Driving the auto tour of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Oct. 2010, I spotted this Greater Yellowlegs hunting in the shallow waters of Rest Lake. He plunges his beak down in the water, feeling around for a morsel, and snaps the food up out of the water, then catches it and swallows it. This shot shows the “water dweller” (prey) after it was flipped up and made airborne by the bird, before it was caught and swallowed. Taken using a Canon 7D, 1/1000, f6.3, 400mm, ISO400, Canon 400mm f5.6L lens.
There is another shot of this bird in the frame prior to this one showing the catch in the bird’s beak, before he flipped it.
This is a beautiful shot!! Wow…the colors, the sharpness, the way you framed the shot with flowers and bird reflection in view, the poses of the “subjects” (LOL)…all perfect! I could see this one on a calendar. You have such a gift, Papa!
Thanks Kimi! Your words mean a lot! That action happened so fast, I never saw it when I was taking the photo. The frame prior to the flip one is also posted and has the prey in the beak–these two frames were consecutive. So shooting burst at 8 fps– the prey makes it from the back of the beak, into the air, an inch or so in front of the beak, in 1/4 of a second, which means the bird really had to snap its beak fast. I really appreciate the comment Kimi!