First day of Fall but Snowy in Arizona

PrescottPhotog

Hi Everyone,

I had fun with these guys yesterday. Very early morning shots. I'm sure they're just passing through but there was a bunch of them.. and one Great Egret too.

I'm all caught up posting my photos and it rained all day today so I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. I wish those Bald and Juvie Eagles that keep soaring high over the lakes would drop down near the water.. I'm jealous of all the guys that have been to Alaska, but I love your bear and eagle shots !!

All shot with a M3 and a 500mm on a monopod. Hope you enjoy.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9 (and one Great Egret)

raptorcaptor

Nice collection of egrets!

dbaker1221

excellent series

Shasoc

Very nice set of images.

PrescottPhotog

raptorcaptor wrote:

Nice collection of egrets!

Hi Glenn, Thanks for viewing. I was at the lake today and got some more great shots of these guys that I will post. I counted 6 or more today and the one Great Egret that has been hanging around for a couple months.

PrescottPhotog

dbaker1221 wrote:

excellent series

Hi Dave, Thanks for taking a look and for your comments.

PrescottPhotog

Shasoc wrote:

Very nice set of images.

Hi Socrate, Thanks for your comments on the set of photos.

riddim_maker

Great series Chris
I can tell you were having a ball

Harryb

Excellent snowy captures.

PrescottPhotog

Harryb wrote:

Excellent snowy captures.

Hi Harry, Thanks for your comments. I took these on Sunday. Saturday it rained all day, we got about 1.5 inches. The lake actually came up a few inches which for some reason created better feeding along the shoreline for the Snowy's. They were literally running all over the place catching critters. It was like a feeding frenzy for them and they didn't seem to mind me being there (which is odd for our area). They had to be totally stuffed by the end of the day.

Giphsub

Great shots

How close do most of you guys actually manage to get to the birds? And do you tend to find a place and then sit there and wait for the birds to come into your shooting space?

PrescottPhotog

Giphsub wrote:

Great shots

How close do most of you guys actually manage to get to the birds? And do you tend to find a place and then sit there and wait for the birds to come into your shooting space?

Hi Giphsub. I think you will find everyplace is different. In some areas the birds are very used to being around people and you can almost walk up to them. In other areas (like where I live) it is wide open, very little cover for the birds or people, the birds are very skiddish. I used to try to sneak up on the birds and that never worked, they see you coming for a mile. And then there are the watchdog birds (ducks) that start yacking as soon as they see something move, which alerts all the other birds.

What I found works best in my area is to just walk out to the lake (no cover to hide me while I am getting there so every bird scatters and disappears). I find a good spot for morning sun and a different one for evening sun. But you have to change your spot pretty often because they have good memories and you will find them looking for you as they fly near.

I get set up under my camo gear and wait. Pretty soon the birds get spooked by something else and scatter again and start coming back to the area I am at. Sometimes you get lucky and they land close and other times (most of the time around here) they just fly by. But if you can sit there long enough and your camo is good enough and you are quiet enough they will forget where you are and start landing right near you.

As you will notice from all the different posts on D-Grin some locations have heavy cover (we don't). Some have heavy wooded areas for the birds to land in the trees (we don't at the lake, that is why 90% of my shots have nothing but blue sky for background) but we have a national forest all around us. And some are wetlands or swamps which offer great photo opportunities.. but also problems getting to the wildlife to shoot them. It also depends on the time of year and the migration pattern. At times I have sat for 6 hours and never pushed the shutter and other times I come home with 200 shots.

It takes a while to figure out your area or where to go but when you do you will get great shots in areas you can keep going back to over and over. The key is to not give up and keep trying different techniques.

Good Luck !!! Hope this helps, it works in my area for me.

Giphsub

Hey Chris (did I get that right?)

Thanks for the detailed reply! 6 hours in one spot!? Sheesh! And camo gear? I guess there is still a whole nother level or ten for me to move up! What exactly do you use for camo gear? I'm pretty lucky here in Japan for range of places to shoot. Some offer a lot of cover, but the place I have been hitting recently is wide open. Most of the birds will fly away at the slightest sound of a fart too! Guard dog ducks?! I had them bark all the other birds away on me yestedray too! I know exactly what you mean. Hehehe. Anyway, thanks for the response.

Mike

Maestro

Personally, I think this is one of your best series. I love the eye contact and the handling of the exposure with the white feathers.