Fish On

[Wicked Dark]

So by now you guys know I'm not a wildlife photographer by any stretch. An amazing thing happened yesterday though. My flickr friend Ed and I met up for lunch and a quick walk down by the Merrimack River. There's a junction where a small brook feeds into the big river and we were shooting in there when a young GBH came to join us about 20 feet away. At first we didn't dare move for fear of it flying off, you know how skittish they are. But it didn't seem to care much about what we did. Unfortunately I didn't have a long lens with me and so couldn't get a more isolated shot that this -



It's taken with my normal zoom lens at an amazing 1/15 of a second. Before they strike, GBHes are still as statues. The little girl/guy caught 3 fishes while we watched. I've never been so close to one without it either being dead or flying away (Ed and I saw a dead one about 1/2 hour earlier than this much nicer encounter). Amazing hunters they are...so fast it's like you blink and suddenly they have a fish. Anyway, even as we packed up and walked away, it just watched us impassively.

[Bambi]

that shot is terrific. well done!

[Hillbillygirl]

Very nicely done WD. A few more chance encounters like this, with such nice results and you'll be hooked, and spending all kinds of money on super-telephoto lenses.

[Marko]

OH I like that you framed this nicely so quickly. Dig the comp and sharpness.

BUUUUT can you nature photogs help out an illiterate bird/plant guy? GBH..... Is that GBH a Great big Heron?

[Hillbillygirl]

OH I like that you framed this nicely so quickly. Dig the comp and sharpness.

BUUUUT can you nature photogs help out an illiterate bird/plant guy? GBH..... Is that GBH a Great big Heron?

GBH could stand for Great Big Heron......but usually, Great Blue Heron.

[Iguanasan]

A very lovely shot, WD. I love the moving water.

[Wicked Dark]

Thanks guys. I think the trick was that we were there making noise and doing stuff when it flew in to us, we didn't happen upon it. It moved a few times, but I adjusted my tripod a bit so I could give it some more foreground and the water was a bonus. Manual focus on the head, couldn't get the focus point to line up consistently every time the bird moved, so I just did it by hand.

[Mad Aussie]

Sometimes it's nice to see the bird in a more environment photo than just a portrait I think.

[Wicked Dark]

Thanks, Steve. I secretly like that aspect about it, but didn't want to say anything. I really wish I'd gotten some of it catching fish, but it was too fast and also moved to a part of the brook (just a few feet away) that had a big tree down with lots of hanging branches obscuring the view.

[JAS_Photo]

Very nice capture, WickedD. Very cool encounter.