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Xeriscaped limpkin heaven... Local, man made native snail habitat...
EOS R RF 70-200 @200 f2.8 1/5300 ISO 500 HH, Manual mode, cropped from vertical
I was biking with camera on back when I spotted a GBH at the waters edge. At 200mm I had to try to creep closer and the heron was having none of it and flew to far bank. Looked down at water's edge and saw nothing but cypress knees and large snail shells everywhere. They were both apple snails and an even larger exotic variety. Was thinking where is the culprit just as the hunter jumped out of the reeds onto a higher perch and began to preen. Very busy environment but right in the late afternoon sun. Was hoping wide open at 2.8 would help mitigate surrounding vegetation some. This is typical Limpkin habitat, though. As this beauty preened, got low and approached closer. Tried very low perspective and the reeds covered face. So raised a little and waited for the head to come up from that near wing. You can see some down at end of beak and two floating specs as the head was raised. Not Birds as Art, but a piece of Limpkin Heaven.
ps
Both the Limpkin and the Snail Kite share very different yet similarly designed beaks. Both crisscross at the end. Both almost always pull the entire animal from their large twisted shells without tearing due to this design.
I like the shot, not as art, but as a nice Limpkin shot
I quite agree with you. One of the things that sometimes makes it hard to judge my own shots; showing the bird in a natural (hopefully pleasing) environment or having a technically great shot that more or less isolates and shows off the entire bird. I like the sharp body spots and the great sharp beak showing what you described as to function.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
David Roach
EOS R RF 70-200 @200 f2.8 1/5300 ISO 500 HH, Manual mode, cropped from vertical
I was biking with camera on back when I spotted a GBH at the waters edge. At 200mm I had to try to creep closer and the heron was having none of it and flew to far bank. Looked down at water's edge and saw nothing but cypress knees and large snail shells everywhere. They were both apple snails and an even larger exotic variety. Was thinking where is the culprit just as the hunter jumped out of the reeds onto a higher perch and began to preen. Very busy environment but right in the late afternoon sun. Was hoping wide open at 2.8 would help mitigate surrounding vegetation some. This is typical Limpkin habitat, though. As this beauty preened, got low and approached closer. Tried very low perspective and the reeds covered face. So raised a little and waited for the head to come up from that near wing. You can see some down at end of beak and two floating specs as the head was raised. Not Birds as Art, but a piece of Limpkin Heaven.
ps
Both the Limpkin and the Snail Kite share very different yet similarly designed beaks. Both crisscross at the end. Both almost always pull the entire animal from their large twisted shells without tearing due to this design.