Tricky Meal

Gallery: AvianPosted September 5, 2014134 views14 comments

Greenshank with three spined Stickleback.
I,ve been wanting to increase my wader files for some time now but living in central England, its not that easy ! I spent 6 hours in a small cramped hide at a new site my mate and I have worked on and managed to get Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, and Greenshank- so things are looking up. The Greenshank was a real bonus as it did its usual thing and I got shots but then right in front of the hide it caught a Stickleback. We did'nt even know there were any in there as the water is a couple of inches over mud ! We have seen King fishers dealing with the spines by whacking the prey on a stick but this with the Greenshank was amazing.!
It took at least 5 minutes for it to finally swallow it ! So amusing ! It kept throwing it in the air- turning it around- trying to break the spines off etc,etc. It finally went down and the shots were a real bonus - to me anyway. I had a job to walk after the cramped hide but it was worth it.. Loads more of different Stickle back positions if any one interested.

Nikon D 7100
Sigma 50-500 mm on 500mm
ISO 640
50th sec @f8
60% of frame
Curves in Paint Shop Pro
Neat Image.Thanks for looking
Cheers
JohnR

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on September 6, 2014 at 1:00 AM

Are you kidding me, John? What a fantastic shot...your timing is impeccable and then some. I don't remember ever seeing an image of a wading bird with the fish positioned this way in its mouth. This is very memorable. Two thumbs up!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on September 6, 2014 at 8:10 AM

Great shot John - top little story

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

Comment posted by John Robinson on September 6, 2014 at 8:39 AM

Thanks both.
To be honest I didn't realise waders ate fish !! Don't know why I assumed that.
Cheers
John

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on September 6, 2014 at 9:37 AM

Fantastic timing on this one. Great detail all around, even the fish. Well worth your hard work.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on September 6, 2014 at 9:57 AM

Heres on with the beak a bit sharper. Was the next frame in the sequence.

JohnRCheers

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on September 6, 2014 at 1:18 PM

Great timing on a tricky meal, John.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Tjie Poo on September 6, 2014 at 4:31 PM

Fantastic shot ! Great Timing ! The fish in the beak makes all the highlight !

Registered on December 4, 2012, 51 Posts, 511 Comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on September 6, 2014 at 9:07 PM

Wow, this is impressive, John!
Great image.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on September 6, 2014 at 11:30 PM

Here's another where he nearly lost it "
Thanks
JohnR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on September 7, 2014 at 9:19 AM

All three nice shots, I prefer the first with the fish spines showing, excellent work,

Ray

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on September 7, 2014 at 7:17 PM

Excellent, John. Amazing that you could get a shot like this at 1/50 sec exposure. Detail is great and I really like the pose and the Stickleback is a wonderful addition.

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

Comment posted by John Robinson on September 7, 2014 at 7:30 PM

Thanks all. Dennis - yes- you don't see the throw outs.!! You can see the movement on the upper mandible on the first one.
Cheers
john
Oooops !! Dennis just checked - its 500 not 50 th. !! Sorry about that.
Astute of you to mention it- I was beginning to wonder !!
Cheers
John

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on September 7, 2014 at 8:02 PM

Top shot for sure!! Great timing on the position of the fish. Glad you stuck with it and shared your experience. Thank you.

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on September 9, 2014 at 10:39 PM

Love this John. The position of the fish makes this really special. Congrats!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments