Thanks! Interesting insight, as I still have near to zero knowledge on any wildlife I encounter, particularly birds ;)

He thinks he’s fancy, for sure!

Bigger beard than Santa! 🎅

I’ll have to read more about them, but it is indeed the only one I saw and recognized since starting photographing birds (around 1 year ago).

Thanks for the heads up, I also see it and it’s added automatically when I share a PixelFed link through Mlem on iOS… I’ll maybe look into it but the Fediverse is really messy sometimes 😆

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very fond of this picture (I wouldn’t have posted it otherwise), but the couple of thin branches directly behind the bird break its silouhette a bit. The rest is 100% to my liking.

This is one of the reasons I love wildlife photography: some of these creatures are so tiny and fast, that appreciating their colors and patterns with the naked eye is really challenging. With a big telephoto and if you get close enough though, you can pick out all the tiny details of these awesome chirping fluffy things :)

Near the Ammersee (Lake Ammer) in Bavaria, Germany. There is a region where these harriers gather for communal roosting in winter - I found this out only thanks to some explanation boards at the place and after I got some shots of what I thought was a much more common buzzard :)

Glad you like it, thanks!

Nice hues, beautiful portrait!

Thanks :) Nice, but I want a full lit round moon at least one time! Will closely monitor the next phases and the sky.

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark II

Lens: Canon RF 200-800 F6.3-9

Shot on a tripod: 800mm 1/200s F10 ISO100

Sharpest RAW image of a few RAW processed in Nitro (curves, sharpen, crop)

White balance set to Daylight: do you have opinions on how to set it for the moon? I like it a bit warm, as it’s sunlit, but we perceive it more neutral white with our eyes maybe?

Oh thanks!

Well, busted!! The autofocus mode reads AI servo. It is all just a big lie.

Glad you like it!

Thanks! Yes they are fascinating. This one gulped a pretty sizable frog or fish moments before I got out the camera, unfortunately for me and for its prey.

Thanks :)

It was really close, to take that profile full-figure shot I had to back up to the side several meters and hold the camera as low as possible in the ditch. That is taken at 400mm.

At 800mm I got very personal with it:

It must know a good featherdresser ;) I also find that detail the most interesting in this photo

Thanks for the eyebrows-rising comment, let’s try to get some useful infos going: this picture was taken in Bayern, Germany, where herons migrate for winter (blue areas in the picture)

I assume “DC metro area” means North America? No native grey herons there I think, but local? Almost all American citizens descend from people who self-imported themselves in NA, but I would surely call them local ;)

That’s sweet! But yes I was really captured by that bright azure bird I spotted during a jog, it stand out like a gem in the grey, brown and cloudy winter surroundings. Every couple of days I check that spot with the camera in hand, didn’t meet it again. Wish me luck! :)

Thanks :) I was hoping to see a Kingfisher near that spot. I’m seeing many more birds than I expected with low temperatures and a bit of snow. I’m an absolute beginner and don’t really know behavior patterns of any animal I’m trying to photograph though