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Glorious, Proud & Loud in Pink

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zackiedawg

zackiedawg

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It's a color not often seen naturally in the animal world...but there's one local bird here in Florida that wears pink proudly - male and female alike. The beautiful and hard not to notice roseated spoonbill is always a fun bird to photograph, whether sitting, fishing, roosting, or flying. Those colors really pop, especially if you get a fairly nice day with nice late afternoon light. Before my vacation, and before the clocks rolled back for DST, I had one late afternoon when I was able to go out to the wetlands with the A6000 & FE70-200mm F4 G OSS lens combo - the afternoon had started with rain & overcast, but it broke later in the day and I couldn't resist heading back out to see what I could find - I was lucky to come across a bunch of roseate spoonbills flying around, roosting, and fishing together at Green Cay Wetlands.



One of the spoonbills coming in to land, against the lovely blue sky

One of the spoonbills coming in to land, against the lovely blue sky



One perched atop a tree snag, king of the hill

One perched atop a tree snag, king of the hill



While shooting one lower on the tree, he decided to jump up to the unoccupied top branch

While shooting one lower on the tree, he decided to jump up to the unoccupied top branch



Well, it was unoccupied by another spoonbill - a grackle had been perched there, but he scattered when the big spoonbill moved up at him

Well, it was unoccupied by another spoonbill - a grackle had been perched there, but he scattered when the big spoonbill moved up at him



One last honk and flap of the wings to tell the grackle who's boss.

One last honk and flap of the wings to tell the grackle who's boss.



A few minutes later, a second spoonbill decided to join the first - hard to tell who's male and female when they're all so pink, but the second one seemed to be trying to make more than friends with the first, making me think the one in back is the male and the other is a female

A few minutes later, a second spoonbill decided to join the first - hard to tell who's male and female when they're all so pink, but the second one seemed to be trying to make more than friends with the first, making me think the one in back is the male and the other is a female



An incoming spoonbill flying towards me and banking away at the last minute, with lovely sun hitting him from the side

An incoming spoonbill flying towards me and banking away at the last minute, with lovely sun hitting him from the side



Sowing off that color and those beautiful wings, all spread out against the blue lightly cloudy skies

Sowing off that color and those beautiful wings, all spread out against the blue lightly cloudy skies



This one was challenging as it flew right between me and the sun - but the strong backlight shooting into the sun gave his wings an interesting glow

This one was challenging as it flew right between me and the sun - but the strong backlight shooting into the sun gave his wings an interesting glow



The very popular tree where all this action was centered - there are layers of spoonbills and one little blue heron all occupying different branches and levels

The very popular tree where all this action was centered - there are layers of spoonbills and one little blue heron all occupying different branches and levels



More action started up again at the top snag, when another spoonbill came in and again tried to make his case as a good mate - she wasn't buying it!

More action started up again at the top snag, when another spoonbill came in and again tried to make his case as a good mate - she wasn't buying it!



Comments, questions, and critique welcome as always!



--
Justin
galleries: www.pbase.com/zackiedawg
 
Your typical fabulous work!
 
Diggin the one with the backlit wings the best.
 
zackiedawg said:
It's a color not often seen naturally in the animal world...but there's one local bird here in Florida that wears pink proudly - male and female alike. The beautiful and hard not to notice roseated spoonbill is always a fun bird to photograph, whether sitting, fishing, roosting, or flying. Those colors really pop, especially if you get a fairly nice day with nice late afternoon light. Before my vacation, and before the clocks rolled back for DST, I had one late afternoon when I was able to go out to the wetlands with the A6000 & FE70-200mm F4 G OSS lens combo - the afternoon had started with rain & overcast, but it broke later in the day and I couldn't resist heading back out to see what I could find - I was lucky to come across a bunch of roseate spoonbills flying around, roosting, and fishing together at Green Cay Wetlands.


One of the spoonbills coming in to land, against the lovely blue sky


One perched atop a tree snag, king of the hill


While shooting one lower on the tree, he decided to jump up to the unoccupied top branch


Well, it was unoccupied by another spoonbill - a grackle had been perched there, but he scattered when the big spoonbill moved up at him


One last honk and flap of the wings to tell the grackle who's boss.


A few minutes later, a second spoonbill decided to join the first - hard to tell who's male and female when they're all so pink, but the second one seemed to be trying to make more than friends with the first, making me think the one in back is the male and the other is a female


An incoming spoonbill flying towards me and banking away at the last minute, with lovely sun hitting him from the side


Sowing off that color and those beautiful wings, all spread out against the blue lightly cloudy skies


This one was challenging as it flew right between me and the sun - but the strong backlight shooting into the sun gave his wings an interesting glow


The very popular tree where all this action was centered - there are layers of spoonbills and one little blue heron all occupying different branches and levels


More action started up again at the top snag, when another spoonbill came in and again tried to make his case as a good mate - she wasn't buying it!

Comments, questions, and critique welcome as always!
Click to expand...
 
#3 is the best, IMO.
 
Great shots. Number 8 is terrific and shows the use of the wingtip feathers in flight.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Great pics...
Warning about Green Cay, park your car as close to the visitor center as possible. Car are being broken into that are not visible and hidden from the public.
 
davect01 said:
Diggin the one with the backlit wings the best.
Click to expand...
I actually liked that too - even though it's a bit blown out and challenging contrast. I was standing with 4 other photographers and none of them took the shot - a few commented how it wouldn't come out. But I've always liked forcing some of the 'rules' and going against them as sometimes the results can be interesting.

 
zackiedawg said:
davect01 said:
Diggin the one with the backlit wings the best.
Click to expand...
I actually liked that too - even though it's a bit blown out and challenging contrast. I was standing with 4 other photographers and none of them took the shot - a few commented how it wouldn't come out. But I've always liked forcing some of the 'rules' and going against them as sometimes the results can be interesting.
Click to expand...
 
Elliern said:
These are terrific, as usual. We will be down your way in February and I hope they are still there. We have a few here still, but they don't have a lot of pink showing.
Click to expand...
They *should* still be here - they're usually around all winter long - and actually a surprising number in the summer too - it's just a matter of whether they feel like cooperating and staying somewhere within view. Sometimes you can see little pink dots in a far off part of the park where they just don't feel like getting any closer, and other times they're within arms' reach.

Many thanks.

 
mailman88 said:
Great pics...
Click to expand...
Thank you.

mailman88 said:
Warning about Green Cay, park your car as close to the visitor center as possible. Car are being broken into that are not visible and hidden from the public.
Click to expand...
They go through the occasional rash of break-ins - surprising as it's such a rural and non-crime area, but I guess thieves know there may be cars parked there for a while with no one near them so they give it a try. There are parking lot cameras, but mostly in the front two rows. Of course, not keeping things of value in your car, or keeping them hidden from view at least, should also help solve the problem - take away the temptation!
 
davect01 said:
The rules of photography are very important, but once you understand them properly, you can break them with occasionally fantastic results.
Click to expand...
I agree. Always one of those things I've said in the past - a sign that you've become an accomplished and skilled photographer is knowing all the rules AND when to break them!

 
arashi said:
beautiful!
Click to expand...
Thank you.

arashi said:
beginners question - which focus settings did you use?
Click to expand...
Different settings for the flying vs the sitting birds. I take advantage of the MR memory banks to set up two different banks of settings that I can switch back and forth between when I'm shooting birds and wildlife, since both have quite a few settings which are different.

For the sitting birds, perched birds, birds in forest, in water, and on the ground, I use the following which are my MR1 settings: P mode, flex spot focus area, medium point, center-weighted metering, 3fps drive mode, AF-S, Auto ISO set from 100 to 1600.

For flying birds, I use the following default settings which are my MR2 settings: S mode set to 1/1000 shutter, wide focus area (all points active), center weighted metering, 6fps drive mode, AF-C, Auto ISO set from 100 to 6400. I'll adjust shutter speed higher as needed, adjust EV to account for darker or lighter backgrounds...but those default settings I've found are best to have so I can quickly dial over to MR1 or MR2 and switch throughout the day as needed, to shoot still birds followed by flying birds and back to still again.
 
zackiedawg said:
davect01 said:
The rules of photography are very important, but once you understand them properly, you can break them with occasionally fantastic results.
Click to expand...
I agree. Always one of those things I've said in the past - a sign that you've become an accomplished and skilled photographer is knowing all the rules AND when to break them!
Click to expand...
 
zackiedawg said:
arashi said:
beautiful!
Click to expand...
Thank you.
zackiedawg said:
beginners question - which focus settings did you use?
Click to expand...
Different settings for the flying vs the sitting birds. I take advantage of the MR memory banks to set up two different banks of settings that I can switch back and forth between when I'm shooting birds and wildlife, since both have quite a few settings which are different.

For the sitting birds, perched birds, birds in forest, in water, and on the ground, I use the following which are my MR1 settings: P mode, flex spot focus area, medium point, center-weighted metering, 3fps drive mode, AF-S, Auto ISO set from 100 to 1600.

For flying birds, I use the following default settings which are my MR2 settings: S mode set to 1/1000 shutter, wide focus area (all points active), center weighted metering, 6fps drive mode, AF-C, Auto ISO set from 100 to 6400. I'll adjust shutter speed higher as needed, adjust EV to account for darker or lighter backgrounds...but those default settings I've found are best to have so I can quickly dial over to MR1 or MR2 and switch throughout the day as needed, to shoot still birds followed by flying birds and back to still again.
Click to expand...
 
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