I baited this moorhen at Heaton Park so that I could catch it as well as photograph it. The bird had fishing line around its right foot. Unfortunately I was not successful in catching it. The bird as imaged is walking up a steep bank which makes its gait appear awkward. The grey background is an ice frozen lake. I was photographing from the prone position with my lens up against a wrought iron fence which made tracking a bit problematic.
Another 2010 image
Canon 40D
Canon 100-400 @ 400mm
ISO 400
f7.1
1/640
Processed with elements 2, 25% crop, levels and sharpening applied.
Its rather late in England right now, you must be a bit of a night owl!
Very unusual gait, as you mentioned. Great shooting angle. I suspect that was quite cold.
Wish the light angle had been just a bit more behind you to give more illumination to the 'dark' side of the face, body. I certainly enjoy having enough of a light angle to give a sense of form from the shadows, but the very bright background makes this one a bit of a challenge for me, at least.
Nice exposure to keep details in the Moorhen against the light snow. The good eye contact and raised foot provide a lot of interest. Agree that sun angle was a bit off. This looks like one determined bird, too bad you couldn't get the fishing line off its leg.
It's not every day we see a moorhen in the snow, this makes it a nice surprise for the theme! Pretty neat stance here, and thanks for the explanation behind it. Quite a huge foot. The side lighting does provide drama here, for a dramatic event, but I do get the points made about it.
Last edited by Daniel Cadieux; 01-24-2016 at 07:42 PM.
Moorhen
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