Pied-billed Grebe in Winter Plumage.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This spot has been quite productive lately, first the "rare" Harlequin Duck, then my first male Northern Pintail....now this very late Pied-billed Grebe (my first winter-plumaged one locally). It should have headed south a while ago, but in the meantime has offered me a few nice poses along this spot. A few snowflakes have accumulated on its back and head, for a bit of a unique op for this species. It was favoring a certain area of the shoreline, and swam back and forth to it (crossing the narrow-ish river)...I just set myself up when it swam away and waited for it to come back.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/250s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld (while lying prone on the ice), just about FF usual eye work.

[Loi Nguyen]

Daniel, good choice fo SS, love the blurred waves. The grebe is tack sharp, your usual high IQ. Well done. Loi

[dankearl]

Nice close up, love the flowing water and the snowflakes....

[christopher galeski]

very nice,nice POV,pleasant light,sharp with good detail.

[gail bisson]

I like this a lot!
Nice, soft diffuse light, nice flowing water, water droplets on the back and your usual excellent IQ and low POV.
Gail

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

This is a great find Daniel.
Love the nice eye contact and clarity. Very well exposed also. It feels nice when one has a spot that is this productive ;)

[William Dickson]

Very nice :S3: love the detail in the feathers

[Bill Dix]

Good one, Daniel. Love the low POV (just don't fall through the ice), and especially the coloration on the bill, and the snowflakes. Well done.

[Grace Scalzo]

I think that this is perfect. Low pov, sharpness, exposure, comp, and the shape of the water is cradling him. Wonderful.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, love the soft light in this, and what a great shooting you achieved here. Excellent plumage detail, sharp, great BG, and the flakes takes this over the top.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Well done, and the processing on the bird to give it a bit of snap on a dreary day is excellent.

Cheers

Randy