Horned Grebe - Life List Addition

[Stephen Stephen]

I was out around 07:00 this morning and spotted this bird feeding along the Ottawa River. From the distance I though at first that it was a young loon but soon realised otherwise. It worked it's way along the shore as it dove so I had to keep changing my position rapidly and also try to anticipate where it would reappear. I got a number of shots and at least are keepers.

Sigma 50-500mm @ 500, Sigma Super D500 Flash and Manfroto Monopod.

Shots are about 50% of original frame. Adjusted exposure and White Balance to cloudy.



ExposureTime - 1/125 seconds
FNumber - 8.00
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
Flash - Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
ExposureMode - Manual
WhiteBalance - Auto
Focus mode - AI Servo
Contrast - High , +1
Saturation - High , +1
Sharpness - High , +1
Exposure mode - Manual
Focal length - 50 - 500 mm (1 mm)
Flash details - External TTL
Flash bias - 2046.00 EV

[clivingston]

I love the water beads all over and the color of the eye color. Never seen one before ,thanks for sharing.

[ngannet]

Beautiful shots of a special bird. I have seen these in Winter (saw 1 today in fact) and they are always quite far out. You must be happy with these!

[tomcio]

Great shots. I also just recently got a shot of this bird and it fooled me as well hehe :) The 2nd shot is great. Thanx for sharing.

[busbyea]

Congrats Stephen on a new addition..2nd image standsout for me..nice details.

[Reyno]

Lovely captures and congrats Stephen.

[morehtml]

#2 looks a winner for me with the more saturated colors and contrast.

[Wayne Wood]

Congrats on the new addition Stephen ,,, wonderful images especially #2 ,,, was this at Andrew Haydon ???

[Stephen Stephen]

Chris, Bob, Tom, Ted, Rey and MoreHtml thanks for the kind comments

Congrats on the new addition Stephen ,,, wonderful images especially #2 ,,, was this at Andrew Haydon ???

Thanks Wayne. Yes it was at Andrew Haydon. The bird was feedin between the windmill area and almost to where we photographed the Wilson's Snipes this summer. :)

[Airedale1]

Very nice Stephen. How many do you have on your list?

[Blackburnian]

Wow!

Nices I've seen from you yet!

Great stuff Stephen!

MArc

[canonloader]

Ah, he's a beauty. And you used flash. That's great. :)

[dancinec]

Wow...Beautifully done. I have just myself got a horned grebe, doesn't look as pretty as this one. Mine is rather dull. Congratulations! ( Could you share your Exif settings?)

[Stephen Stephen]

Very nice Stephen. How many do you have on your list?

Thanks Paul. I'll have to do a re-count. I'm not very good at keeping track of the number.

Thanks Marc. It was exciting to try and keep up with this fellow. The large boulders along the breakwater made it very difficult.

Thanks for your comments Mitch and Dennis. I've posted the exif for the second shot at the start of the thread. The first is almost identical.

[Gary Fairhead]

Two super images here Stephen of a bird i have yet to photograph. Both are beautifully captured and that second image is special....wish it was mine!! Excellent work!!

[Anthony J Howe]

I can understand why you may thought it was a Loon from a distance Stephen.
Congratulations to get this Horned Grebe onto your list, two great shots, well done.

[T.D.]

Exquisite shots!

Congrats on the life list addition. That's one I have yet to add to mine. You really added it in style to yours!

Way to go!

[Paul A]

Beautiful shots Stephen, both of them.

[dancad]

Stephen, what a nice surprise this must have been! The beads of water on its back and neck are great.

[Stephen Stephen]

Gary, Tony, TD, Paul and Dan thank you all for your kind words.