Secretary Bird

Gallery: AvianPosted July 18, 201198 views9 comments

Another nest building image, this time gathering the materials.

Taken in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park 22nd Hune 2011.

EOS 1D Mkiv

500mm F4 IS on bean bag through open window of our vehicle

F8, ISO 800, 1/4000

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on July 18, 2011 at 8:52 AM

Another beauty. Love the splash of orange amongst all that brown

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 18, 2011 at 10:48 AM

Great job getting the bird in crisp focus through all that intervening stuff, Ken-did you use manual on this? I like this composition.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on July 18, 2011 at 5:14 PM

Wonderful habitat, love the way the orange sticks out, excellent shot.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on July 18, 2011 at 8:03 PM

Really like the behavior here Ken and I love the way the nesting material is obviously the same plant species we can see in the setting. The facial colors pull the eye like a magnet to just the right place in the image.

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

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on July 19, 2011 at 12:09 AM

Thanks for all of your comments which I greatly appreciate.
Manual focus is something that I rarely use (my eyes are rubbish), I can only thank Canon for inventing AF, and now letting you easily move the AF point around.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on July 19, 2011 at 1:21 AM

Ken love the palette here ...and your choice of dof ..well done ..

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 19, 2011 at 5:18 PM

That is quite a mouthful, I like how the bird's color stands out in this setting, nice job in what looks like difficult environment.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 20, 2011 at 2:03 AM

That eye and orange cere really stands out in the monochromatic setting. Extra marks for the building materials. Would love to see one of these birds some day.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on July 20, 2011 at 3:40 AM

Thanks for your comments, greatly appreciated.

Gary,
They are remarkably attractive and fortunately often seen, we even have them , but rarely, near to where I live.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments