Grab 'n Go

[Bill Dix]

Black-bellied Plover from Ding Darling in November. I'm not sure what he plans to do with his treasure. I don't know that they eat the stuff, and it wasn't the right season to be lining a nest. Maybe someone could enlighten me.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/2000s @ f/7.1 manual. Tripod.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Bill,

I've been following your photos from your ding darling shoot and you keep coming out with some great stuff! Looks like you had a lot of success out there!

The wing spread and dynamic pose here is killer. Contrast is just right. I don't think if change a thing!

miguel

[Andrew Merwin]

Great action shot with excellent techs. I like the composition & the water drops trailing from the raised foot. Maybe there was an edible in the "stuff."

[Bill Dix]

Bill,

I've been following your photos from your ding darling shoot and you keep coming out with some great stuff! Looks like you had a lot of success out there!

The wing spread and dynamic pose here is killer. Contrast is just right. I don't think if change a thing!

miguel

Thanks Miguel. Spending a few days in SW Florida over Thanksgiving, I felt like a hungry man at a banquet. So many photo opportunities, so little time. Can't wait to return.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Hi Bill. Great action shot, soft blue BG, and sharp from beak to tail and wingtip to wingtip. I've seen this behavior before with other birds there. Most likely there is a morsel of food wrapped up in the seaweed. A white ibis I photographed played for a while with what appeared to be green vegetation at Ding Darling, until he uncovered a very small crab. Then he turned it around and dipped it in the water a few times, then gulped it down with no delay.

[Bill Dix]

Hi Bill. Great action shot, soft blue BG, and sharp from beak to tail and wingtip to wingtip. I've seen this behavior before with other birds there. Most likely there is a morsel of food wrapped up in the seaweed. A white ibis I photographed played for a while with what appeared to be green vegetation at Ding Darling, until he uncovered a very small crab. Then he turned it around and dipped it in the water a few times, then gulped it down with no delay.

Thanks Dennis. Now that you say that, and I look again at the image, it may be that there is a morsel of crab or something in his bill, with the weed trailing behind. That would certainly be a logical explanation.

[Nick Palmieri]

Great action captured here. I like his position in the frame and techs looks good. Nice one!

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

Dynamic pose, like the 'food' item, well exposed. It looks like the critical focus was on the wing root and not the head.

Because of the angle of his head, I would be tempted to crop in a bit from the right. If his head was up, looking to the right, crop would be fine as is.

Cheers

Randy

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Randy. I think you're right about the focus point. I find it pretty tough to be that specific about the focus on a small moving bird that far away (this was a pretty large crop). It was partially because of the large crop (this is 45% of full width) that I chose not to come in further from the right, although I agree there is some empty space there. Here's another frame with the head up, looking to the right. But I thought the OP pose was a bit more dynamic. (Although as I look at this one, the focus may have been more on the head here.)

[Satish Ranadive]

Bill Sir:
Wonderful image.Love the pose,wing position,raised foot with trail of water and beautiful composition.
Repost has great HA and lovely eye contact.

Regards,
Satish.

[Frank Schauf]

Great picture, nice deep shooting position and great situation.

[David Salem]

Great job on getting this small of a bird in focus and sharp. Techs look great and the addition of the possible food item is nice. I like the second shot much better as it has a better HA and wing position and still tells the same story. Either way, very well done.

[Danny Laredo]

Wonderful timing. I like the 2nd one a bit better.