when egrets attack

[jeff lapoint]

normally, i wouldnt touch a topic so well covered by very talented people, but i thought this was just wild...

studying for my board exams was driving me nuts, so i decided to try out my 200 2.8 early this morning. i was working on some BIFs when i came across this Great Egret (Ardea alba).

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354556-L.jpg

i've seen this bird before, but it usually takes off before i can get anywhere near it. this morning it was flying between two ends of the pond and let me get pretty close to it.

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354535-L.jpg

after a bit i saw what it was after...

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354574-M.jpg

it kept going after a group of three newborn ducklings. here are the photos i have processed thus far...i'll post more later if i have time.
http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354575-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354577-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354578-L.jpg

the mother went to great lengths to protect the babies...

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354573-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19354547-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19347981-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19347986-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19347993-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19348004-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19348007-L.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19348011-M.jpg

http://lapiz007.smugmug.com/photos/19348014-M.jpg

sorry for the blown highlightshttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif i was pretty amazed by what was happening in front of me...forgot some of the technical aspects...

i know ginger will be wondering...there were still 3 babies after this attack, but i cant say what happened after i left. thanks for lookinghttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif

-jeff

[Steve Cavigliano]

Super series Jeff!! Nicely done :thumb :thumb :thumb


My only advice would be to shoot egrets using RAW. Yeah, it limits your bursts to 6 shots, but the latitude you get during post, more than makes up for it, IMO.


Thanks for sharing these and I was glad to read that the 3 ducklings were safe for the moment :uhoh

Steve

[bfjr]

:wow :wow :wow most amazing series :thumb
So lucky again to have been there with ye old camera :clap
Might crop a few to get in tighter to the action, cause there some slam bang action going on.
Great Work :thumb

[USAIR]

Wow those are some great shots
Survival of the fitest:duel

Thanks
Fred

[Shakey]

Great shots and I see the 200 2.8 is in good hands.
You like?

Tim

[jeff lapoint]

Super series Jeff!! Nicely done :thumb :thumb :thumb


My only advice would be to shoot egrets using RAW. Yeah, it limits your bursts to 6 shots, but the latitude you get during post, more than makes up for it, IMO.


Thanks for sharing these and I was glad to read that the 3 ducklings were safe for the moment :uhoh

Steve
thanks steve! your right, RAW would have been the call on these shots. i wish i had thought of it...everything just sort of happened...and fast. thats one thing about changing cameras--it takes a bit of time to get to that quickdraw state with the settings. i imagine it will come pretty fast with the 20d...love that wheel.

j

[jeff lapoint]

:wow :wow :wow most amazing series :thumb
So lucky again to have been there with ye old camera :clap
Might crop a few to get in tighter to the action, cause there some slam bang action going on.
Great Work :thumb
thanks ben. good call on the crops! i'll recheck the photos and see if i can get a bit closer...

glad you liked the serieshttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif


-j

[Lucky Hack]

Great shots Jeff, you may have to give up your post as mayor of Noobville after that series...

hoping this message finds you well -Ian

[jeff lapoint]

Wow those are some great shots
Survival of the fitest:duel

Thanks
Fred

10-4 on that one fred. there was a lady watching the whole thing from the other side of the pond. poor thing was beside herself...reminded me of how my grandmother would have reacted...she was about to start throwing rocks or something. then i would have had 3 subjects to shoothttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/icon10.gif

[jeff lapoint]

Great shots and I see the 200 2.8 is in good hands.
You like?

Tim
loving the 200 timhttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif i do need to remember that the zoom is now my feet...found myself out of position a few times. the extra stop is sooooo nice to have. now to bring up that 1.4x converter to the wife (CFO)http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/Whip.gif

[jeff lapoint]

Great shots Jeff, you may have to give up your post as mayor of Noobville after that series...

hoping this message finds you well -Ian

thanks Ian! maybe i can move to the Noobville city counsel...i still very much belong therehttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/icon10.gif

-j

[John Mueller]

Excellent series Jeff:thumb

[Andy]

really really fine! i enjoyed them very much, and one of the top contributions to egret-fest, no doubt!

as steve said, raw'll let you recover some highlights, but you can also improve by shooting even jpg at -2/3s ec... give it a try :thumb

thanks for sharing.

[jwear]

what a capture :thumb great work with camera and the timing food it the driving force fantastic set Jeff :clap :clap Jeff

[Harryb]

Amazing series Jeff. Great work. :super

[jeff lapoint]

really really fine! i enjoyed them very much, and one of the top contributions to egret-fest, no doubt!

as steve said, raw'll let you recover some highlights, but you can also improve by shooting even jpg at -2/3s ec... give it a try :thumb

thanks for sharing.

thanks for looking and thanks for the tips *writes in good photography advice notebook*

but most of all, thanks for turning me on to Dgrinhttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif (you may not remember that email, but thanks anywayshttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/icon10.gif)

-j

[jeff lapoint]

Amazing series Jeff. Great work. :super
thanks harry! have you ever heard of egrets eating other birds? i dont kow much about them, but i was under the impression that they mostly eat fish...

[ginger_55]

thanks harry! have you ever heard of egrets eating other birds? i dont kow much about them, but i was under the impression that they mostly eat fish...
Me, too. We have ducks in the water at the swamp where I am shooting. Maybe that is a psychotic egret, I love that you were shooting the bird. I had to laugh towards the end, but I love hearing about the little old lady, too.

You know our birds are very busy with their marital duties right now. Maybe that bird just has too much time on his hands.

ginger (How many baby ducks were there at the beginning? Poor babies.)

[jeff lapoint]

Me, too. We have ducks in the water at the swamp where I am shooting. Maybe that is a psychotic egret, I love that you were shooting the bird. I had to laugh towards the end, but I love hearing about the little old lady, too.

You know our birds are very busy with their marital duties right now. Maybe that bird just has too much time on his hands.

ginger (How many baby ducks were there at the beginning? Poor babies.)
ginger,

thanks for looking! 3 babies to begin with and when i left there were still 3...

-j

[Harryb]

thanks harry! have you ever heard of egrets eating other birds? i dont kow much about them, but i was under the impression that they mostly eat fish...
Egrets usually eat fish because they are the right size. Ducklings are the right size for them also.

[ysr612]

the mag from the natural history mus of New York had piece on the American Egret (now greater Egret) and Great Blue Heron rookeries. It seems the Egrets eat a lot more of thier own young as well.:uhoh

[gus]

Everyone is going to be a lot safer once we kill ALL the egrets.

[Steve Cavigliano]

Everyone is going to be a lot safer once we kill ALL the egrets.
:rolleyes

:giggle :lol3 :nono :lol4 :bad :lol

[Harryb]

Everyone is going to be a lot safer once we kill ALL the egrets.Seesh, so they eat cute little ducklings and their own young once in a while. Its a bird eat bird world out there. http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/2ar15smilie.gif

[Dee]

I'm so glad you posted these -- blown out or not, cropped or not, I've never seen this and it was so interesting to see!

[jeff lapoint]

I'm so glad you posted these -- blown out or not, cropped or not, I've never seen this and it was so interesting to see!
thanks for the encouragement dee!

it really makes me want to get back out there and try again.http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif

-jeff

[aero-nut]

:rolleyes

:giggle :lol3 :nono :lol4 :bad :lol

:agree

[SusanB]

normally, i wouldnt touch a topic so well covered by very talented people, but i thought this was just wild...

studying for my board exams was driving me nuts, so i decided to try out my 200 2.8 early this morning. i was working on some BIFs when i came across this Great Egret (Ardea alba).



i've seen this bird before, but it usually takes off before i can get anywhere near it. this morning it was flying between two ends of the pond and let me get pretty close to it.



after a bit i saw what it was after...


it kept going after a group of three newborn ducklings. here are the photos i have processed thus far...i'll post more later if i have time.

the mother went to great lengths to protect the babies...
sorry for the blown highlightshttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif i was pretty amazed by what was happening in front of me...forgot some of the technical aspects...

i know ginger will be wondering...there were still 3 babies after this attack, but i cant say what happened after i left. thanks for lookinghttp://dgrin.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif

-jeff
Wow, that was amazing.:wow Blown highlights never once entered my mind as I was looking at the pix. Nice job.:thumb Glad the chicks survived the attack.:uhoh

Susan

Susan