Golf course birds

The weather seems to have turned here for the season now. Yesterday was my first outing after getting my 1D Mk III back from Canon Service with the latest AF fix and subsequently re-doing the MA n my lenses. I never noticed a huge improvement with the other "fixes", but what a difference this one made!!! To say that I'm pleased with the improvement is an understatement.

I had hoped to catch the Red-shouldered Hawks that frequent the course in winter, but they seem to have migrated for the summer. At least I did not see or hear any yesterday.

Anyhow, C&C is welcome as always. These were all taken with my 500mm f/4L IS + 1.4X, handheld.

= Ed =

1. California Quail. Not a great photo, but the best image I have so far. These guys are very skittish and I didn't have the luxury of waiting them out.

Beautiful images Ed!

Nice series, Ed

Wow!

Nice shots, that bluebird has a mouthful

Love the rwbb!

Mike

Gorgeous shots, Ed, even the quail. (I know how tough it is to get good shots of them.)

Wonderful series of shots Ed.......especially love the ones of the blues.

Wow Ed, really nice shots. Looks like the MkIII is working fine to me.

amazing series of shots....

Beautiful portrait detail... the 7th is a classic with the "disturbed feather and meal."... great shots!

db

Absolutely beautiful photos!!!

People always talk about photos being crisp, here are prime examples. Awesome shots.

Amazing detail on the shot's great job!!

ErnieT wrote in post #7911208
Beautiful images Ed!

Thanks Ernie. Glad you enjoyed them.

Anke wrote in post #7911275
Nice series, Ed

Thanks for looking in and commenting Anke. I appreciate it!

davebreal wrote in post #7911502
Wow!

Thanks for the kind word Dave

artyman wrote in post #7911640
Nice shots, that bluebird has a mouthful

Thanks Art. Yeah, she was doing multiple feeding runs, but I never saw the hatchlings poke their heads out. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

trmwf wrote in post #7912324
Love the rwbb!

Mike

Thanks Mike. You just can't beat that golden hour lighting, can you?

sparker1 wrote in post #7912487
Gorgeous shots, Ed, even the quail. (I know how tough it is to get good shots of them.)

I appreciate the kind words Stan. Yeah, the Quail are tough ones, but if I had been someplace other than a golf course, I would just have waited them out. All it takes is time and patience. I had the latter, but not the former yesterday.

canonloader wrote in post #7912718
Wow Ed, really nice shots. Looks like the MkIII is working fine to me.

Thanks Mitch! I'm really very, very pleased with the way the MkIII performed yesterday. The keeper rate yesterday was scary good. This was the AF performance I bought this camera for! Finally!

balian67 wrote in post #7912746
amazing series of shots....

Thanks balian! I appreciate your dorpping in and commenting.

dbriz wrote in post #7912825
Beautiful portrait detail... the 7th is a classic with the "disturbed feather and meal."... great shots!

db

Thanks db! Yeah, that was was cropped only to convert from horizontal to vertical format. I had moved in pretty close by then, but did not want to get closer - even though I'm sure that golfers walk right by the box all the time. It's only a foot or so OB.

Patsa wrote in post #7913006
Absolutely beautiful photos!!!

Thanks Pat! I'm glad you like 'em.

gimp261 wrote in post #7913133
People always talk about photos being crisp, here are prime examples. Awesome shots.

Thanks gimp. I have to say that I really had to dial back the sharpening for these. I've been doing this for years, but I'm more impressed than ever with the 500/1.4 combination now. Must the the camera fix!

edgar-Junior wrote in post #7913177
Amazing detail on the shot's great job!!

Thanks Edgar. I appreciate the nice comment.

= Ed =