Share Your Best Photo of the Day

[JDA]

Black-crowned Night-Heron w/ Catch of the Day (#3 of 3)

Black-crowned Night-Heron by Johnny, on Flickr

[bearcat6]

[OregonRon]

Rufus Hummingbird

[mossyhorn]

[pictaker]

[Snapshotbirder]

Caspian Tern, Chambers Bay, Tacoma, WA by Christopher Clark, on Flickr

[joe]

8-1-18  MN :

I laughed so hard... he caught the fish though.

[bearcat6]

[pictaker]

[joe]

MN :

Same person after the bath. Looks like a smile or something :

[GracesWarbler]

On 8/1/2018 at 5:55 AM, JDA said:

Black-crowned Night-Heron w/ Catch of the Day (#3 of 3)

Black-crowned Night-Heron by Johnny, on Flickr

How close did you manage to get for this shot?

After wanting to see one for nearly a year, I finally got a look at some Black-crowned Night Herons!

This was in the evening, but there's a lot of grain.  Anyone have tips?  The first one was shot at 1/200 second, wide open (f/6.3) and 6400 iso.  That's a very high iso, but I feel like the shutter speed was already a bit low as it is.  The second was 1/60 second, but that was after I'd gotten my tripod out.  Is the best solution just to go out when there's more light?

[lonestranger]

4 hours ago, GracesWarbler said:

This was in the evening, but there's a lot of grain.  Anyone have tips?  The first one was shot at 1/200 second, wide open (f/6.3) and 6400 iso.  That's a very high iso, but I feel like the shutter speed was already a bit low as it is.  The second was 1/60 second, but that was after I'd gotten my tripod out.  Is the best solution just to go out when there's more light?

I think you did pretty good with your flight shot, except for the noise(grain). As you pointed out, 1/200 is pretty slow for an action shot so capturing more than just a blur is something to be proud of. When you have to push your ISO up as high as 6400 you're going to get a lot of noise, unless you have exceptionally good equipment. More light will allow you to lower the ISO with the added advantage of being able to go with a faster shutter speed, so yes, the best solution is to get out there when there's more light. Then again, if you have bottomless pockets, you could buy a full frame camera and an f/2.8 lens and see if that would worked for you.  

[dred]

Not the best pictures, but definitely the coolest thing I saw yesterday. 

Momma rail and babies 

 

[bearcat6]

[pictaker]

Little blue Heron Fledgling

 

[bearcat6]

[Laura]

Alder Flycatcher - Homer Alaska - During a recent vacation to Alaska we spotted these little birds flitting about the bushes, rarely  staying in one spot long enough to get a photo, but I did manage to get a few.

[Johnd]

 

White tailed Kite Ft Worth NC 8-4-17

 

White tailed Kite Ft Worth NC 8-4-17 by johnd1964, on Flickr

[pictaker]

Mississippi Kite,Only known nesting pair in jersey, ever...been coming back for 6 years now..

[Johnd]

14 hours ago, Johnd said:

 

White tailed Kite Ft Worth NC 8-4-17

 

White tailed Kite Ft Worth NC 8-4-17 by johnd1964, on Flickr

This is a white tailed or Mississippi kite?

 

[bearcat6]

[Johnd]

32 minutes ago, Mike_56 said:

I think on this one you correct according to this map : https://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/maps/mississippi_kite_map.htm

So it not a white tailed kite?

The  location it the photo description is missleading it should read White tailed kite Ft worth Texas nature center. Not ft worth NC .

Both types are not infrequent in the DFW area.

But I always thought that only the white tailed one has the red eyes

 

[pinelaker]

White-tailed Kite by Jason, on Flickr

[Ned]

Immature Red-tailed Hawk.

I met this guy on a jobsite near Canobie Lake in Salem, NH.

It was great fun to watch him throw his small stick in the air and pounce on it over and over.

Preoccupied with his exercise he (?) paid me little mind and allowed me to get pretty close for some nice shots.

Edited August 6, 2018 by Ned
typo

[GracesWarbler]

I've recently been enjoying watching Osprey fish.  They slowly circle overhead and, once they see something, they stop circling and begin descending.  Slowly at first, then quickly into the water.  It's interesting because you can tell when they see something, just by the way they fly.

This one seemed interested in me too.  I wonder what it was thinking as it flew by, watching a person on the ground staring up at it.