Long-billed Dowitcher

Wow. Nice. Love the light for sure. Great detail and sharpness on the bird. I love the pose and the squinting eye as well as the low angle, which brings me right into this bird's world.

Very nice light and I especially like the POV Richard.
I agree with Ron, it's an excellent piece of work.

Great light. Nice low angle and excellent detail. Another fine image by you.

Wonderful light, the bird really stands out against the background and the detail is excellent. Great work.

Ray

Hi Richard, The techs as always are spot on. Really love the pretty soft light. The large version is a must to see all the detail captured here.


Peter

I like the color of the water that frames this dowitcher -- subtle tones in the feathers really look good in the larger view

Nice and sharp from stem to stern. Really like the way the light seems to be reflecting off the water up onto the underside. Great to see the feeding behavior, bonus!

Beautiful light and pose, and I like the very tiny catchlight, Richard.

You got a nice low angle and some great light, Richard. I like the muted colors in this image and the squint on the dowitcher's eye.

The soft light on this is extremely nice Richard! As usual your techs are spot on. I like the pose you managed to capture as well!

Excellent comp Richard. The point of view is terrific and fine detail. Well done.

Richard,
This little guy sure looks very contented what with that little squint in the eye. Terrific light, colors are spot on, and very good feather detail. Looks like it could be a postcard to me Richard! Really nice work!!!

Nice detail and view of the bird making a living. Good work, Rich!

I can't imagine this being any better.

Light and viewing angle are what strikes me most about this shot, Richard. No question, it is simply beautiful. The only thing I miss here is some sense of motion. There is no splashing, no motion blur, no indication as to how long the bird remains in this position. I suspect that if you are familiar with the bird you don't miss the information. However, I've never seen this bird and the question pops into my mind immediately. From Sibley's I understand that Dowitchers "probe with a rapid up-and-down movement" termed "stitching". Amazing how this fellow doesn't even make a splash! Anyway, superior work as usual, Richard.

Light and viewing angle are what strikes me most about this shot, Richard. No question, it is simply beautiful. The only thing I miss here is some sense of motion. There is no splashing, no motion blur, no indication as to how long the bird remains in this position. I suspect that if you are familiar with the bird you don't miss the information. However, I've never seen this bird and the question pops into my mind immediately. From Sibley's I understand that Dowitchers "probe with a rapid up-and-down movement" termed "stitching". Amazing how this fellow doesn't even make a splash! Anyway, superior work as usual, Richard.

- Steve Balke

Yes, "stitching" describes the normal feeding motion well. It is very fast, and it is the reason that I toss out most of the close shots I get of this species. Timing the shutter release to those micro times that the bird's head is not in motion can be tricky. Sometimes they pause briefly when they are probing around. Here's the companion shot I posted in April with the bill under water.

Nice light and point of view. Nicely done.

I love that feeding pose, Richard. Really nice light and I like the way you composed this. Very, very nice.

really nice, Rich--great pose, nice light, good dof for this pose. I like the squinting eye.

WOW!!!! Love the light and the pose. Detail superb, composition excellent. Top notch image. Well done.

Love the light here, a beauty.

Very nice, I like the warm lighting and the feeding pose

Excellent capture Richard.
May