White Ibis, Eudocimus albus; 

Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island NWR near Titusville, Florida

     On December 21^st of 2017 I was making my last round through Merritt Island NWR when I came across a feeding frenzy of egrets, herons, pelicans, spoonbills, Ibises and much more.  It was quite an incredible event, and I feel so fortunate to have stumbled upon the scene in such good light.

     Birds that were not feeding were soaring in all different direction.  It was difficult to find just one bird out of the mass to lock onto, but I happened to capture this White Ibis as it was gliding in for a landing with a few hundred other feeding birds in the refuge marshes. 

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/2500 @ f/8

Pic of the Day

     Atlantic Puffin (composite) – Les Iles au Perroquets, Mingan Archipelago; Gulf of Saint Lawerence, Canada:  This is a composite of 10 images I made of one bird as it flew by.  Most of the images are very sharp, though about 3 are a little soft.  I included the soft images in the composition as it completes the series and at the computers resolution the soft images are not perceived as such.  The series shows the bird further away at the right and closer on the left, thus the difference in size of the puffin.  The original composite is 14” x 45”.

    I had a great time shooting flying Alcids, but it was exhausting raising the D300 and 300mm 2.8 to my shoulder for a couple of hours.  However, I do like the results……hope you do as well.

Double Click on the image and the composite will expand to 10” wide


Nikon D300, Nikkor 300mm f2.8, Digital Capture ISO 320