Birds From Today...

[jprzybyla]

My wife and I went to the marsh at the nature reserve today. These are a few of what I captured. C&C welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Roseate Spoonbill



White Ibis



Wood Stork



Black Bellied Whistling Ducks



Great Egret



Great Blue Heron vs. Snake

#1



#2



#3

[orlcam88]

nice images. I hope the bird won that contest!

[jamn4ex]

ahh nice shots Joe I bet it was very funny watching that heron try to flip that snake into his mouth.

[jprzybyla]

nice images. I hope the bird won that contest!

Thanks Orlando, yes the bird won and swallowed the snake. Kind of gross watching.

[jprzybyla]

ahh nice shots Joe I bet it was very funny watching that heron try to flip that snake into his mouth.

Thanks James, very much appreciated. It was a show. When the snake would wrap up the bill and head the heron would shake it's head to free itself. That went on for about 10 minutes or so until the snake finally went limp and was swallowed.

[JPS]

Hi Joe,
a nice set of pictures here. Hard to pick a favourite and perhaps I shoud not try, but I will ...... No.1.
Why you may ask, well I'm not sure but I like the overall composition and feel the plants top and bottom sort of make a natural frame. Anyway I like it.

Thanks for sharing.

[jeeperman]

All nice Joe, though the Ibis image #2 is my top pick. Love the fact that you caught a Heron with a snake. Those guys sure aren't picky with their food.

The second Heron image would have been a stellar head shot if you could have gotten close enough.

[BCrose]

I love all these. Makes me want to head south! Man those Storks are ugly!
Really like how you included the reflection in #1 as part of the composition. I love bird reflection shots.

[Bobobird]

Wow those snake shots blow me away. Dang well done to keep the camera going.

Love the other shots too particularly the ibis and the flying egret. Great shots.

[jprzybyla]

Hi Joe,
a nice set of pictures here. Hard to pick a favourite and perhaps I shoud not try, but I will ...... No.1.
Why you may ask, well I'm not sure but I like the overall composition and feel the plants top and bottom sort of make a natural frame. Anyway I like it.



Thanks for sharing.

Hello John. thank you for taking time to view and comment. The light in image #1 was excellent with the sun to my back casting a nice reflection. I just had to make sure I underexposed enough so as not to blow the highlights in the white feathers. I love to photograph spoonbills, they are colorful and unique.

[jprzybyla]

All nice Joe, though the Ibis image #2 is my top pick. Love the fact that you caught a Heron with a snake. Those guys sure aren't picky with their food.

The second Heron image would have been a stellar head shot if you could have gotten close enough.

Hi Paul, you are so correct that the Heron will eat anything they can catch. This one had a tussle for a while as the snake kept wrapping around the bill and head. For what I would want for a head shot it was too far away, the crop would have been too large.

[jprzybyla]

I love all these. Makes me want to head south! Man those Storks are ugly!
Really like how you included the reflection in #1 as part of the composition. I love bird reflection shots.

Hello Monte, as it has been sadi... C'mon down. Wonderful bird photography in Florida, especially the winter. I love reflections and look for them to include in the composition. I hate myself if I missed seeing it when capturing the image.

[jprzybyla]

Wow those snake shots blow me away. Dang well done to keep the camera going.

Love the other shots too particularly the ibis and the flying egret. Great shots.

Hi Bobo, the snake and heron blew me away also. I maybe shot 100 images to sort through. First time I have seen that so I wanted many images to choose from and save. Thanks for viewing and commenting.

[terrib]

Another great set.

I love the colors in the first picture and the reflection of the spoonbill color in the water. It's just a really pretty pic. The duck shot is just a lot of fun, seeing all those different positions. I think my favorite is the cattle egret in flight because it just looks so elegant. The snake series is really neat to see. I especially like the second one. Great moment to capture!

[JPS]

Hi Joe,
I said I liked your pictures and thought you could have made some money from them. Look what one of your follow country-men got published in one of our (UK) national newspapers.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ing-eaten.html

Wonder how much he got.

[jprzybyla]

Hi Joe,
I said I liked your pictures and thought you could have made some money from them. Look what one of your follow country-men got published in one of our (UK) national newspapers.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ing-eaten.html

Wonder how much he got.

Wow, what a coincidence. I have photographed hundreds of Great Blue Herons and this was the first time with a snake. I would loved to have captured it in flight with the snake as in the newspaper but this one stayed on the ground eventually swallowing the snake. When the snake would wrap its head and bill it would shake it head violently to free itself. Quite a show to watch and capture. Thanks for remembering and posting I am saving the link to the article.

[JPS]

Joe,
I certainly would not forget them, they were a great set of pictures.
Speak again soon,
cheers John.

[BCrose]

I have seen this Heron/Snake battle in several different photos now. Is this the 'standard' way the snake meets it's fate with the Heron? I suspect the Heron is pinching the head until the snake dies and just has to wait it out. The coiling must be the snakes seemingly fruitless defence as I don't think it ever wins this battle.

[jprzybyla]

I have seen this Heron/Snake battle in several different photos now. Is this the 'standard' way the snake meets it's fate with the Heron? I suspect the Heron is pinching the head until the snake dies and just has to wait it out. The coiling must be the snakes seemingly fruitless defence as I don't think it ever wins this battle.

Hi Monte, I think you are correct that the snake dies from the Heron pinching the head. As I reviewed the images the Heron had first grasped the snake behind the head. That was when the snake was struggling and wraping the head and bill. Slowly the Heron moved it's grasp to the head, crushing the head causing the snake to die. When the snake stopped struggling it was then swallowed.

[Brownbear]

All beautiful photos. thank you for sharing... My favourite is the black bellied whistling ducks... It looks like a painting.. How did you manage to get 3 birds in action positions so perfectly photographed?