Black Headed Heron

[Stu Bowie]

This was taken at the end of Nov last year at the University of Pretoria at 6.30am. We all wish for clear BG's, but sometimes a clear sky can be a tad bland. At least I captured the full downstroke.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/4000
F/5.6
ISO 640

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand Held

[Callie de Wet]

I believe that is a very nice site too to nail them and the cattle egrets. Is it worthwhile driving there from JHB? Nice capture, even to the building material en-route. Nice detail in the plumage.

[Todd Frost]

Good detail in the heron and nice wing position. Stick in mouth adds to this comp. Well done.
Todd

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful downstroke!! It made me forget the blandness of the clear sky:). To my eye it looks like the head is angled ever so slightly away, but very impressive nonetheless. Good placement of the bird in the frame .

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the sharpness, eye contact and the nesting material adds to it. I only wish we could see the far wing a bit better.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Liked the wing position and the sharpness. Eye catches the attention like it should. Comp is excellent too. You can try a little color sat boost to improve the BG....but I like it a lot as-is as well.

[denise ippolito]

Stuart, Beautiful wing detail and sharpness. I love the nesting material.

[Dan Busby]

A great study of the wing Stuart. I would prefer to see some of the other side of the bird too but with the great lighting and the stick in the beak, this is a very appealing image.

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Stuart,
I like the look of these guys. Nice profile of that big wing, I like the detail. He doesn't appear to be taking his nest building too seriously with that tiny twig :).

[Vida van der Walt]

Super image Stu. Pin sharp with great wing detail, comp and nesting material a bonus. I'll take that bg any day.:)

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the kind words.

[James Salywoda]

Awesome shot Stuart excellent detail nice wing position and the nesting stick puts it over the top.....:)