A Windy Morning out on the Hooptie Deux

Had the opportunity to join fellow Florida moderators Cheryl Molennor and Don Lacy out with Capt James Shadle on the Hooptie Deux yesterday. The birds were plentiful but not as active as we would have liked due to the high winds, especially for those recently fledged birds. There were actually waves out there that were slapping all of us in our posteriors. :bg3: We were blessed with a stunning Reddish Egret White Morph fledgling and there were several little scuffles with the other Reddish fledglings.

This juvenile Roseate Spoonbill didn't seem to have an issues with the high wind. He probably fledged within the last month. You can tell he is a juvenile by the black edges of his primaries and his light pink coloration.

Canon 1D4, Canon 500L & 1.4 @ 700mm
F9, 1/3200 sec, ISO 640, manual mode
Feisol tripod, Jobu head

C & C always welcomed and much appreciated.

Nice image with the eye showing. Wish you could bring out the feet more.

Lovely wing angle caught and I love the splash action too, Marina. About the feet, I agree with Allen. An easy fix that will improve the image nicely.

Great pose and love the eye. The dark BG works nicely, also agree with feet though, nicely done.

Very nice Marina. Great take-off pose and the water droplets add to the image.
I like the way the tips of the primaries frame the eye.
The whites look good and nice dark green BG to compliment the pinks.
Love your DOF. Entire bird in focus,
Gail

Wonderful image Marina well worth getting your butt smacked all morning:S3: I really like the peek a boo look and the pink color on the spoonie is beautiful. I had a blast shooting with you guys.

I love the moment you captured. That split second of eye focus between the wings. Very well done!

Killer pose, I like everything about it.
The wing detail is superb.

Hi Marina, very dynamic pose, good colors, eye sharpness. The water droplets are nice. Do you see more details on the whites on a high resolution image? Loi

Fabulous flight pose with nice wing position. His head is so prominent because of black edges of his primaries.
Love the eye,dark BG,water droplets and pink color.Very nice composition too.

Regards,
Satish.

Love the peek a boo face thru the very nicely framing wing. I really like the light and your exposure too. I agree about the feet especially since you have some great water drops there too

Way cool, and having the eye fully clear of the feathers is a great bonus. Maybe a bit more saturation for me, but man I love the feel of the image with the dark BG and dynamic pose.

Very cool capture Marina. The eye contact and clarity make this one special for me. The dark BG is a great backdrop for this bird. Exposure and color are perfect. Well done.

Wonderful shot.
Love the wing position. Just giving us a good enough view of the eye.
Excellent details and great lighting.
Well done.

Great pose and love the eye.Excellent BG and great lighting.