Red-Billed Hornbill

[Ken Watkins]

Taken in Kwando Concession, Northern Botswana 25th December 2008

EOS 1D MkIII

500mm F4 IS Hand-held

F9, 1/2500, ISO800, EV+2/3rds

[Arthur Morris]

This is quite a wonderful image. Love the perch and the sky. EXP, sharpness, and head angle all good.

[Bob Malbon]

To add to Art's comment : I love the cloud band! bob

[Doug Brown]

The open bill makes this one for me! Well done on all counts.

[Tony Whitehead]

Great job, Ken. Lovely angle, light, pose and BG. I normally get frustrated by getting a steep angle on these when walking in the bush and if on the back of a vehicle they soon depart if it stops.

[Juan Aragonés]

Neat pose and fantastic eye contact. Love the open bill and the perch. very well done

[Mark Schmitt]

I am not a fan of bright, featureless skies: so, I really like the clouds in the BG. Great image.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Great bird! Great perch, terrific detail and exposure, lovely comp. Congratulaitons!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool image. I like the details, open bill and BG and might try to get more details in the shadows.

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks to everybody for their kind comments. We were having a very quiet day on the animal side of things and this opportunity came up. A fairly common bird which is not usually found in such a good position, the normal blue sky was subdued by the imminent rain clouds. I am very pleased with it myself the best picture I have ever taken on Christmas Day.