American Bittern
by Dennis Plank
Another Bittern from Ridgefield. I heard this guy calling when I stopped where Craig told me there should be Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Eventually it actually came out onto a dike and when through it's display routine several times for me. Luckily, I had my 300mm and 1DIV handy because it was way too close for the 7D and 500mm lens.
1DmkIV, 300 mm f4 ISL, hand held, f9, 1/200, Av mode with no compensation, processed in CS6. Cropped to 13MP for balance and to remove a cable barrier from the top of the image (still had to clone a bit of it out to get enough room on top). I discovered that the bill vibrates or moves fast at certain portions of the display. My shutter speeds were nowhere near high enough to stop it.
Your comments and criticisms are most appreciated.
Thanks for looking,
Comments
8 commentsThe bitterns seem to be putting a great show this year. I was out there on Monday and got another great opportunity with one bellowing, sounds like the same area you're describing.
Ken Archer