BCNH Chick, One of Natures Tragic Dramas

I stopped by the Palo Alto Baylands yesterday afternoon to see how the
BCNH and Egret chicks were doing. They're getting big fast and won't be
in the nest much longer. When I got there, one small BCNH chick was on
the ground, it didn't look in very good shape, and I commented to another
photographer that it probably wouldn't last to long. She said there were
a couple more chicks in the bushes, and they were helping the small one.
This was in a fenced protected nature area near the duck ponds. Here is
a sequence I took of yesterday's 22 minute drama.

1 Small chick getting a drink

Ahh, that's too bad. Great series though. I'm afraid I would have jumped the fence, big softie that I am.

I wonder where the parents were.

Real life series nice capture

god i would have been throwing stuff at the gull... but, nature does have to happen sometimes. Who knows, if the gull didnt eat and starved to death, it might have set off a whole series of events...with a catasrophic ending like a Hollywood movie..lol
great series of shots, es the chick yelling at the gull.. lol

Thanks Mitch, gary.

I didn't see any parents come down while I was there. There were a few up in the trees,
but none of them seemed interested in these chicks.

Thanks zacker. I started the series with the 400L on the 350D, but switched to
the FD500L half way through. I hadn't gotten every thing set up yet when the action
started. That's why the lighting is different, and the shutter speed was too slow to stop
the motion.

....

Amazing pics & story - glad it had a happy ending!