed and went between and around the Egret's feet so he did the "Twist" between stps and kept running in pursuit the other way.
The school of minnows reversed and went between an...
(Download)

Pursuit with a series of missed strikes going the other way.
Pursuit with a series of missed strikes going the ...
(Download)

The minnows split and went under plant roots or into deeper water so the pursuit became a take off run.
The minnows split and went under plant roots or in...
(Download)

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Feb 24, 2019 18:22:41   #
Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona
 
Really great series and I liked the narrative to go with the series


Reply
Feb 24, 2019 18:22:45   #
Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY
 
Nice set of shots.

Reply
 
 
Feb 24, 2019 18:33:15   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
Curmudgeon wrote:
Really great series and I liked the narrative to go with the series



Thank you very much.

Reply
Feb 24, 2019 18:33:58   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
Bmac wrote:
Nice set of shots.


Thank you.

Reply
Feb 24, 2019 18:50:46   #
Swamp-Cork Loc: Lanexa, Virginia
 
Beautiful series, Robert!

Reply
Feb 24, 2019 19:57:44   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
Swamp-Cork wrote:
Beautiful series, Robert!


Thanks a lot.

Reply
 
 
Feb 24, 2019 23:37:27   #
UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT
 
Great action series, Bob!

Reply
Feb 24, 2019 23:41:39   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
UTMike wrote:
Great action series, Bob!


Thanks a lot.

Reply
Feb 25, 2019 05:39:17   #
J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio
 
robertjerl wrote:
This is more than a bit long winded so for those who wish to just see the pictures I will caption each. I will also post this in "BIF BOW".

Water birds from my Archives - 11-17-2015 at the Riverwalk Parkway in Riverside, CA. The post of the Green Heron was done done the same day. In fact the Heron hunting and the Heron flying south bound were done before and after I got #2 - #10. The essay had 12 images between the two egrets so I cut one of the landing flair to meet the 10 shot limit.

Egret #1 - trolling I have observed egrets do this several times. Fly low and trail their feet in the water to stir up the minnows. I even saw one twist that long neck back and snatch a minnow by its feet and continue trolling. Of course I wasn't looking through the camera when it happened.

Egret #2 - I saw this one trolling and then it landed on the far side of the pond looked around and lifted off making a circle half way around the pond only a couple of feet above the water and flared out for a landing right in front of where I was standing on the slope leading down to the water. The bird landed running in pursuit of some minnows. (there is a submerged concrete curb around the water plant area that the egret landed on) He continued left to right chasing and striking at the minnows with an occasional pause. I saw him get two minnows. Then the school of minnows reversed and went back between and around the egret's feet and the egret did the "twist" in only one step and chased them back to the left. A few missed strikes, a couple of pauses and he realized the school had split with some hiding under the plant roots by the shore where they couldn't be reached and most of them going into the deeper water on the pond side of the curb. So the egret took off, circled the pond and left north bound upstream under a footbridge. There are 10 pictures of this sequence (the whole thing was less than 1 minute and I tracked the bird all the way shooting several slow bursts of 3 to 10 shots each. A total of about 60-70 images and I culled them down to only about 15 or so before I made my selections and proceeded to the Post Processing of them. I had my 100-400L mk I at 300 mm, 1/800 @ f/8.0 and ISO on Auto (varied from 160 to 1600 in these shots since the bird went from shade to open shade with bright sky fill light to partial sunlight).
Since the moving subject was often only 90-95% focued and the white feathers so contrasty I processed to get a sort of magazine illustrator painting look on some of them with a touch of a soft dreamy look. The jump from green to blue water and cool to warm colors was a combination of the light (shade, reflected bright sky etc) and my mood when I did the PP work on each image.
This is more than a bit long winded so for those w... (show quote)


Great set of images Jerry.

Reply
Feb 25, 2019 06:37:33   #
CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
robertjerl wrote:
This is more than a bit long winded so for those who wish to just see the pictures I will caption each. I will also post this in "BIF BOW".

Water birds from my Archives - 11-17-2015 at the Riverwalk Parkway in Riverside, CA. The post of the Green Heron was done done the same day. In fact the Heron hunting and the Heron flying south bound were done before and after I got #2 - #10. The essay had 12 images between the two egrets so I cut one of the landing flair to meet the 10 shot limit.

Egret #1 - trolling I have observed egrets do this several times. Fly low and trail their feet in the water to stir up the minnows. I even saw one twist that long neck back and snatch a minnow by its feet and continue trolling. Of course I wasn't looking through the camera when it happened.

Egret #2 - I saw this one trolling and then it landed on the far side of the pond looked around and lifted off making a circle half way around the pond only a couple of feet above the water and flared out for a landing right in front of where I was standing on the slope leading down to the water. The bird landed running in pursuit of some minnows. (there is a submerged concrete curb around the water plant area that the egret landed on) He continued left to right chasing and striking at the minnows with an occasional pause. I saw him get two minnows. Then the school of minnows reversed and went back between and around the egret's feet and the egret did the "twist" in only one step and chased them back to the left. A few missed strikes, a couple of pauses and he realized the school had split with some hiding under the plant roots by the shore where they couldn't be reached and most of them going into the deeper water on the pond side of the curb. So the egret took off, circled the pond and left north bound upstream under a footbridge. There are 10 pictures of this sequence (the whole thing was less than 1 minute and I tracked the bird all the way shooting several slow bursts of 3 to 10 shots each. A total of about 60-70 images and I culled them down to only about 15 or so before I made my selections and proceeded to the Post Processing of them. I had my 100-400L mk I at 300 mm, 1/800 @ f/8.0 and ISO on Auto (varied from 160 to 1600 in these shots since the bird went from shade to open shade with bright sky fill light to partial sunlight).
Since the moving subject was often only 90-95% focued and the white feathers so contrasty I processed to get a sort of magazine illustrator painting look on some of them with a touch of a soft dreamy look. The jump from green to blue water and cool to warm colors was a combination of the light (shade, reflected bright sky etc) and my mood when I did the PP work on each image.
This is more than a bit long winded so for those w... (show quote)



Jerry, this set is as good as it can get. All of the photos deserve DDLs to see the sharpness and details. High Five

Greg

Reply
 
 
Feb 25, 2019 11:11:33   #
Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas
 
Very good series, Robert.

Reply
Feb 25, 2019 12:38:46   #
RickL Loc: Vail, Az
 
robertjerl wrote:
This is more than a bit long winded so for those who wish to just see the pictures I will caption each. I will also post this in "BIF BOW".

Water birds from my Archives - 11-17-2015 at the Riverwalk Parkway in Riverside, CA. The post of the Green Heron was done done the same day. In fact the Heron hunting and the Heron flying south bound were done before and after I got #2 - #10. The essay had 12 images between the two egrets so I cut one of the landing flair to meet the 10 shot limit.

Egret #1 - trolling I have observed egrets do this several times. Fly low and trail their feet in the water to stir up the minnows. I even saw one twist that long neck back and snatch a minnow by its feet and continue trolling. Of course I wasn't looking through the camera when it happened.

Egret #2 - I saw this one trolling and then it landed on the far side of the pond looked around and lifted off making a circle half way around the pond only a couple of feet above the water and flared out for a landing right in front of where I was standing on the slope leading down to the water. The bird landed running in pursuit of some minnows. (there is a submerged concrete curb around the water plant area that the egret landed on) He continued left to right chasing and striking at the minnows with an occasional pause. I saw him get two minnows. Then the school of minnows reversed and went back between and around the egret's feet and the egret did the "twist" in only one step and chased them back to the left. A few missed strikes, a couple of pauses and he realized the school had split with some hiding under the plant roots by the shore where they couldn't be reached and most of them going into the deeper water on the pond side of the curb. So the egret took off, circled the pond and left north bound upstream under a footbridge. There are 10 pictures of this sequence (the whole thing was less than 1 minute and I tracked the bird all the way shooting several slow bursts of 3 to 10 shots each. A total of about 60-70 images and I culled them down to only about 15 or so before I made my selections and proceeded to the Post Processing of them. I had my 100-400L mk I at 300 mm, 1/800 @ f/8.0 and ISO on Auto (varied from 160 to 1600 in these shots since the bird went from shade to open shade with bright sky fill light to partial sunlight).
Since the moving subject was often only 90-95% focued and the white feathers so contrasty I processed to get a sort of magazine illustrator painting look on some of them with a touch of a soft dreamy look. The jump from green to blue water and cool to warm colors was a combination of the light (shade, reflected bright sky etc) and my mood when I did the PP work on each image.
This is more than a bit long winded so for those w... (show quote)


Great sreies,well done. Love the stories


Rick

Reply
Feb 25, 2019 13:08:31   #
jak86094
 
Thanks for sharing these ,Robert. It’s always an adventure watching Snowy Egrets in a feeding frenzy.

jak

Reply
Feb 25, 2019 13:23:57   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
J-SPEIGHT wrote:
Great set of images Jerry.


Thank you very much.

Reply
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