African Black Oystercatcher

[Dave Barnes]

Image capture at the West Coast National Park.
You are allowed out of your vehicle at this coastal National Park as there are no predators.
The oystercatcher is rarer than the Southern right whale and there are no more than 5 000 birds in the world.
Despite its rarity in global terms, the oystercatcher is common in certain locations.

Camera Model Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/2500
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Compensation +1

[Fabs Forns]

Beautiful bird in a nice action pose. Very good EXp on the blacks, although for my taste I'd like to see it a bit darker. The rock on the lower left provides a good grounding, but I'd get rid of the tiny bit of tail showing over it.

[LouBuonomo]

Cool action, agree with Fabs on the little tail.. Wow one of only 5K birds.

Nice work,
Lou

[Stu Bowie]

I like the landing posture Dave, and good job on the blacks. I agree about the tail, but since the rock is so small in the frame, I would get rid of it too. Its too small to anchor the image. My favourate marine bird, and I unfortunately didnt get to see enough of them. Well captured BTW.

[Ted Willcox]

Nice flight image. Agree with Fabs. Looks like our Black Oystercatchers here on the westcoast. The ones here have a bright orange eye ring and a yellow iris. The legs are a pale pink. The body colour and the beak colour look the same as your African Oystercatcher.
Ted

[James Salywoda]

Great pose captured I'd hit this one with some more sharpening.

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks for looking and for comments.
Here is a revised post:
I have darkened the blacks and removed the offending tail. (sloppy PP)
i have also rerun the sharpening on the bird.
I trust you will find it an improvement.

[Ted Willcox]

Your repost is a big improvement. "Only when we see it the second time, we realize we should have done it the first time" Well done
Ted

[Dave Barnes]

Thanks Ted, appreciated.