Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)

[Jonathan Ashton]

HH Canon 5D IV Canon 500mm f4 l IS II + 1.4TC
Auto ISO 640 -0.3, 1/2000 sec f7.1

ACR + PSCC
I think the chick hatched over the weekend, I suspect there is another chick deeper in the nest.

[annmpacheco]

Lovely image Jon, i like the setting, the action, chick and the fine detail you captured. Very impressive nest as well! Looking forward to the chicks as they grow!

[Dorian Anderson]

Interesting to see it handling the egg. Never knew their eggs were blue! The scene is really, really busy, but it's an interesting behavioral shot regardless.

[John Mack]

Pretty interesting frame you have captured. The egg is nice. Barely noticed the little one.

[David Roach]

So similar to our great blue herons, just slightly different coloration. Can't wait to see the little ones as they pop further out of the nest. TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

Pretty neat view from above the nest! Looks like foliage growing on the nest tree, so you may have some nice greenery surrounding the nest in a few weeks. Bummer about the BG though, not much you can do except to photograph wide-open and move around to see if there is a better spot (which I suspect there isn't). An overcast day would help minimize the lit streaky highlights and deeper shadows back there. Anyhow, cool to see, and it should provide you with lots of fun as the chick(s) grow.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone. The background is not ideal but I can live with it. after all this is the sort of place they inhabit, they choose these locations intentionally. I did in fact lower contrast saturation and definition on the background.