Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/05/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Friday's weather forecast for a late-season winter storm in the Sierra Nevada mountains and spring migrant birds establishing nesting territories in the marshes of the Sierra Valley north of Lake Tahoe got me thinking "This could be fun". I photographed several species but the highlight was an very cooperative American Bittern. The American Bittern is a secretive member of the Heron family (Ardeidae) ordinarily heard more often than seen. Their normal habitat is dense marshes of cattail and bullrush where the bird's cryptic coloration and habit of standing with is bill extended skyward helps it disappear. http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/ardeidae/ambitt03.html demonstrating the "you can't see me" posture: http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/ardeidae/ambitt04.html and a demonstration of the Bittern Walk: http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/ardeidae/ambitt05.html Technical stuff (all photos): R8/DMR, shoulder stock & monopod. First two photos made with 560mm f/6.8 Novoflex Telyt, third made with 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt + 1.4x APO-Extender-R. All comments welcome. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com