Thick-billed Murre

[Alan Murphy]

Thick-billed Murre

St Paul Island, Alaska

D4, 300/2.8, ISO 800, f5.6, 1/3200.

Background is the Bering sea.

[Karl Egressy]

Great pose, perfect exposure and excellent details, Alan.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Alan, a species I havent seen before, but you sure have nailed the banking flight pose. Excellent exposure on both whites and browns, and I like the splayed legs.

[Melissa Groo]

Excellent banking pose, Alan. Super exposure, eye contact, and I love the background.

[Arthur Morris]

Pose and head angle are beyond the beyond. Love the visible tertials at the base of the upper wing. I may be confused but I remember that the brown murres are Common Murres and that the Thick-billed are black....

[Alan Murphy]

Pose and head angle are beyond the beyond. Love the visible tertials at the base of the upper wing. I may be confused but I remember that the brown murres are Common Murres and that the Thick-billed are black....

Good memory Artie. You are correct. What makes this a Thick-billed is the white line on the upper bill. Both Murres are Brown with the Thick-billed being darker (not black). I probably should have darkened the mid tones on this one.

[Arthur Morris]

Good memory Artie. You are correct. What makes this a Thick-billed is the white line on the upper bill. Both Murres are Brown with the Thick-billed being darker (not black). I probably should have darkened the mid tones on this one.

Thanks Alan but I am still fairly sure that the bird in the image is a Common Murre not a thick-billed. I'll know for sure when I get home and check out a few books most notably Sibley. If I am wrong I will let you know that too.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Wonderful image, the wingspread and feet show are phenomenal.
Excellent show of tertials too. Very rarely seen this well.

[Frank Schauf]

Perfect in every way, Alan.

[Ken Watkins]

Alan,

The simplest critique here is none at all this is truly wonderful:cheers::cheers::cheers:

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent pose details and a great BG!

[Shawn Zierman]

Soooo crazy good, its...crazy!!

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Nice Alan! Spectacular capture. Question, is the top wing less sharp due to motion blur or dof? I don't think it detracts from the image, but I'm really curious to know.

[Alan Murphy]

Nice Alan! Spectacular capture. Question, is the top wing less sharp due to motion blur or dof? I don't think it detracts from the image, but I'm really curious to know.

Hey Miguel, I didn't notice that until you mentioned it. Not sure why. Could the the light angle not showing the detail as much, or motion blur. Not DOF.