Pied Avocet

[Stu Bowie]

The first few mornings in Cape Town during my holidays were extremely windy, which didnt make great for birds in flight, at this location anyway. I was very happy on this particular morning to have no wind, which in turn gave me pretty calm waters.
The Pied Avocet arrived and started feeding in shallows waters. He was very busy, and it took me ages to get a decent HA, even this wasnt the best, but the best I managed. Ive captured better reflections too, but felt this was clear enought to include in the image. Taken at the Milnerton Lagoon, a suburb of Cape Town, early morning.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/2000
F/7.1
ISO 640

Exp comp +0.33
Hand held

[Dvir Barkay]

Wish we had those here. Great pose, and the reflection is also pretty good. It looks a bit too sharp for me, but otherwise great shot.

[keith mitchell]

Hi Stuart, Cape town is a great place to visit as I'm sure you found, fine wader looks very good to me and that's a great reflection.

Keith.

[Frank Schauf]

Very nice pose and reflection.

[christopher galeski]

nice one Stuart,nice pose and reflection,like the light,sharp with good detail.

[stuart wanuck]

nice great whites exposure eye does look slightly too sharp

[Bill Dix]

Quite a striking alternative to our American Avocet. The black and white, and that gorgeous red eye, stand out beautifully against the almost monochromatic BG. I'm OK with the reflection, but it would also make a lovely image without it.

[gail bisson]

This is exposed perfectly Stuart.
Love that reflection and the eye.
A keeper for sure,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the comments everyone. Always appreciated.

[BenBotha]

As always, spot on. Black and white handled very well.

Ben

[Holger Leyrer]

Nice image. Exposure control works very good an the red eye is killer. I like the reflection and the BG

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Gorgeous light that has rendered details in both the dark and bright areas. Expertly exposed and composed. Love the eye.

[Greg Oakley]

Wow - a beauty Stu! Interesting species which is closely related to our Red-necked Avocet. Great design with the reflection and perfectly exposed.
Looking forward to the upcoming cricket
Cheers, Greg

[John Robinson]

Excellent comp and exposure. I don't normally go for reflections but seems to work on this one.
John

[David Salem]

I love Avocets and this one is very beautiful. The exposure and details look great and I like the reflection. Nice work Stuart.

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you everyone. Always appreciated.