brad_n Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>I visited the nest again yesterday. That makes them about 1 1/2 weeks hold: suspecting that 2 are a day or so younger. I expected to see them out of the nest romping around the limbs and actively encouraging their folks for <strong>more food</strong> ! But for three hours they sat quitely in their nest just peering out and looking hopeful. Then one, the obvious leader and most likely to succeed, came teetering out on a limb, literally. I was having visions of jumping into the water to save some fallen chick. Then another one followed but the last two chicks didn't venture out. <br /><br /><em>Note to self. Get an 600/f4.</em><br /><br />Its interesting that in the 4 hours that I was there no adult came to the nest. They did several <em>fly-bys</em> chucking loudly at me in case I didn't notice.<br> It was 100% cloud cover with occassional peaks of sunshine causing the exposure and the white point to change a bit between photos. The color of the first is most correct although it is a bit over saturated.<br /><br /><img src="http://smile-123.smugmug.com/photos/587068058_z2wX9-L.jpg" alt="" /><br> <br />Pentax K20D, Sigma 50-500 at 450, ISO400, f9.5 at 1/250 sec, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer. About 50 ft.<br /><br /><img src="http://smile-123.smugmug.com/photos/587068029_CSCeF-L.jpg" alt="" /><br> <br />Pentax K20D, Sigma 50-500 at 450, ISO 400, f11 at 1/250 sec, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer. About 50 ft.<br> <img src="http://smile-123.smugmug.com/photos/587068003_mB58w-L.jpg" alt="" /><br> <br />Pentax K20D, Sigma 50-500 at 450, ISO 400, f13 at 1/250 sec, FGZ540 Flash and Better Beamer. About 50 ft.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_gay Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Wow... Great series! (Green Heron's are a fav of mine).<br> If you have not done so already, I hope you will post the images on <a href="http://birdsite.org">http://birdsite.org</a>, too. It attracts lots of birders who will appreciate your contribution.<br> Cheers...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scot Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Nice stuff.<br> You mentioned the adults being absent for a while; I know where they were: They were eating the goldfish in my backyard pond.</p> <p>cheers,<br> Scot</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob-c Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Nice work, Brad. I hope you will be able to continue observing, (shooting) their progress. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgredline Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Very nice work. I am enjoying this very much. You are fortunate to be able to do this.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagar Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Those are great Brad. That's pretty good resolution, too. Are you happy with the better Beamer in general? The results certainly look pretty good.. Thanks again for sharing :-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaloot Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>This is neat you're able to document all this. I'm not a bird man and don't know them... but they dont look green....</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserere_mei Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>I like the mowhawk look they've got going :-)</p> <p>Brad, I don't think you need a 600/4. How much did you crop these pics? With such big birds you need the DoF, so f/4 would be throwing money down the drain. I'm sure you know all this. Didn't you have a 1.4x for your Bigma?</p> <p>In any case, you've done a great job here and you should be happy. I am *very* happy that it was you sitting out there for 4 hours while I only had to spend 4 minutes enjoying your results :-D</p> <p>I'll be waiting for the photo of that brave bird taking his first flying lesson.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad_n Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Thank you all.</p> <p>Haig: I am generally happy with the beamer. In certain situations it and a powerful flash can make a difference: one is in the thick like this, the other is a white bird against a blank sky, and sometimes by softening the shadows under an overhead bird. Its worth all $40.<br> Somanna: Their legs and feet are "green"ish during mating season. Honest.<br> Miserere: You are right, I was using the 1.4x Tamron. Since the EXIF data isn't recorded directly I forgot. The focal setting was the 500 x 1.4 minus a little bit to avoid the loss of sharpness when the Sgma is a max extention. So that's about 600.</p> <p>It sounds like we're going to have a nice weekend so I should get some new shots.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserere_mei Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Brad, on my way to work this morning I was shooting with my Tamron 1.4x and Tokina 400mm f/5.6. I felt a certain kinship developing between us...but something was not quite right...AHA! You're shooting Green Herons....while I was shooting <em>Sparrows</em> Frickin Sparrows, dude! :-s</p> <p>We are on different paths, my friend. Don't forget the little people when you start shooting for NG :-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaloot Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 <p>Well, I've heard of getting blue b*lls during "mating" season among males, but these their feet turn green?!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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