Hamerkop Fishing

[Stu Bowie]

Whilst driving through the nature reserve close to my house early saturday morning, I came to a low level bridge that was flooded, due to all the rains we have had. The water was up on both ends of the road. This Hamerkop was standing in the water alongside the road and was fishing for his breakfast. Im not sure what the food item is, looks like a kind of worm, as he fished it out the water, and caught quite a few while I was there. The food item is in the back of his beak, and is not his tongue. Taken from inside my car.

Canon 1D Mark IV
100-400 @ 160mm
1/800
F/8.0
ISO 640

Manual exposure

[Greg Oakley]

Super shot Stuart - lovely detail and IQ, sweet light and sensational timing to get the worm mid-gulp!
Cheers Greg

[John Cooper]

That's a powerful looking bird Stuart and a great find on your Saturday morning drive!

Great lighting and detail here and I like the diagonal pose of the Hamerkop in the frame. Getting the catch suspended in the mouth was a nice bonus Stuart - well timed..!!

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Excellent sighting Stu, still need a good image of these birds. I like the open beak and catch. Good lighting as well TFS.

[dankearl]

Excellent photo of a unfamiliar bird for me Stuart.
Beautiful color and a nice habitat photo.

[Arno Ellmer]

Oh nice ,Stu. Love the action , light ,comp ,and sharpness. My first reaction was : but where is the fish ? . Then I saw the worm in the back of his throat. Good timing !

[Satish Ranadive]

Stuart Sir:
Superb image.Seeing this bird for the first time.Very nice colors and details.I like the nice habitat too.
Love the open mouth with worm and composition. TFS.

Regards,
Satish.

[Karl Egressy]

Great shot, Stuart. I like the pose, open beak, food item but mostly I like the way the water colour matches the colour of the bird.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Very nice timing Stuart. Glad you mentioned that wasn't his tongue as I thought it was a strange looking one! Good detail throughout the feathers, nice catchlight as well. Hope to see more from the series if you have them!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Neat bird, love the brown plumage and you got some good detail out of it. I like the timing with the prey item. I'm sure you would have liked a lower angle had it been possible, but I do like the green vegetation at the top that only this higher vantage point could have given you.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks for the feedback and comments everyone.

[Marina Scarr]

Very nice capture, Stuart. Love the pose, the BG and the catch. The brown water even works with this image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

nice behaviour and exposure here Stu
always a treat to see a Hamerkop in action...

[Tim King]

Neat looking bird and a nice mid-gulp photo. An eye-level view would be ideal if possible.

[gail bisson]

Very well timed Stuart!
The light and IQ are excellent.
I like all the browns in the image.
A lower POV would have been nice but this still is lovely,
Gail

[PhilCook]

Nice quality of light Stuart, and amazing shot from ones car, feather detail is very nice indeed, I've never heard of this species before