Little effort and big returns...

It is a bright and clear day, and springtime. It's   official: the vernal equinox was yesterday, and for the first time this year we have more daylight than darkness in the northern hemisphere. What better way to celebrate that to get out for some wildlife photography.

In actual fact, bright, sunny conditions is not the best time to choose for such subjects, as the directional light tends to wash out colours and increase contrast, but I have something specific in mind. I want to photograph the local Grey Herons feeding.

I return to a favoured feeding spot, armed with the necessary lens and support, and spend three hours shooting a heron and egret, busying themselves in the art of survival. I also manage several good flight shots of the egret, but it is the heron's behaviour that intrigues me. Ordinarily, these birds stalk their prey and then strike with lightning precision, but this one (above) had perfected the technique of watch and wait, and snatched fish (I am informed that they are trout) out of the air as they jumped the rocks in their effort to  make their way upstream. An effective strategy that involved very little effort for big returns.


300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/2000 second at f/6.3.  - 1 stop EV compensation. ISO 400. Monopod


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