Midway #5: If I Told You Once..."

[Arthur Morris]

White Terns hang out in the trees and lay a single egg on a bare branch. A pair will sit together on a branch and when another bird flies by they have a cow! I think that the males are worried that someone will steal their girlfriend.

This image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/4.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Kiran Poonacha]

what cool looking birds guruji, never seen them.. I love the interacting pose and expo.. the open beaks really add well here..

one note could the tree trunk be done away as the branch in independent by itself..

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Kiran. I like the branch as a frame but perhaps a crop so that it starts as a point in the lower right. :)

[Kiran Poonacha]

yeah I agree Guru :)

[Ilija Dukovski]

This is too good, the wing spread it enough to make it great.
The birds are amazing. The action poses suggest an argument
between these two. I love the little blue feet, and the bluish beaks.
All topped with a perfect perch. I too agree with Kiran about
the tree trunk. I would get rid of it :)
Spectacular image!

[Vivek Kale]

very live image showing the interaction between the birds.
would like little more catchlight in the eye of right bird's eye.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, really liked this one. Lovely poses and wow on the DOF. I dont mind the tree trunk. What a bird.

[Ilija Dukovski]

One thing that I failed to notice is that the image was taken with 400mm lens.
How close will these birds allow you to get? Do they show any fear of humans or not?

[Grace Scalzo]

Wow wow wow. Am I allowed to say that here???? LOVE these birds and your creation.

[Martin Wallis]

I love the action caught. Also wish for catchlight in eye of right bird. With the MIV, would a higher ISO & therefore higher SS not have been an acceptable choice? Curious as I use a 40D. Cheers

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice interaction with the diagonal created by the wing in the left balancing the tree in the right. You were lucky the faces were in the same plane to get good DOF at f/4.
Glad you are having a good time.

[Brian E. Small]

Another lovely image Artie..............I thought the following might be of interest to you and other readers:

CHIPPING AWAY AT LAYSAN ALBATROSSES

There have been recent renewed calls to clean up 70 deadly lead paint-contaminated buildings on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge which are believed to be responsible for the deaths of many thousands of Laysan Albatross chicks since jurisdiction of Midway was transferred from the Navy to the Department of the Interior (DOI) in 1996.

Apparently, albatross chicks have been ingesting lead-based paint chips from the buildings, causing a variety of painful ailments and ultimately, slow deaths. After eating the chips, the chicks on Midway exhibit a condition called "droopwing, " which leaves them incapable of lifting their wings. Unable to fly, many eventually die of starvation and dehydration.

In 2006, the area encompassing Midway and its surrounding waters was included in President George Bush’s designation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Despite Midway’s previous designation as a National Wildlife Refuge and its location within the marine national monument, an estimated 10,000 of these seabirds die there each year.

About 70 percent of the world’s population of Laysan Albatrosses nests on Midway.

In a paper to be released in the scientific journal, ANIMAL CONSERVATION, Dr. Myra Finkelstein of the University of California-Santa Cruz and her co-authors, including scientists and managers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, concluded that the death of Laysan Albatross chicks from lead exposure on Midway has long-term consequences for the albatross population. By 2060, there could literally be 190,000 fewer albatrosses due to lead poisoning. By contrast, removing lead-based paint at this time could increase the population by up to 360,000 by 2060. These are significant figures for long-lived birds like albatrosses.

It has been estimated that $5.6 million would need to be invested to clean up the toxic lead paint on Midway Atoll. Approximately 70 of the buildings would have to be stripped of all lead-based paint, and the sand surrounding these old buildings would require sifting to remove the paint chips.

A number of wildlife and conservation groups (e.g., the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the Conservation Council for Hawaii, and the Hawaii Audubon Society) have called on Congress to direct sufficient funding to Midway to address this problem. You can find more information at:
www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/100202.html

[Myer Bornstein]

Lovely image and I agree with the catch light the eye on the right looks dull

[Mack Hicks]

I really like how the detail of the whites stand out. I also like the tree trunk in the frame. Is the catch light in the bird on the left from flash or did you add it? Also, could you have selectively lightened the right bird's eye?

[Bruce Enns]

Hi Artie, Beautiful exposure, composition (I like the tree trunk), and great action. I always love spread wings.
There is a segment on this species in Richard Attenborough's BBC Life of Birds series, about the single egg placed on a bare branch...what possible evolutionary advantage could that provide? Saves the energy of nest-building, but how many eggs end up scrambled, especially on those often windy islands?

Great image Artie!

Cheers!
Bruce

[Arthur Morris]

One thing that I failed to notice is that the image was taken with 400mm lens.
How close will these birds allow you to get? Do they show any fear of humans or not?

Or not. This image was taken with the 70-200 f/4, a 1.4X II TC, and a 25mm extension tube :)

[Arthur Morris]

I really like how the detail of the whites stand out. I also like the tree trunk in the frame. Is the catch light in the bird on the left from flash or did you add it? Also, could you have selectively lightened the right bird's eye?

Thanks Mack. The catchlight in the eye of the left hand bird is natural. :) I did lighten the eye of the bird on the right a bit but they are black beads! Thanks for stopping by.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Or not. This image was taken with the 70-200 f/4, a 1.4X II TC, and a 25mm extension tube :)

extension tube:eek:, THAT IS CLOSE

Oh wow, that is truly beautiful. Only now I realize that they have a black eye-ring around the black eye.
They really love contrast:)
It just came to my mind that the Ivory Gull, also a pure white bird, also has completely black eye.
Interesting convergence.

[Doug Brown]

Not much left to say Artie. Fine image! I'm also impressed with the 70-200 image taken with an extension tube!

[Arthur Morris]

Another lovely image Artie..............I thought the following might be of interest to you and other readers:

CHIPPING AWAY AT LAYSAN ALBATROSSES

There have been recent renewed calls to clean up 70 deadly lead paint-contaminated buildings on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge which are believed to be responsible for the deaths of many thousands of Laysan Albatross chicks since jurisdiction of Midway was transferred from the Navy to the Department of the Interior (DOI) in 1996.

Thanks Brian. I think that the unfathomable amounts of small plastic items in our oceans might account for more chick mortality than the lead but nobody is even considering a solution for that....

[Paul Lagasi]

Gorgeous birds..lovely image, sharp well composed..really like the blue bill...never seen this species before...big thanks for posting