Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

FM Forum Rules
Nature & Wildlife Posting Guidelines

FM Forums | Nature & Wildlife | Join Upload & Sell

Archive 2017 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

morris
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

The oystercatchers have returned to Nickeson Beach right on schedule. Normally this time of year I observe there mating dances and song. This pair did none of that yet they will probably have chicks in about a month.

-1

031817DSC_7417 by Morris Bennett Altman, on Flickr

-2

031817DSC_7418 by Morris Bennett Altman, on Flickr

-3

031817DSC_7419 by Morris Bennett Altman, on Flickr

-4

031817DSC_7420 by Morris Bennett Altman, on Flickr

-5

031817DSC_7421 by Morris Bennett Altman, on Flickr

Did you see anything happen? There quick!

I used just a touch of flash on this gray day and as you can see it helps bring out detail in the blacks and makes my subject slightly brighter than the background.

Comments and suggestions welcome,

Morris

Mar 18, 2017 at 12:03 PM

eyelaser
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

I guess a cold bath did nothing to deter this guy....no dinner, no movie...just wham bam thank you mam...nice sequence Morris...I suspect the beach was a bit chilly for the bunnies so I suspect you didn't have all that much company excepting the birds and a few hardy photogs.
Eric

Mar 18, 2017 at 12:25 PM

louie champan
Online
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

Very well captured Morris, and very nice use of fill flash.

Mar 18, 2017 at 01:36 PM

canon.eos30d
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

Wow... I like these, Morris. #2 is awesome. I rarely see a single black oystercatcher in my area. Seeing this sequence is a very sweet treat for me. Thanks Morris.

-Tam

Mar 18, 2017 at 01:43 PM

morris
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

eyelaser wrote:
I guess a cold bath did nothing to deter this guy....no dinner, no movie...just wham bam thank you mam...nice sequence Morris...I suspect the beach was a bit chilly for the bunnies so I suspect you didn't have all that much company excepting the birds and a few hardy photogs.
Eric

Thank you Eric,
I'm frequently on my own in March and I love it that way. There were 4 excavators something the sand at one end of the beach so I went to the other even though there was a lot of bird activity at waters edge. I did not want to be anywhere near them and have them not see me. There was also a man with a mine detector harvesting the losses of last season's bathers. He did pritty good..

As for the weather, it was windy at the beach and that made the 40f weather feel much colder and sometimes there was blowing sand to add a nice effect to my photos. I was dressed warm and was cozy

---------------------------------------------

louie champan wrote:
Very well captured Morris, and very nice use of fill flash.

Thank you Louie

---------------------------------------------

canon.eos30d wrote:
Wow... I like these, Morris. #2 is awesome. I rarely see a single black oystercatcher in my area. Seeing this sequence is a very sweet treat for me. Thanks Morris.

-Tam

Thank you Tam,

I saw at least a dozed american oystercatchers today. I expect more will arrive over the next couple of weeks and I'm very much looking forward to the chicks. If you like oystercatchers, this is the place to be. Also piping plover nest hear. There will be terns and black skimmers in the thousands nesting as well

Morris

Mar 18, 2017 at 10:00 PM

surfnron
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

A great action set Morris, and great use of flash - they don't look flashed ~ Ron

Mar 19, 2017 at 07:39 AM

JimLittle
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

Well done!

Mar 19, 2017 at 09:09 AM

mikedec
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

Very nicely done. I hope to hone my flash taking skills this year.

When you say touch of flash, do you mean that you lower the flash power manually?

Mar 19, 2017 at 10:26 AM

martines34
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

Interesting sharp series. Good lighting and action.

Thanks for sharing.

Mar 19, 2017 at 10:34 AM

morris
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

surfnron wrote:
A great action set Morris, and great use of flash - they don't look flashed ~ Ron

Thank you Ron,
You can see the catch light in the eyes

---------------------------------------------

JimLittle wrote:
Well done!

Thank you Jim

---------------------------------------------

mikedec wrote:
Very nicely done. I hope to hone my flash taking skills this year.

When you say touch of flash, do you mean that you lower the flash power manually?

Thank you Mike,
I take advantage of Nikon's wonderful CLS (Creative Lighting System) and usualy use there TTL-BL (Balanced Light) setting. As there was little light on this gray day with snow in the forecast, the system is powering the flash down automatically. There are times where I will dial back the flash, it was not necessary. While I use auto flash, I'm using manual exposure for my ambient exposure.

---------------------------------------------

martines34 wrote:
Interesting sharp series. Good lighting and action.

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Martines

Morris

Mar 19, 2017 at 05:43 PM

arbitrage
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

Great action captured Morris. Were you that close that you clipped some wings and feet?....great stealth work.

TFS
Geoff

Mar 19, 2017 at 06:52 PM

morris
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Oystercatcher mating sequence

arbitrage wrote:
Great action captured Morris. Were you that close that you clipped some wings and feet?....great stealth work.

TFS
Geoff

Thank you Geoff,

Yes these are all full frame at 600mm. When I arrived I gave them space to get used to me and then I moved in and they went about there business. I look forward to being able to get head shots.

Morris

Mar 20, 2017 at 06:15 AM


FM Forums \| Nature & Wildlife \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.