Skimmer Squabble

[Bill Dix]

From high above, with wings swept fully back, the rear bird made a vertical dive straight for the other bird, dipping at the last nanosecond to avoid skewering him. No one has yet explained to me whether this is just play or serious aggression. In any case, I'd hate to be skewered by that bill. From Nickerson at 7:45 AM on 3 August.

D7200, 500f4, ISO 800, 1/2500s @ f/9 manual.

[annmpacheco]

Way to go Bill, so happy for you to catch this action! The front skimmer with its clear eye and open beak really shines, as well as those detailed wings. The back skimmer in shadow is a smart guy taking the underbelly approach. Exposure is perfect, i enjoyed this very much!

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Great squabble capture, Bill. Like the position of the wings on both, forward bird with open beak, clearly see eyes, and nice shade of blue in sky. This is an outstanding behavioral image. Well done.

Geoffrey

[keith mitchell]

You have caught this beautifully Bill,black and white very well exposed and just enough colour in the bill to lift it all,nice work.

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Bill, my honest critique is that this image ins't working for me. The front skimmer is great but the hind skimmer fell in the shadow of the from one and the catchlight that you added in post looks very fake and unnatural unfortunately. the way two birds are intersecting with each other just doesn't work for me

TFS

[Eric Dienesch]

a great action picture in my eyes

[Arthur Morris]

I find it really interesting with the birds almost intertwined (though the shadow is a big bummer). You could work on opening it up with NIK... These interactions are quite serious but I have never witnessed one bird injuring another.

a

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all. Yes, the shadow was a bummer, and I'll try to bring it up a bit with some add'l processing. But I thought the interaction was worth sharing. Arash, there was in fact just the hint of a catchlight showing in the RAW file, which I overdid when trying to bring it up.

[Marina Scarr]

I can see why you like this image and this behavior is fun to watch and difficult to capture. They sure do attack each other over the colonies down here in FL. Love the front bird and wish the back bird weren't in shadow.