A Couple Birds In Flight

[jprzybyla]

I shot these today while taking my walk in a nature refuge. C&C welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Great Blue Heron



Tri-colored Heron

[Bobobird]

Very nice. Appear a bit dark here but in lightbox they look just fine. Great catch.

[Brownbear]

Beautiful.. I especially love the 2nd shot.

[terrib]

That second one is so sharp. It looks like he posed for you. Their eyes always look so strange to me but it's a beautiful bird. Great shots!

[davidedric]

Yes, great shots. Especially the second one - almost all bird in flight shots I have are from underneath - this looks like you are flying alongside. Good grab and good technique.

[VR8]

Excellent shots.

[djg05478]

Lovely. In the first shot, I like the line (or curve) that looking into the end of the feathers makes. Not sure if that makes any sense.

[FrankMi]

These are interesting shots that bring up a point that I have wondered about for some time. Why do we sometimes see Herons (and other birds) flying with the neck fully extended and at other times, flying with the head pulled back as far as they can make it go?

[davidedric]

Why do we sometimes see Herons (and other birds) flying with the neck fully extended and at other times, flying with the head pulled back as far as they can make it go?

It depends on the family. Herons (and egrets) all fly with their necks drawn back like this one, but all storks, cranes and flamingos with their necks fully extended. As to why - I guess you'd have to find a talking heron unless we have a proper ornithologist around.

[darknight]

Thats right david, as to why, its all about how they feed and what they feed on, that requires them to fly like that, think of what and how each one eats and it becomes clear.
As the for the photos, very nice, i take it they were landing for you to get such a great angle?

[davidedric]

Thanks, Mark. One of those things that's obvious - once someone points it out! Though neither of us have explained why the Great Blue Heron has it's neck straight out. I suspect that it has just taken off - unless it has an identity crisis.

It's interesting but unsurprising that birds that have converged on similar feeding patterns (for example cattle egrets and crowned cranes) maintain their ancestral ways. Not sure whether this is off topic, but for me knowing more about animal behaviour increases the enjoyment of watching them, and I think makes for better photographs, too.

[FrankMi]

Thats right david, as to why, its all about how they feed and what they feed on, that requires them to fly like that, think of what and how each one eats and it becomes clear.
As the for the photos, very nice, i take it they were landing for you to get such a great angle?

That might be a clue. In order to fly with the least effort, the center of balance must be positioned in relation to the wing chord's center of lift. Could it be that the first Heron was flying on an empty stomach? I guess it may also depend on how far back in the body the stomach is?

[davidedric]

Could it be that the first Heron was flying on an empty stomach?

Crop, Frank, Crop! That's the bit where a bird stores its food, not a PP instruction

It's possible, but I don't think so. So far as I can recall, I've never seen a heron in level flight with its neck stretched out, but then there are lots of things I haven't seen. Perhaps Joe can tell us if it was taking off, landing, or in between?

[jprzybyla]

Very nice. Appear a bit dark here but in lightbox they look just fine. Great catch.

Thanks Bobo, very much appreciated.

[jprzybyla]

Beautiful.. I especially love the 2nd shot.

Thanks Christina, much appreciated. Welcome back from Canada.

[jprzybyla]

That second one is so sharp. It looks like he posed for you. Their eyes always look so strange to me but it's a beautiful bird. Great shots!

Thank you Terri, the second one was quite close when I captured a couple frames, that sure helps to have nice detail and color.

[jprzybyla]

Yes, great shots. Especially the second one - almost all bird in flight shots I have are from underneath - this looks like you are flying alongside. Good grab and good technique.

Thank you Dave, very much appreciated. You are so correct in mentioning a grab shot, the second bird appeared suddenly and low flying. I had been shooting birds in flight so the camera was set correctly. I found the bird in the viewfinder and was able to get off a couple frames before the bird disappeared into the marsh.

[jprzybyla]

Excellent shots.

Thank you Victor, very much appreciated.

[jprzybyla]

Lovely. In the first shot, I like the line (or curve) that looking into the end of the feathers makes. Not sure if that makes any sense.

Thank you Debbie, what you wrote makes perfect sense to me. About ninety five percent of my photography is birds, I find beauty and grace in their shapes and movements.

[jprzybyla]

These are interesting shots that bring up a point that I have wondered about for some time. Why do we sometimes see Herons (and other birds) flying with the neck fully extended and at other times, flying with the head pulled back as far as they can make it go?

Hi Frank, thank you for taking time to view and comment on my images. I answer to your question regarding the neck position of birds when they fly, David is correct in a following post that Herons and Egrets normally fly with their necks pulled in forming a S-curve tight to the body. Storks and Cranes fly with their necks extended. Now to explain why this Heron has it's neck extended. I was photographing it perched at the top of a tree (see the image posted below). It lepted into the air and glided without the wings flapping to another spot in the marsh. I was able to switch to shutter priority and get a couple images of it gliding in flight.