Rare sighting of a Pterodactyl

PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
edited February 12, 2012 in Wildlife
My husband, Edmund, and I were excited to get these shots of what we initially misidentified as a Brown Pelican, because this is the first one we have seen on Avery Island, though we know a few have been around. However, when our 4-year-old granddaughter saw the photo, she said it is definitely not a Brown Pelican and most certainly a Pterodactyl, one of the carnivorous creatures with a 40 foot wing span previously believed to have become extinct after the age of dinosaurs. Her pre pre K class is studying dinosaurs, and two of the boys are dressing up in a Pterodactyl costume that closely resembles our bird. We had several 4 x 6 photos of the bird printed up for her to hand out to her friends, and now there is a whole class of 4-year-olds in Lafayette who believe there is a Pterodactyl flying around Avery Island. What do you think? Pterodactyl or Brown Pelican? :scratch

Best, Pam

1) Note the 40 foot wing span:

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Comments

  • SandSand Registered Users Posts: 40 Big grins
    edited February 9, 2012
    Quetzalcoatlus Northropi, If I can believe my eyes.
  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited February 9, 2012
    Sand wrote: »
    Quetzalcoatlus Northropi, If I can believe my eyes.

    I thought so! Thanks for confirming. rolleyes1.gifroflrolleyes1.gifBest, pam
  • ashruggedashrugged Registered Users Posts: 345 Major grins
    edited February 9, 2012
    Great post Pam, It gave me a smile after a hard day at work. Did you use a 10 mm lens to capture the massive wing Span.
    Robert

    http://rckimaging.smugmug.com/
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2012
    Excellent work Pam. thumb.gif Your shutter speeds were under 1/500th of a sec at 500mm so I'm assuming that you were using a tripod.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2012
    ashrugged wrote: »
    Great post Pam, It gave me a smile after a hard day at work. Did you use a 10 mm lens to capture the massive wing Span.

    Worse than that--we used a cell phone camera as we crouched in the car, hoping the creature wouldn't carry us off! (Just kidding!)
  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2012
    Harryb wrote: »
    Excellent work Pam. thumb.gif Your shutter speeds were under 1/500th of a sec at 500mm so I'm assuming that you were using a tripod.

    Thanks, Harry! Actually, I had the lens propped up on a bean bag over the car door, and I was surprised that the BIF came out at all. It was late afternoon in low light, and I just cannot get my 7D to perform well in low light at more than 400 ISO, so shutter speed is a challenge. BUT, I have an order in on that new 1DX, so I am hopeful that it might approach how well your Nikon does in low light. Best, Pam
  • BoomerangNetwork.comBoomerangNetwork.com Registered Users Posts: 63 Big grins
    edited February 10, 2012
    Wonderful! Love the motion in the wings during flight.
    Andrew Osterberg

    Moving Beyond Photography

    VirtualPhotographyStudio.com
  • austinjamesaustinjames Registered Users Posts: 90 Big grins
    edited February 10, 2012
    nice pics
    wildlifeandscenicphotography
  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2012
    BoomerangNetwork.com wrote: »
    Wonderful! Love the motion in the wings during flight.

    Thank you Andrew! I appreciate the compliment.
  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2012
    austinjames wrote: »
    nice pics

    Thanks so much!
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