Green Heron Chicks

largelylivin

I've been watching this nest for a couple weeks trying to make sure that I got photos of this years chicks jumping around and raising a ruckess. Here's my first shot which was taken at about 3-4 days for the two oldest and maybe 2 days for the two youngest. The only thing exciting here was the fly-bys from the parents and the really really louding chucking they did to make sure I noticed them. Nothing could be done to get a better picture without risking the chicks.





Pentax K20D, DA*300, ISO 400, f4, 1/250, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer.

I visited the nest again yesterday. That makes them about 1 1/2 weeks hold: suspecting that 2 are a day or so younger. I expected to see them out of the nest romping around the limbs and actively encouraging their folks for more food ! But for three hours they sat quitely in their nest just peering out and looking hopeful. Then one, the obvious leader and most likely to succeed, came teetering out on a limb, literally. I was having visions of jumping into the water to save some fallen chick. Then another one followed but the last two chicks didn't venture out.

Note to self. Get an 600/f4.

Its interesting that in the 4 hours that I was there no adult came to the nest. They did several fly-bys chucking loudly at me in case I didn't notice.


It was 100% cloud cover with occassional peaks of sunshine causing the exposure and the white point to change a bit between photos. The color of the first is most correct although it is a bit over saturated.



Pentax K20D, Sigma 50-500 at 450, ISO400, f9.5 at 1/250 sec, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer. About 50 ft.



Pentax K20D, Sigma 50-500 at 450, ISO 400, f11 at 1/250 sec, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer. About 50 ft.




Pentax K20D, Sigma 50-500 at 450, ISO 400, f13 at 1/250 sec, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer. About 50 ft.

Maestro

Heron and egret chicks have got to be some of the ugliest birds. It is just amazing that they turn into the elegant and graceful adults that they are. Your patience paid off. Partly cloudy days and white plumage make for tough exposures, but you did pretty good given the difficult circumstances.

largelylivin

Oversight. The Sigma 50-500 was pulled back a bit from max extention because it has a significant loss of sharpness all the way out. Also, I was using a 1.4 Tamron TC. Of course, none of this shows up in the exif data.

I did a lot of chimping on these shots to get the fuzzy white stuff sharp and properly exposed. I just could not see it effectively in the viewfinder. I don't think it could be easily done without the flash and better beamer.

raptorcaptor

Nice set Brad!