OK. OK. I'm Leaving.

[Bill Dix]

This one's a bit odd and probably won't appeal to most, but I wanted to show the behavior. There were six Oystercatchers on this stretch of beach at Sandy Hook last week. Five of them got along nicely, but whenever the sixth one (this juvenile) tried to join the group, the rest would cause a ruckus and chase him away. I don't know what the group dynamics were or what he did to incur their wrath.

D90 | 500f4 + 1.4TC | ISO 400 | 1/1000s @ f/9 | +0.3 EV

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

I like the behaviour shown and the story behind it. Sharp on the main subjects, well exposed, like the colors of the beach with birds browns, guys in back add sense of crowd, group activity.

I might town down a few of the brightest specular highlights in the background, along the little 'stream' on the beach .

Cheers

Randy

[Bob Pelkey]

Great natural historical record. It's unfortunate the head of the oystercatcher in flight is slightly blurred. This is where the sharpest part of the image would ideally be IMO. I would speculate that the juvenile belonging to the group of birds seen was the most aggressive toward the intruder to ensure a potential free lunch from its parents.

[Bill Dix]

Great natural historical record. It's unfortunate the head of the oystercatcher in flight is slightly blurred. This is where the sharpest part of the image would ideally be IMO. I would speculate that the juvenile belonging to the group of birds seen was the most aggressive toward the intruder to ensure a potential free lunch from its parents.

You're right, Bob. I had been focusing on the foreground juvi (the one being chased away), thinking he was about to take off. I suppose if I had re-focused on the rear juvi, at f9 I might have kept them both sharp. The parents had been feeding one of the youngsters. The other was, as you suggest, probably hoping for a free meal.

[Stu Bowie]

Bill, good detail and sharpness on the juvi OC, and Im surprised the OC jumping in the air isnt sharp at F/9 and your 1/1000 ss. The comp is well balanced, and I like the mixture of blues and browns in the BG.

[noelle zaleski]

Love the title Bill. I too often wonder what is going on when you see this type of behavior in birds.

Nice behavioral image and well balanced comp

It's been a couple of months since I have been down to the Hook, I will have to take a trip soon.

[Bill Dix]

Love the title Bill. I too often wonder what is going on when you see this type of behavior in birds.

Nice behavioral image and well balanced comp

It's been a couple of months since I have been down to the Hook, I will have to take a trip soon.

Thanks for looking, Noelle. Before you go to the Hook, you might want to check to see if they've opened the False Hook to public access. That's where most of the shorebird activity seems to be, but they've had it closed all summer, as usual, to protect the Plover nestlings.

[Arthur Morris]

I like the framing and the fact that you have the front bird sharp. BTW, there are two juvies in the photograph.