A Pod of Pelicans

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A Pod of Pelicans

I arrived at the Ridgefield NWR, July 29, 2015, at 6 a.m., just as the sun was rising over the ridge to the east.  On my first trip around the auto tour loop, I stopped on the final leg and observed nearly 60 American White Pelicans grouped together in a southerly position in Long Lake.  There were also quite a few Great Egrets close by them, and a few Blue Herons.  I was excited to see so many pelicans and took many pictures of them with different extenders on my 500mm lens.  One of my favorite shots is shown above and shows many of the birds filling their bills with water and filtering out the good stuff to eat.  I was wondering how long they’d stay there because I would have loved to photograph their blast off into the sky.  Thinking they would remain in Long Lake for a while, I drove around the loop again and when I returned about 40 minutes later to this location, the birds had gone.  I missed it.  But, I did get another chance later in the day to shoot some pelican flight shots.  Hopefully, there will be something in those images I can share.

Much better VIEWED LARGE!   Also, here is a link to the same scene on a 1:15 video on YouTube.  Video best at full HD and full screen.

Canon 5D Mark III, 1/1600, f8, ISO 800, 1000mm (500 + 2x), 7:19 a.m., 600 feet

I arrived at the Ridgefield NWR, July 29, 2015, at 6 a.m., just as the sun was rising over the ridge to the east.  On my first trip around the auto tour loop, I stopped on the final leg and observed nearly 60 American White Pelicans grouped together in a southerly position in Long Lake.  There were also quite a few Great Egrets close by them, and a few Blue Herons.  I was excited to see so many pelicans and took many pictures of them with different extenders on my 500mm lens.  One of my favorite shots is shown above and shows many of the birds filling their bills with water and filtering out the good stuff to eat.  I was wondering how long they’d stay there because I would have loved to photograph their blast off into the sky.  Thinking they would remain in Long Lake for a while, I drove around the loop again and when I returned about 40 minutes later to this location, the birds had gone.  I missed it.  But, I did get another chance later in the day to shoot some pelican flight shots.  Hopefully, there will be something in those images I can share.

Much better VIEWED LARGE!   Also, here is a link to the same scene on a 1:15 video on YouTube.  Video best at full HD and full screen.

Canon 5D Mark III, 1/1600, f8, ISO 800, 1000mm (500 + 2x), 7:19 a.m., 600 feet

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My Gear:

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV & Grip
  • Canon EOS 7D Mark II
  • Canon EF 500mm f4L IS II
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f4L
  • Canon EF 50mm f1.8
  • Canon 1.4X III Extender
  • Canon 2x III Extender
  • Canon 580EX Flash
  • Zoom H1 Recorder
  • Better Beamer
  • Manfrotto tripod/monopod
  • Manfrotto Gimbal Head
  • Sandisk Compact Flash Cards
  • The Molar Bean Bag by Vertex
  • Joby Gorillapod Focus & Ballhead
  • Canon EG200 Backpack
  • Storm Jacket Camera Cover
  • Kinesis Safari Sack
  • Original Bug Shirt Elite Edition

Software:

  • Adobe Photoshop CC
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
  • Nik Color EFEX Pro 4
  • Nik Sharpener 3
  • Nik Dfine 2.0
  • Nik Viveza 2
  • Nik HDR Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Analog Efex Pro