Thanks Birma.

I think I'll stop my "birding image rant" for now. Don't want to OD the thread with images from the same birds every time

Mark

I, at least, see no reason to stop the "rant" -- though I hadn't had a chance to say so recently, I've been enjoying it greatly so far. I, for one, welcome "rants" like yours.

Thank you for that big compliment jcoffin, highly appreciated!

Mark

mvanbirden?
Keep posting buddy.

thank you, Doc.

It is cool seeing all these bird photos. Although I think I have never in my life gone out with the specific intention to take bird photos I have taken a few over the years -- I shoot pretty much whatever I see that interests me at the time. Lots of good ones here. My best friend is a very serious birder who has traveled all over the world and has compiled a very impressive life list. Unfortunately, he has not combined that with photography so except for a small handful of very nice bird photos he has taken he has very few. I went birding with him a few times in California years ago, but I was mostly bored out of my gourd whenever he and his birding friends would stop for long periods on the hiking trail to try and spot a bird that one of them had seen or heard. As long as we were moving it was fun, but stop more than 5-10 minutes and I would just get too restless. Serious birders need a lot more patience than I have, I guess.

Keep the photos coming!

This is an Anhinga in the Florida Everglades in 1999 -- scanned negative. I watched him for several minutes as he would dive underwater trying to get a fish. He was constantly quickly moving and his head was going this way and that so it was hard to keep him in the viewfinder and framed well. He came up with this fish and although he (she?) looks still he most definitely wasn't. I was lucky to get this one shot since in the 2 others I got part of his head and the fish were cutoff. Minolta 707si + Minolta 100-300mm f4.5-5.6i on Fuji Superia 100:

Mark I think you are approaching greatness with that Chaffinch shot and I really like the bokeh and colour in the Robin and Pigeon shots.

Great Anhinga (Darter) photo Henry, that’s one of the problems with bird photos, it quite often looks like the bird was posing to be photographed ‘after the fact’ but in reality that’s mostly very far from the case.
Greg

The last picture here is awesome - great captured moment! The only thing that I maybe would change is to zoom out so that I can see full animal.

That would make it a different photo and I sort of like the way it is, but if it had been possible I would have certainly taken one showing the whole body also. It wasn't possible though. The only part of the Anhinga that was visible at the time was pretty much what is in that photo and the following one. The bird was in the water and much of its body was obscured by a rock and lots of weeds. Actually, before catching the fish the bird was sometimes not visible at all. He kept moving around and was sometimes totally hidden by the rock.



The only way to have gotten a different view and angle would have been to swim out in the water -- water that was full of alligators. The Everglades National Park allows many types of visitor activities, but they do have a rule prohibiting swimming with alligators. Naturally, as with all rules, there is not universal agreement about the wisdom of the rule, but it is one I can live with. Here are few photos of alligators in exactly the same water where I took the photo of the Anhinga and within 30-45 minutes of the Anhinga photo.

Now I know where you got those alligator boots, Henry!

Dusty

Please keep posting those pictures Mark !

That is a very nice shot with the fish in the bird's mouth Henry - wonderful detail - a bit sad if you're the fish though .

Those 'gators would keep me well away from the water. I like the shape of the slumbering bodies in the B&W shot.

Well, it is just life in the foodchain. Which reminds me of the wonderful Tonio K song from the '70s:

Tonio K -- Life in the Foodchain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmHvSz6y9M4



Yeah, staying out of the water is a way to short-circuit life in the foodchain...for awhile. These photos were in 1999, but I was back in the same spot in 2004 and was not so lucky. In 1999 I saw lots of birds and alligators in this area and there was lots of water, but in 2004 (same month) there wasn't much water and I saw very little wildlife. Just bad luck on timing with not much recent rain, I guess.

Here is a Cormorant drying its wings in the sun yesterday afternoon in Japan:

I liked your gator action Henry; there are quite a few shoes in that last one, and that’s a fine Cormorant shot, the wings looks like some kind of etching.

I have only seen the Dusky a few times in the last couple of days despite keeping a fairly close watch on and off, plenty of Browns though.
Greg
Ps (thanks Dusty )

A100 KM100-300apo
Managed a snapshot of a Dusky before he departed

A Bowerbird was gleaning the tree for grasshoppers while I waited for the Dusky

And an ever present Brown had to have a stickybeak

...and now for something completely different: a bird with three buttocks (or maybe even four?)