Hanging out at the rookery

Harryb

Hi y'all,

Just a few shoots from the rookery in St. Augustine.

In addition to the wild nesting birds they have a few other birds in captivity. These guys are easy to shoot because they stand there and you can keep shooting them until you get it right. I used fill flash on these shots.





I found the Nikon 70-200 to be extremely sharp for a zoom lens. here's a 100% crop from the last shot



The rookery is pretty active now with "real" birds



the great egret chicks are growing fast


the older ones are flexing their wings


they can be quite demanding

Osprey Whisperer

Nice series Harry. That last one needs a caption. Some sort of comment on today's society..perhaps?

bfjr

Well now your sneaking into my backyard and shootin shots of, Maggie :wow

Ok Ok it's allright considering these are some outstanding captures.

riddim_maker

It's really nice to be able to keep up on the development these young ones.
thanks for sharing Harry. Awesome as usual

Harryb

Bird Man Photographer wrote:

Nice series Harry. That last one needs a caption. Some sort of comment on today's society..perhaps?

Thanks Mike. I'm lousy at captions but the last shot does bring back the days when my son was still living with me.

Thusie

Nice series Harry and that last shot..Priceless

Harryb

bfjr wrote:

Well now your sneaking into my backyard and shootin shots of, Maggie :wow

Ok Ok it's allright considering these are some outstanding captures.

Err Ben, I hate to tell you that Mike would fit better here than Maggie.

Anyhow thanks for the kind words.

Harryb

riddim_maker wrote:

It's really nice to be able to keep up on the development these young ones.
thanks for sharing Harry. Awesome as usual

Thanks Russ. It has been very interesting going up there on a regular schedule and following the developments.

Dick on Aruba

You're a great bird photographer Harry. This series will proof that again. Well done.

Dick.

Harryb

Thusie wrote:

Nice series Harry and that last shot..Priceless

Thank you very much Thusie.

gluwater

It looks like there are some spoonbills in that group shot Harry. Any chance you've got some shots of those babies? Or are you not taking requests:D? Have you been to Vierra much lately? I can't remember where I saw them, maybe the Cafe, but I thought I saw some shots of juvenile Caracara from there.

Harryb

D200-D70 wrote:

You're a great bird photographer Harry. This series will proof that again. Well done.

Dick.

Thank oyu very much Dick. You are very kind.

Harryb

gluwater wrote:

It looks like there are some spoonbills in that group shot Harry. Any chance you've got some shots of those babies? Or are you not taking requests:D? Have you been to Vierra much lately? I can't remember where I saw them, maybe the Cafe, but I thought I saw some shots of juvenile Caracara from there.

Hey Nick,

How's Chicago treating ya? The sponnbills roost in the rookery but unfortunately they don't nest there. I saw some spoonbill chick shots on the Cafe and they were excellent.

I was at Viera earlier this week as the highway to St. Augustine was closed due to our brushfires. There is a juvenile Caracara around but I haven't seen it yet. The black-bellied whistling ducks have returned and they should be laying eggs soon. A pair of limpkins at Viera are now the proud parents of 6 baby limpkins. I will be posting some shots of them in a few days.

gluwater

Harryb wrote:

Hey Nick,

How's Chicago treating ya? The sponnbills roost in the rookery but unfortunately they don't nest there. I saw some spoonbill chick shots on the Cafe and they were excellent.

I was at Viera earlier this week as the highway to St. Augustine was closed due to our brushfires. There is a juvenile Caracara around but I haven't seen it yet. The black-bellied whistling ducks have returned and they should be laying eggs soon. A pair of limpkins at Viera are now the proud parents of 6 baby limpkins. I will be posting some shots of them in a few days.

Chicago is cold and rainy today:bluduh and I haven't been able to get out to shoot any wildlife in a while so it could be better here. That W thing keeps getting in the way of what I would like to be doing.

Thanks for the update. You do realize that I live vicariously through your shots right .

jwear

very nice color I think those babys have to grows fast before the parents take a good look and not come back

Harryb

gluwater wrote:

Chicago is cold and rainy today:bluduh

:wow :puke I feel for you. I kind of have dim memories of "cold & rainy".

and I haven't been able to get out to shoot any wildlife in a while so it could be better here. That W thing keeps getting in the way of what I would like to be doing.

Thanks for the update. You do realize that I live vicariously through your shots right .

I will strive to present other alternaives to ya.

jeff lapoint

Love the baby egrets Harry!

Harryb

jwear wrote:

very nice color I think those babys have to grows fast before the parents take a good look and not come back

Thnaks Jeff. They do have to grow pretty fast because the parents can't take the abuse they get for too long.

Harryb

jeff lapoint wrote:

Love the baby egrets Harry!

Thanks Jeff. They are a marvelous subject to shoot.

gildco

Harryb wrote:

Hi y'all,

Just a few shoots from the rookery in St. Augustine.

In addition to the wild nesting birds they have a few other birds in captivity. These guys are easy to shoot because they stand there and you can keep shooting them until you get it right. I used fill flash on these shots. I found the Nikon 70-200 to be extremely sharp for a zoom lens. here's a 100% crop from the last shot

As usual, beautiful work, Harry. That lens is a very fine piece of glass; your close-up of the eye is crystal clear.

Markjay

Harry........
Great shots. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful experiences at the rookery. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say your images are inspiring.

I am going to be moving to the Florida Keys!
My fiance took a job in Key West and, well...
who could resist? :-)

Be well,
Markjay

Harryb

gildco wrote:

As usual, beautiful work, Harry. That lens is a very fine piece of glass; your close-up of the eye is crystal clear.

Thanks Gil. The 70-200 is a fine peice of glass.

Harryb

Markjay wrote:

Great shots. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful experiences at the rookery. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say your images are inspiring.

I am going to be moving to the Florida Keys!
My fiance took a job in Key West and, well...
who could resist? :-)

Be well,
Markjay

That's very kind of you Mark. Key West,hmmm. You are a lucky man. One of the most beautiful spots going and the capital of "laid back". As long as you don't mind the occasional evacuation during hurricane season its a marvlous area.