Three's a Crowd

Gallery: AvianPosted April 20, 2011119 views7 comments

I went to Bolsa Chica, California to check out a GBH nest which I heard that the tall snag which it was on was blown down. When I got there, I was told by some birders that the pair had relocated to a nearby palm tree and were doing fine. They also pointed out the Tree Swallow activity by a hole in the topple snag. A pair was preping an nest site and were defending it. They were too fast so I tried to ambush them. I prefocused in front of the nest hole and shoot whenever activity was near my area of focus. I think it worked.
I should have lowered my ISO (dumb) to increase the DOF. But I kind of like the activity I captured.

Cropped to 50% of full frame.

Comments are appreciated.

04-14-8:05 a.m.
Canon 7D
EF 500 4.0L
Exp Comp – +0.3
F/5.0
1/2000
ISO 640
Tripod

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 20, 2011 at 11:55 PM

Harry, you caught some nice action here!
I like the one squawking!
A greater DOF would have helped them all be in focus, and hopefully still allowed a fast enough SS to catch the action.
Nice!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 21, 2011 at 12:16 AM

Good strategy, Harry, and a nice capture of some great interaction.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 21, 2011 at 2:32 AM

I think I would'a been flummoxed by the sudden appearance of so many choices and messed the whole thing up - LOL ;^p Well done for keeping your head to get this much Harry :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on April 21, 2011 at 8:43 AM

Nice action image. IMHO you could have shifted to your left you might have been able to get the head of the swallow on the right against the sky so it would not blend in with the trunk of the tree. Better than anything I have been able to get of swallows at the nest. Thanks for sharing, shows it can be done.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on April 21, 2011 at 10:22 AM

Interesting shot Harry. I like the interaction and the separation of the birds. More DOF would have been nice if you could have pulled it off. There seems to be a dust spot above the left birds left wing.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 21, 2011 at 5:11 PM

Harry, yes; more dof would have been nice in this case but I think prefocusing on the area the birds were in was a great idea. I've done that often with the Black-billed Magpies buidling their nest here. Some times it works great other times I found myself wishing for more dof too. Live and learn. The bird that draws my attention the most here is the one with the bill open, the look it is giving the invader says it all. Beautiful colors. I see the dust bunny Ron D mentioned, that would be easy to get rid off.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Heironymus on April 21, 2011 at 9:42 PM

Pretty cool interaction!!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 36 Posts, 1110 Comments