Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

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markesc
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Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by markesc » December 14th, 2020, 5:52 am

Hello Everyone!

Just thought I'd drop in and show some photos; The birds seem more cooperative here:
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markesc
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Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by markesc » December 14th, 2020, 5:58 am

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retired jerry
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Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by retired jerry » December 14th, 2020, 6:49 am

wow! Nice!

How did that one bird get so many fish in its mouth at the same time :)

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sgyoung
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Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by sgyoung » December 14th, 2020, 3:52 pm

These are amazing photos. Thanks you posting them! It seems like AZ is to your liking; glad the birds are more cooperative down there :)

Are these from multiple days in the field or was this one extremely productive day?

Beauty work here.

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bobcat
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Location: SW Portland

Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by bobcat » December 15th, 2020, 10:33 am

Yes, what a treat! Great shots of birds in action, nailing their prey - especially like the photos that accentuate the pink wings of the spoonbills.
retired jerry wrote:
December 14th, 2020, 6:49 am
How did that one bird get so many fish in its mouth at the same time
That's the pelican way. Their mandible is basically an expandable dip net that scoops up water and fish (and these days probably bits of plastic and other human refuse).

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markesc
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Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by markesc » December 16th, 2020, 11:33 am

sgyoung wrote:
December 14th, 2020, 3:52 pm
These are amazing photos. Thanks you posting them! It seems like AZ is to your liking; glad the birds are more cooperative down there :)

Are these from multiple days in the field or was this one extremely productive day?

Beauty work here.
Thank you!

I just go on weekends, so these are from various weekends the past 6-7 weeks. Some days you take a lot of shots to get something shareable, other days you just luck out and you have several quality images. Rarely do I leave empty handed/disappointed. It's much much much easier here vs. areas in Oregon where the birds actually behave like wild creatures and that's where you need a lot more luck/patience/planning/and of course the large aperature giant lens is more of a need with all the clouds/lower light levels.

I try to just share my best results and am always in that "I can do better" mindset. Rarely am I at the limits of the equipment, but occasionally I'm reaching that point, but it's fun to try to extract the maximum results out of a system before changing it up. This setup is 4-5 years old, and we're blessed with good light virtually year round here in AZ, so that makes it much easier!!!

Webfoot
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Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by Webfoot » December 18th, 2020, 3:01 pm

Another impressive set. Thank you.

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markesc
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Re: Gilbert Riparian Reserve Arizona

Post by markesc » December 20th, 2020, 5:42 am

The Northern Harrier was super cooperative yesterday!
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by the way: Lots of these at Steigerwald in the gorge...guess it's closed til Feb of 2022 but will be much improved with the new natural floodplain restoration...

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