Short-billed Dowitcher bathing

[Bill Dix]

From Ding Darling last November. C&C appreciated.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/2000s @ f/7.1 manual.

[Markus Jais]

Fantastic shot with perfect image quality. I like the composition, the water drops on the bird and the pattern in the water.

Markus

[gail bisson]

Hi Bill,
You did very well at Ding Darling( as I recall the images you showed us earlier in the year from here). I have been 3 times and got nothing...
Very nice bathing picture. I like the head turn and the sense of motion in the "rolling, boiling" water around the bird.
Water droplets are nice as well.
I might add a couple of points to the neutrals in selective color in Photoshop to give the image a bit more punch,
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

This is terrific, Bill. Love those water droplets. Such a cute, pert pose, and such interesting texture to the water. Great comp, exposure, and sharpness.
I think I missed the heyday of Ding, the last couple years when I have gone it's like a ghost town.

[Diane Miller]

Beautiful sharpness and soft light. Is there any more reflection? It's a very nice touch

[Grace Scalzo]

Nothing to suggest here, Bill. Very appealing and fun image. Those water droplets are icing on the cake.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Bill! I like the pose, IQ, details, ripples, composition and water drops really add to the image.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Bill - nice low pov and excellent detail. The HA, wake and water drops really add to the image.

TFS,
Rachel

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely details & light. the droplets on the back add a lot as pointed above.

[Rick Poulin]

Great image Bill. I would question the identification however. Two prominant field marks indicate this is a Long-billed Dowitcher. First the unmarked gray tertials and second the black barring on the tail being wider than the white barring.

[Bill Dix]

Great image Bill. I would question the identification however. Two prominant field marks indicate this is a Long-billed Dowitcher. First the unmarked gray tertials and second the black barring on the tail being wider than the white barring.

Thank you, Rick. You and Mr. Sibley seem to agree, at least with regard to the tertials. Also, now that I look at it, what you can see of the breast doesn't look as buffy as it should for a SBDO, especially in this early morning light. I'll go back and change my file name. I appreciate the catch. (I've always defaulted to SBDO unless the bird looks like he's "swallowed a grapefruit", and I'm told that that is not a reliable test.)

[Bill Dix]

Thank you everyone. Your comments are always appreciated.

[Josh Gahagan]

Nicely captured with great eye contact. I find it to be difficult to capture a bathing shot with good eye contact, and you certainly did that perfectly here!

[LinzRiverBalmer]

I'm a sucker for perfect water droplets so I love this.

i agree with another, any more room on the bottom with more ripples and reflection?