Florida…Dance Of The Reddish Egret

Ah, Florida, one of my favorite paces to visit to get a bird fix.  Our first morning out, we headed to Fort DeSoto and found a Reddish Egret “dancing” in the surf catching fish for it’s breakfast…

Nikon D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR ISO ISO 400 f8 @ 1/1000

It’s fascinating to watch these birds and their method for fishing.  They are one of the most active birds of the heron family as work the shallow areas of the surf or incoming tides using their wings to shade the water, reducing the glare to better see their prey…

D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR ISP 400 f8 @ 1/750

They then quickly plunge their heads into the water coming up with a fish…

Nikon D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR, ISO 400 f8 @ 1/1000

Another method they use is to hold very still, staring into the water while they wiggle their feet to stir up fish…

Nikon D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR, TC-20E III ISO 200 f8 @ 1/500

Nikon D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR, ISO 400 f8 @ 1/750

We spent an enjoyable morning working the reddish egret.  It was quite successful in it’s fishing attempts and we were equally successful in capturing the action.   It even took a break and seemed to be “unruffled” as we approached for a closer shot…

Nikon D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR, TC-20E III ISO 400 f8 @ 1/1000

You may wonder why I was using a higher ISO and fast shutter speed even on the still images but, they can lunge at exceptional speed with no notice so, I set my camera for the action…

Nikon D4, AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR, TC-20E III ISO 400 f8 @ 1/1000

I’m finding the AF with TC-20E III works great with the longer f4 teles on the D4, something that was not as easily accomplished with previous cameras.  *Note: the TC-17E II doesn’t AF nearly as well with the f4 lenses.  I’m hoping there will be an updated 1.7X coming in the future.