Sabine's Gull!! What A Rare Treat.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Such an unexpected and thrilling encounter with this mega-rarity - for us anyways, with just a handful of sightings ever recorded in Ontario, and mostly "only" juveniles. So an adult in peak breeding plumage no less - 5 minutes away from home, was such fun!! I spent about 45 minutes with it, and then it, along with the mega-common Ring-billeds, all got spooked by something, with the Sabine's not to be seen again. This is one of my favorites from the encounter, and when I noticed it was fairly tolerant of my presence I began a slow belly-crawl towards it...such a gorgeous bird - I think it's my new favorite gull species!

Canon R6 + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/5.6, ISO 400, natural light, handheld, FF, a few imperfections spot-removed from the water.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Dan, lovely image, as perfect as can be. I love the low POV and soft light. As always, techs spot on. Thank you for sharing.

[Dorian Anderson]

This is a bird I see on West Coast pelagic trips each fall, but they're far away (and in crappy plumage), the light sucks, and the boat is pitching. As a result I have nothing of this bird. Most have to go to Alaska to get something this sweet, so you were really lucky. I love everything about this shot; angle, lighting, exposure, detail, etc. Wide crop was wise. I could see sliding the bird a bit right, but no so much that you cut too much into the nice negative space on the right hand side.

[Brian Sump]

Pretty much a stunner Daniel. The light served you well but you composed and executed beautifully.

Very rich colors and tones are super pleasing. The low level on the water is silky smooth. Very slight sharpening halo around the head and leading edge of the neck but really hard to notice.

Always look forward to your posts :-)

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Daniel, I am envious as heck. This bird has eluded me for 46 years. The image is beyond stunning -- the soft light, the complete reflection, the super-low perspective and the drop dead gorgeous bird leave me with my jaw hanging down.

It is likely that most folks here (aside from Dorian) do not realize how rare this bird is.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

ps; The head angle, the processing, and the placement of the bird are all perfect for me. I would not change a pixel.

a

ps: I keep scrolling up to see it again and again.

[David Pugsley]

Nothing more to be said - a stunner!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Dan first class image, a real beauty!:cheers: I agree with Artie I wouldn't change a thing.

[Steve Kaluski]

Perfect Dan, a score of 11/10. :cheers:

[William Dickson]

It's the colours on the head that really draw me in.......TFS

Will

[arash_hazeghi]

beautiful low angle shot with soft tones and colors, light cannot be better

TFS