Some days things just don't go right

[Harryb]

Hi you'll,

I had some free time as my DW had an appt., so I put on my sandals (eat your hearts out you poor folks in the NE), grabbed my gear, hopped in the car and headed down to the Wetlands.

I immediately went to the dead tree and found a Crested Caracara sitting there. I decided to wait for him to take off so I could get a good flight shot.

[Harryb]

Usually the Caracara will give some warnign before he takes it but this sucker just suddenly split and this is the best I could do

[Harryb]

out of the corner of my eye I saw the reason for the ahsty departure

[Harryb]

He came in fast to claim his rightful perch

[GREAPER]

Great stuff Harry, One of these days I may just show up on your doorstep if you keep seeing all of this great stuff everyday.

[Harryb]

He seemed happy to have his seat back. I did some chimping and was dismayed to see I had cut off parts of wings in all my flight shots. I go into the perfect position to get a flight shot when he left the perch. I had stepped on the spot where some fire ants had built a duplex. They were a tad miffed that I had converted it into a ranch stlye nest and were treating my foot the way Andy treats a rack of babyback ribs (second time I've stepped on a nest). I got rid of the ants, ignored the pain, and got ready to get my flight shot. of course the eagle had left already. :cry

[GREAPER]

He seemed happy to have his seat back. I did some chimping and was dismayed to see I had cut off parts of wings in all my flight shots. I go into the perfect position to get a flight shot when he left the perch. I had stepped on the spot where some fire ants had built a duplex. They were a tad miffed that I had converted it into a ranch stlye nest and were treating my foot the way Andy treats a rack of babyback ribs (second time I've stepped on a nest). I got rid of the ants, ignored the pain, and got ready to get my flight shot. of course the eagle had left already. :cry

Despite the pain... ouch, this shot right here is a great one I think.

[John Mueller]

Great stuff Harry, One of these days I may just show up on your doorstep if you keep seeing all of this great stuff everyday.
Not if I beat you there Greaper :D
Keep them coming Harry.Wonderful weather and wonderful photos :thumb

[4labs]

Yea things didn't go right Harry geez. Wonderful shots.. Thxs for sharing.

[Seamus]

As always these are great:thumb

I spent a while looking through your galleries. The shots of the alligators are facinating, the ones of Andy eating are scary:binge

Dgrin II is heading your way



Shay.

[Harryb]

Despite the pain... ouch, this shot right here is a great one I think.
Thanks Brian. Whenever you need a break from all that cold come on down. I'll leave a few birds for you. :D

[Steve Cavigliano]

Geeze Harry, there's no satisfying you. First you complain that your lenses don't have enough reach. Now, that you've got lenses with more reach and you're cutting wingtips off, you're still complaining.......LOL

That Caracara is one tough looking predator, but even he knows it's time to leave when the big dog wants to have a seat.

Maybe things didn't work out, but you still wound up with some really nice shots. Plus, as you pointed out, you got to wear sandals, not snowboots :rofl

Thanks for sharing,
Steve

[Harryb]

Not if I beat you there Greaper :D
Keep them coming Harry.Wonderful weather and wonderful photos :thumb
Hey John,

You can come down too. We are always ready to help refugees from the frozen lands. :tough

Thanks.

[Harryb]

Yea things didn't go right Harry geez. Wonderful shots.. Thxs for sharing.
Hey Eric,

I was upset that I couldn't get a flight shot that didn't clip off some part of the wings. It was quite annoying. :pissed

Thanks for the kind words.

[Harryb]

As always these are great:thumb

I spent a while looking through your galleries. The shots of the alligators are facinating, the ones of Andy eating are scary:binge

Dgrin II is heading your way

Shay.
Hey Shay,

Thanks. If you think the shots of Andy are scary you should have been there. The photos fail to capture the sounds. Gruesome, just gruesome. :yikes

Dgrin II will always be welcome down here. The eagles will make a special appearance.

[Angelo]

Harry:

These are pretty amazing, clipped wings and all, and a great tale in 5 frames. Nice to see you'd endure carnivorous attacks to "get your shot" :D

[Andy]

Hey Shay,

Thanks. If you think the shots of Andy are scary you should have been there. The photos fail to capture the sounds. Gruesome, just gruesome. :yikes

Dgrin II will always be welcome down here. The eagles will make a special appearance.

laugh it up, old man, laugh it up.....

ps: nice birds, again.... :thumb

[Andy]

pps:
....They were a tad miffed that I had converted it into a ranch stlye nest and were treating my foot the way Andy treats a rack of babyback ribs...

i had ribs today. dallas bbq :food mmmmm mmmmmmmmmm full rack, yessirreee

dammit, where's the ribs smilie? i will give 1000 baldy-bucks to whomever can make me a realistic rack-o-ribs smilie :deal

[Harryb]

Geeze Harry, there's no satisfying you. First you complain that your lenses don't have enough reach. Now, that you've got lenses with more reach and you're cutting wingtips off, you're still complaining.......LOL

That Caracara is one tough looking predator, but even he knows it's time to leave when the big dog wants to have a seat.

Maybe things didn't work out, but you still wound up with some really nice shots. Plus, as you pointed out, you got to wear sandals, not snowboots :rofl

Thanks for sharing,
Steve
Hey Steve,

You can never have enough reach. Ever since I looked through that 800mm lens attached to a 1.4 TC I've been spoiled. I want more, more, more!

The Caracara is actually a wimp. Its a member of the falcon family but it eats carrion mainly. A real disappointment to its family.

Sandals are great but when you are stomping on a fire ant nest you should be wearing snow boots. They are mean suckers. The last time my foot got covered with ulcers the next day. Oh well, at least I have something to look forward to. :rofl

[Harryb]

Harry:

These are pretty amazing, clipped wings and all, and a great tale in 5 frames. Nice to see you'd endure carnivorous attacks to "get your shot" :D
Hi Angelo,

Thats the problem when shooting with a prime. I had just taken off my 80-400 and switched to my 300mm and 1.4 TC. Usually the Caracara gives some warning before he takes off and then he makes a semi-circle turn off the tree. This time he just made a beeline when he saw that eagle coming in.

This is the second time I stepped into a fire ant hill. You would think I would learn to watch my step. :dunno

[Lucky Hack]

Amazing!!!!

[Nee7x7]

Wow, if that's a "disappointing" day, I'm in BIG trouble! If those were my photos, I'd say it was a fantastic day!!! Excellent stuff, Harry! Superb~

~Nee :thumb

[Harryb]

laugh it up, old man, laugh it up.....

ps: nice birds, again.... :thumb


OK :lol4 :lol4

Thanks

[Seamus]

Hey Shay,

Thanks. If you think the shots of Andy are scary you should have been there. The photos fail to capture the sounds. Gruesome, just gruesome. :yikes

Dgrin II will always be welcome down here. The eagles will make a special appearance.

:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap


Thanks Harry, now to persuade Andy.

[Harryb]

pps:


i had ribs today. dallas bbq :food mmmmm mmmmmmmmmm full rack, yessirreee

dammit, where's the ribs smilie? i will give 1000 baldy-bucks to whomever can make me a realistic rack-o-ribs smilie :deal
What!!!! Andy had ribs? That's a real shocker. :binge

[ginger_55]

I like the shots. Are you out shooting now, or am I just late in getting up. That first one is a cool bird.

I have been messing with the challenge stuff. Have some bird photos from last night, haven't put them up. Not from as good a place, even with a reach of 400.

My flight birds just wandered around the marsh, no sky. In fact, I shot too slow and had to go back, just got a few shots. I am going to make a list of stuff to check on every half hour. And I shot so many different subjects yesterday.

I went out to shoot for the challenge, but saw the birds and naturally took some landscapes. Some were set correctly, some were not.

ginger

[DoctorIt]

you know harry, I've never even been lucky enough to SEE birds like this in the wild (from that close at least - we have a growing number of bald eagles around here), let alone photograph them that well!

great story, great captures, even with the clips! :thumb

[Harryb]

Amazing!!!!
Thank you. I hope you are referring to the pics and not me stupidly standing on a fire ant nest.:):

[Harryb]

Wow, if that's a "disappointing" day, I'm in BIG trouble! If those were my photos, I'd say it was a fantastic day!!! Excellent stuff, Harry! Superb~

~Nee :thumb
Hiya Nee,

Thanks for the kind words

[Harryb]

Hey Shay,

Thanks. If you think the shots of Andy are scary you should have been there. The photos fail to capture the sounds. Gruesome, just gruesome. :yikes

Dgrin II will always be welcome down here. The eagles will make a special appearance.

:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap


Thanks Harry, now to persuade Andy.
Hey Shay,

In the past I found the promise of unlimited babyback ribs to work wonders with him:D

[Harryb]

I like the shots. Are you out shooting now, or am I just late in getting up. That first one is a cool bird.

I have been messing with the challenge stuff. Have some bird photos from last night, haven't put them up. Not from as good a place, even with a reach of 400.

My flight birds just wandered around the marsh, no sky. In fact, I shot too slow and had to go back, just got a few shots. I am going to make a list of stuff to check on every half hour. And I shot so many different subjects yesterday.

I went out to shoot for the challenge, but saw the birds and naturally took some landscapes. Some were set correctly, some were not.

ginger
Hey Ginger,

I'm back from the Wetlands where I had lunch with an osprey. I know what you mean about the settings. I did some shots today of a Glossy Ibis (very dark bird) and realized that I hadn't changed the EV setting from my last shots where I had been shooting a Great Egret ( all white). Talk about under exposed!:(:

[Angelo]

Hey Shay,

In the past I found the promise of unlimited babyback ribs to work wonders with him:D
Ya know... a new smokehouse ribs joint just opened down the street. I think I know how to win this challenge!!!!! :rofl

[Dee]

Usually the Caracara will give some warnign before he takes it but this sucker just suddenly split and this is the best I could do

I remember one hawk shot I took with the wing tip cut off. I was horrified, everyone loved it. I like this!

By the way -- post a photo of one of these ant hills.

That can't have been pleasant with sandals on!

Dee

[Harryb]

you know harry, I've never even been lucky enough to SEE birds like this in the wild (from that close at least - we have a growing number of bald eagles around here), let alone photograph them that well!

great story, great captures, even with the clips! :thumb
Thank you. You are very kind. I'm lucky because I live in what we used to call in the army a "target rich environment". I should be paying the wildlife modelling fees.

[Harryb]

I remember one hawk shot I took with the wing tip cut off. I was horrified, everyone loved it. I like this!

By the way -- post a photo of one of these ant hills.

That can't have been pleasant with sandals on!

Dee
Hey Dee,

I know the shots are OK but I was dying to get a full frame shot with the wings outstretched. Now that would have been cool.

I tried to get a shot of the anthill (or what was left of it) but with a 300mm and 1.4 TC I was just too darn close. Next time I'll take a macro lens with me.