Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher in flight

Finally! . . .

Its taken a couple of weeks to get a decent shot of the Scissor-Tailed in

flight with the tail spread.

Thanks for taking the time to view, comment/critique, rate and, allowing

me the opportunity to share!

Thanks again,

Jim j.

WOW!  This is a very difficult shot and you nailed it.  Good lighting, good b/g, good focus on bird.  And the bird is not an easy bid to catch in flight.  I know because I have tried and never succeeded.  I like it.  Bravo!

As I indicated in the critique request, . . . it has taken a couple of weeks to finally get a decent shot with that 9 inch tail spread as he maneuvers for the landing.

I suppose "location, location" must be the key to obtaining a decent capture of them in flight, and with the tail spread. If they're flying straight the tail is not spread and only becomes flared for maneuvering to catch an insect or just before a landing. And, believe me, they are fast.

I knew that I probably had a very narrow window of their feeding in the afternoon while the lighting was still good. The Mayflies showed up here in Oklahoma last week and, are already getting scarce. It's a feeding frenzy for many of the insect eating birds around the lake during this time.

Both myself and the AF of the 50D has had a real workout obtaining this one. Part of the 50D's problem was finding an area where they were feeding with enough contrast for the AF to somewhat keep up.

I found this stump that was about 30 feet out in the water where I could position myself on a knoll just above it and have the water as the background.

The workout for me was most likely just due to old age! LOL!

Thanks again for taking the time to have a look at the Oklahoma State Bird that is also known as the "Texas Bird of Paradise."

You can also see a perched shot of this beautiful bird in my Midwestern Wildlife folder.

Regards always,

Jim j.

I had a feeling that I'd better hurry up and get the accompanying story submitted!

Well, . . . I didn't make it and I'm so glad that this one caught your attention so fast! As well, to receive your experience of trying to shoot these fast movers!

Thanks again Bill for your encouraging comment! That's what makes it all worth while!

Regards always,

Jim j.

A beautiful result, very nicely composed too, Jim!

Great timing Jim, the touch of red on the wing is a nice touch. The overall composition is what I like best about this image with the nice blurry water bg.

BR,

Holger

Very good catch Jim! I have Noise Ninja as a plug-in and in a case like this I normally select just the background and run noise reduction and it would clean/smooth the background out while retaining the detail of the bird. Running noise reduction on the entire picture is not a good choice is what I've found  :-)

Very nicely done,well caught in flight (that's not easy).I doubt i will ever see one of these birds here in the UK,It looks very exotic to me.

My best regards

Harry

We don't have these either but if it's in the Swallow family then I can empathize with the difficulty.  Great shot.... Mike

Excellent capture.  I feel your pain (lol) climbing, crawling and hiking to get into the right spot and then waiting it out while firing (misfiring?) lots of shots - but finally getting "the shot" is worth it.  Well done.

Thanks to you all for your visits!

Gives me great satisfaction that some of my attempts has drawn your attention!

Ruud, . . . I'm happy to know that someone who spends so much time turning out those excellent views of the "Dutch People" and their way of life takes the time to visit my small corner of Birds, Nature & Wildlife attempts!

Holger, . . .I too was surprised by that patch of red when I downloaded the image and could view it on a larger monitor than the "chimping" provided. About the only processing I did was just a tad bit of Unsharp Mask and cropped to about 60% for composition.

Most of the Scissor-Tails color is hidden underneath their wings I've found. The Cornell Lab of Orinthology's website lists their color as "elegant gray and salmon-pink." I've found shots where their "underside" was showing really turning out unusual and not very attractive either although in good late afternoon light.

Tm J, . . .I hear you on the background noise. But, as I'm not that good in PP, I'll have to do some experimenting to learn more about the tools to separate the background etc., etc.. I think it's the Magic Wand tool!

Harry, . . . From what I've read, their range is very limited in the South Central part of the US. Texas seems to have the largest concentration and they are known also as the "Texas Bird of Paradise."

They do migrate into Mexico and Cental America. Suppose they stay where their food supply of insects don't get scarce during the colder months.

Mike, . . . Can't say for certain that they're part of the Swallow Family but, where I find the Scissor-Tails feeding I also do find Swallows feeding. So far no sucess in "Swallows in flight!"

Thomas, . . . Suprisingly, in this location I only took about 20 shots. However, believe me my arms got a lot of "swinging action" exercise with the 100-400 extended all the way out although most of the time I was not tripping the shutter.

Again, many thanks to you all,

Jim j.

Hi Jim,

  Wow...wonderful action shot with perfect timing, beautiful colors & details.  Take care, Patsy

Thanks so much for your recent visit and encouraging comment!

My apologies for my long overdue acknowledgement of your visit! I seem to continue to be running behind on everything these days!

Cheers & Regards always,

Jim j.