White-faced Herons

[Tony Whitehead]

Had our first cool front of the autumn this past week but back to 28 degree (Celsius) summer yesterday. On a trip up to the beach I found these two sharing a perch with some interesting interactions when changing places. The light is harsh but I like the captured interaction. If the bird on the right had had it's head in the shadow it would have been a bin job.
Nikon D700
Nikon 500 VR2 + 1.4x
ISO 800 1/2500 f8 HH
LR3 PS4 Viveza2
All comments, suggestions and advice appreciated.

[Fabs Forns]

Beautiful birds and interesting behavior. I'd soften the shadow across the face, don't know why, but shadows bother me a lot. Were they courting?

[Doug Brown]

Cool interaction. Like the open bill of the bird on the right. Wish we had better eye contact from either bird. Too bad about the harsh light.

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

Looks like they are going round and round. Nice colors in the birds, good BG, interesting perch.

Agree about the shadows.

How big are these guys?

Randy

[Wayne Ellis]

Great interaction Tony

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Tony, this looks like some sort of "getting to know you" behaviour. Both herons are sharp, and I like the overall blues and greys in this.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Tony, nice interaction. The photo captures it very well too. I'd prefer a more central placement of the subjects though. But that might be a matter of personal taste.

[Tony Whitehead]

Thanks for the comments everyone.
Fabs, I don't think they were courting - we are in the wrong season down here. They were just sharing a perch during the high tide and would occasionally exchange places and be a bit assertive in the process.
Randy, they are just a little smaller than a Reddish Egret.