American Bittern

[hugh robateau]

This image was captured at Bolsa Chica Wildlife Reserve in CA., a few weeks ago. Not the best angle and could be sharper but I was still happy to get this bird in flight. Comments and suggestions appreciated. Thanks for looking.
Nikon D3
1/1000s f/8.0 at 850.0mm iso640

[Fabs Forns]

Hi Hugh,

Not an easy bird to get to in the open, much less flying, I only have one in flight, and we have a resident in the Everglades :(

Maybe some shadow/highlight to get more detail out of the wing? Background is cream and peaches, much a D3 image :)

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

I always love the warm colors,nice flight shot and sharp eye!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I don't mind it this way - the bittern stands out nicely from the background. At least the eye is lit up!!

[Rich Ikerd]

Excellent Hugh. Tough to get them in such nice light and background.

[Gail Yovanovich]

A real nice shot, Hugh, of a difficult-to-capture bird under any circumstances, let alone flying. A know a lot of people consider it a no-no, but I would flip the photo so the flying bird leads the eye across the image. I like the background a lot - wonderful, warm colors. You might try a little shadow-highlight on the underside of the wings. I'd like to have this one in my own photo library!

Cheers...Gail.

[Bonnie Block]

Could be sharper, yes--but I like it never-the-less. Great bg and colors. A rare image of a flying bittern!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great capture and wing position. I also like the complementing BG. I agree with Fabs regarding S/H on the wings.