Winter Great Blue Heron

[Jim Fenton]

Received my Nikon 600VR this past Friday and headed out late afternoon to try it out on some eagles...which of course avoided me like the plague :(

I did find a great blue heron literally swimming in an opening of the river, attempting to beat up on some common mergansers who were catching catfish...and who were much fater than the heron!

This particular image is of the heron as it took flight directly out of the water and then turned sharply in an attempt to once again pounce on merganser.

The stuff on the waters surface is ice and a handful of these birds have been here all winter.

Nikon D300s, 600VR, TC14EII, ISO 800, f7.1, 1/5000, NearUniWB preset, cw metering, -0.3 Ev compensation

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose and good sharpness but the BG makes this one for me. I would only lighten the shadows a bit.

[KathieThomas]

It's an odd pose really. As the photo slowly downloads (limited download here) the top wing looks very much like it has an eye in it. In fact, it almost looks like a croc's head but with feathers on the far end. Rather strange really - kind of gives the photo a whole different perspective. Great shot though.

[david cramer]

You certainly "froze" the action (pun intended) with that shutter speed. Nice detail and love the unique pose. BG is interesting but I'd darken it some to help the heron pop. Hope you are enjoying the 600vr!

[Stu Bowie]

Good DOF to have both wing tips in good focus, and these herons can certainly get into interesting postures for their size. I like the overall blue/grey colours in this.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like this one as is Jim...the ice is just awesome. Only wish is that it would have been nice to see at least a bit of either the feet or tail. I see Kathie's comment about the "croc-wing"...very cool observation!!:D

[Dan Wolin]

I like this one - great capture and while I agree that trying to darken the background may isolate the bird better, I still like it as is. The ice is a background you do not see these guys against very often.

[Kurt Bowman]

I love the colors and the flight pose is very cool. The BG adds a lot to this for me.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the bank shot which really shows the wingspan of the GBH!

[Grace Scalzo]

Congrats on the new lens. Really different image, I do not recall ever seeing something like this. The ice really makes it.

[Nancy A Elwood]

Hi Jim! I really like this one. The BG and the angle of flight is just wonderful. So weird seeing these birds with ice:). Well done!! Looks like you are getting on with the new toy. Big congrats!