Western Grebes "rushing"

[Mike Lentz]

Last weekend I headed north to one of my favorite lakes in pursuit of the spring mating "rushing" displays of the Western Grebes. It was quite an experience and I look forward to sharing a variety of images from this series.

This one was taken under cloudy conditions.



Nikon D300 ~ Nikkor 300mm F/2.8 with 1.4x Nikon TC
ISO 800 ~ F/7.1 ~ 1/4000 sec ~

[Tony Whitehead]

Fascinating behaviour, Mike. Flying water and poses well captured. Cloud cover probably best for the contrast plumage. Looks a little soft - was this a significant crop? Looking forward to more from this series.

[Randy Stout]

Mike:

Great behavior shot. I have not seen this one before.

I really like the neck,wing position, splashing water, soft light. Red eyes!

I do agree with Tony about it being slightly soft, but still very interesting capture.

Bring them on!

Randy

[Mike Lentz]

Fascinating behaviour, Mike. Flying water and poses well captured. Cloud cover probably best for the contrast plumage. Looks a little soft - was this a significant crop? Looking forward to more from this series.

Hi Tony, its cropped about 2% as it was tilted a hair and the original is tack sharp. :D

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great behavior captured, I also like the soft light and setting. Did you add canvas on the left? It looks like repetitive patterns in the BG and water. I might blur the reeds a bit more.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Really like the action you captured in this image and the splashing water behind. The out stretched necks really is quite interesting and your timing was perfect. Thanks for sharing Mike!!

[Mike Lentz]

Great behavior captured, I also like the soft light and setting. Did you add canvas on the left? It looks like repetitive patterns in the BG and water. I might blur the reeds a bit more.

Your too darn good! :D

[Fabs Forns]

This is adorable, Mike, perfect timing on your part and well done!

[Derek Griggs]

Very nice Mike, interesting behavior! looks like I should spend more time over here to see what your up too. :)

[Stu Bowie]

Mike, you certainly wont get glass calm water with action like this. Superb action, with droplets all over, and I like the mimic of each other. The overcast conditions has helped with the exposure, and those red eyes stand out nicely. Well captured.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice action. Bet that was fun to watch. Saw my first one of these about two weeks ago. He's by himself so no dancing but maybe I'll get lucky here in the coming weeks.