Namaqua Sandgrouse (Pterocles Namaqua)

[Dave Barnes]

Namaqua Sandgrouse prefer gravel desert and sandy semi-desert, open arid and semi-arid dwarf scrubland with or without grassland,
sandy savannah with denser vegetation,but generally where average annual rainfall is less than 300mm.
They prefer exposed waterholes with little surrounding vegetation and do not drink brackish or salty water.
The bird does not perch, so cannot drink from troughs or reservoirs unless there is a leak.

Camera Model Name Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/2000
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation +2/3
ISO Speed 400

[Mital Patel]

beautiful shot. nice moment with the couple. open bill of female and droplets looks quite impressive

[christopher galeski]

nice shot Dave,the bird blowing bubbles looks sharpest on my screen:D,not having seen these birds in real life,I presume the bird on the right is the male.thanks for showing.

[Arthur Morris]

The water drops with the female are way cool. You might wish to smooth out the BKGR with a Gaussian blur.

[Dave Barnes]

Arthur you may still one day make a photographer out of me.:D
Thanks, I hope you think this is better, I do.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Dave, great alert pose from the male, and love the trail of the droplets from the female. Both look sharp to me, with good detail and colours. Great capture.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great to see two in a frame. I like the behavior and angle, the repost looks better. Thanks for the explanation.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Dave, I really appreciated the drinking behaviour explained by you - thanks for including that. The BG does look better now, but I can't help but feel the image needs some CCW rotation. A catchlight on the female would have been great, although I realize the lihgt angle did not naturally permit it at that time.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Stu, axel and Daniel, your comments are appreciated.
Daniel I will look at the rotation.

[Mohanram Kemparaju]

Very nice picture, the female takes the cake and thanks for the behaviour notes as well.

[David Fletcher]

Done well to get both sharp Dave. the ha of the male and the water drops of the female are a killer double whammy. Repost looks good.

[Peregrine Craig Nash]

Saw these in Namibia but didnt get a shot like this. Very Nice Nice to see Male and female together!

[Nate Chappell]

Great portrait of this pair, love the water droplets!

[Kiran Poonacha]

I loved the OP, great to get both in a very natural momemt, loved the droplets... congrats..

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Mohanram, Dave, Nate and Kiran you comments are appreciated as always.