Pied-billed Grebe in Winter Plumage.

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.

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

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

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

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

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 ;)

Very nice :S3: love the detail in the feathers

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.

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

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.

Daniel:

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

Cheers

Randy