American Oystercatcher- No longer my nemesis bird

[Amol Khedgikar]

Posting after a LONG break here. Didnt have Pics good enough to post on this wonderful forum and my local haunts were not yielding anything outstanding. So made a recent trip to Corpus Christi (a Dallas guy's Ft Myers Beach.... lol)

I have been trying to get close and get at least a recognizable picture of an oystercatcher for years. Used to be my nemesis shore bird (My all time nemesis is the Belted Kingfisher). I went to corpus Christi with the sole intention of finding and shooting this bird.

I found a pair almost instantly and After almost 2 days of persistence they allowed me to get close of some decent shots... Got some BIFs in the process....

C&C Requested , welcome and appreciated.

(I do apologize for the long introduction, trying to make up for my long absence , I guess. You will be seeing a LOT of oystercatcher pics from me in the next few weeks :tinysmile_shy_t:)

5D3+500mm, @F5.6, 1/5000, ISO 500 Handheld. Some levels sharpening during conversion and cropped for composition. Hope you all like it.

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[Mike Poole]

Lovely bird, very similar to 'ours' apart from the eye. Great pose and details well controlled, maybe a little too far on the left of the frame for my taste, but otherwise excellent work

[Bill Dix]

Congrats, Amol. It's always nice to check a nemesis bird off the list. This one is very nice, with great flight pose, standing out well against the Corpus Christi surf. The open beak tops it off. One good thing about Oystercatchers, they let you know when they're coming.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent up wing pose, nice open beak and excellent sharpness.

[Marina Scarr]

Nice to have you back on board, and what a great way to start! Love the wing position and calling pose all in one. Appears you found yourself a young female. I might try moving the bird just a tad to the right by adding more space to the left if you have it.