Secretary Bird

[Stu Bowie]

I am blessed with a nature reserve close to where I live, and when driving around one morning, I noticed this Secretary Bird walking in the grasslands. I took a gamble and drove to a road a little distance away knowing that if I parked, he should walk straight towards me. Well instead, something must have spooked him and he took off, but at least towards me. This was one of the resulting captures from my car. Taken early morning.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 100-400mm @ 400mm
1/1600
F/8.0
ISO 640

Manual exposure
Hand Held from my car

[John Whaley]

Great IQ and tack sharp. I like the wings up pose but it is the ha and direct eye contact that makes this one interesting. It looks like the bird is looking out of the frame and works well. The blacks in the tail feathers appear slightly chocked on my screen.

[annmpacheco]

Hi Stu, you've got a really good "secretary!" This bird looks like it has some wear and tear and perhaps a battle scar... Lovely colors and exposure, perhaps lifting the shadows a wee bit. Tack sharp and I like the HA and eye contact. Is that a long rear feather that hasn't unfurled yet, Im not very familiar w this species... You must have been very happy with this cooperative bird, well done.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Stu, nice work... beautiful bird nicely shown. I am not familiar with the bird so cannot comment on colors etc.. Good HS and detail, thank you for sharing.

[Stu Bowie]

Is that a long rear feather that hasn't unfurled yet,

Thanks Ann. The ' long tail feather ' is actually two elongated central tail feathers that project well beyond the remainder of the tail.

Thank you John and Joe for your feedback.

[Randy Stout]

Stu:

Well played to get this image. He does look primitive, gaze is perfect, nice wings up pose. Agree about the blacks, easy fix I should think.

It certainly is a blessing to have a good site nearby.

Cheers

Randy

[Glenn Pure]

Wow, what a beauty with a great head turn and spectacular detail. Hard to get much better than this. Not sure you'll be able to get much more out of those blacks in the tail but probably worth a try.

[Jay Ing]

That face! love it.

[gail bisson]

This is excellent Stu. These birds are usually on the ground and it is difficult to get them in flight.
Great head turn and I love the light.
Gail

[Isaac Grant]

Love this one Stu. Beautiful pose and image quality. The only one of these that I saw flew over the road and I never did get to see them walking. Hopefully I will get another chance one day.

[Debapratim Saha]

Wow! Amazing BIF in lovely light and eye contact with great detail,an excellent shot.

[David Salem]

Rock Star Stu!!! Who has a killer sharp image of a secretary bird in flight??. I don't even think they fly to often so very well done getting this unique frame.
Glad something spooked him!!