Great Egret w/Nesting Material

[Paul Pagano]

Taken today at the Alligator Farm in Saint Augustine.
Canon 30D Hand Held
Canon 70-200mm w/Kenko1.5x TC
200mm @ f/5.6 1/2500s
-7/10EV
Crop/Neat Image/Sharpened

[Steve Maxson]

Nice flight image, Paul. If it was mine, I would crop from the left to get the bird off of dead center. A slightly different light angle would have lit up the face and beak very nicely.

[Gayle Clement]

Very nice flight image. I'd crop a bit off the bottom and left.

[Alfred Forns]

H Paul I know there is nothing you can do regarding the angle This is from the back of the boardwalk by the Stork tree?

You did well with the exposure Can even go a little brighter with the bird as presented Remember for framing you want more room up front for the bird to fly into and much less on the back Since the bird is looking up might also give a little extra on top than bottom !!!!

[Mike Godwin]

Nice crisp image with very nice exposure Paul. I would agree with a crop to lessen the back, and I would personally be tempted to make it more of a vertical. How are things up in St. Augustine now?

Best Wishes,

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

[Paul Pagano]

Good advice, Steve. For whatever reason I am one of those that seems to let everything wind up dead center out of habit! I need to stop that!

Thanks, Gayle...also good advice.

Alfred, yes, I was back about 10 feet before the main drag that runs in front of the big oak. (I got in late so trying to stay out of the way-several of us out there today.) I guess you take what you can get there considering the room.

Thanks Mike, you know I thought about a vertical in pp. The AF is still a bit quiet but its starting to pick up. There have been Great Egret for several weeks now and today I saw Snowies. There were a few Spoonies too but none close. A few Ibis too. Only the Great Egret and Wood Storks are breeding not. The Snowies seemed like they were courting just a bit.

How is Gatorland? Never been there. It looks like there is more room than at the AF.

[Mike Godwin]

Thanks Mike, you know I thought about a vertical in pp. The AF is still a bit quiet but its starting to pick up. There have been Great Egret for several weeks now and today I saw Snowies. There were a few Spoonies too but none close. A few Ibis too. Only the Great Egret and Wood Storks are breeding not. The Snowies seemed like they were courting just a bit.

How is Gatorland? Never been there. It looks like there is more room than at the AF.

Thanks for the update on the AF, they normally run a month or two behind us as far as activity. Its amazing what difference a couple of hundred miles makes! Things are quite busy at Gatorland now, we have two Wood Stork nests already with chicks, and about a dozen sitting females on nests with some still under construction. The Great Egrets also have chicks, and many more will be hatching within the next week or two. At last count there where over 75 Great Egret nests, probably close to 100 now. The Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, and Cattle Egrets are also nesting now, and the Little Blues are about to start. The Spoonbill activity has picked up, with one pair ready to nest.

One thing to keep in mind is that Gatorland's Rookery is about 10 acres in size, so it is much larger than the AF. The last census I did in late February showed over 1600 birds at roost. If you get a chance to come down to Central Florida stop on by, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Mike Godwin
Gatorland