[dcstep]

Incoming

Scrubbing off speed for landing by David Stephens, on Flickr

[M_Six]

^^Another cool head on shot. Nicely done, DC.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

^^Another cool head on shot. Nicely done, DC.

Thanks Mark.

Here's another pelican landing shot, same pelican:

Pelican Landing by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

They are definitely the clowns of the bird world, and always fun to watch and take pictures of. Especially like the head on one!

[Itsed65]

Not the usual striped bass...

Osprey # 17 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Mallard Drake Flies Over

Eye-to-eye by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

Perfect focus Dave.

[Itsed65]

Enjoying the view before it turns brown again

East Bay Spring by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[M_Six]

^^^^Windows Desktop

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by M_Six

^^^^Windows Desktop

Totally! That's what I was thinking when I snapped it. Not even my "landscape" camera, but my old 7D with a Tamron superzoom on it. I just keep it in my car for anything that pops up.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Enjoying the view before it turns brown again

Looks like a painting.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

^^^^Windows Desktop

Oh yeah!

[dcstep]

Mallard Hen

Pretty Mallard Hen Flies By by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

I'm surprised the auto focus grabbed this one

Osprey #13 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

I'm surprised the auto focus grabbed this one

Tough AF challenge. Well Done.

[dcstep]

I spent five-hours over two-days trying to get bufflehead flight shots. They're probably twice as fast as mallards and I got several chances, but no success. Finally, five-minutes before sunset, my friend Dan said, "Look, there's something" and I saw these two about 100-yards out and finally got a shot.

Bufflehead Pair by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

White-tailed kite #25 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

A shot from last year. It's going to be back this June.

B-17 at 12 O Clock by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

A shot from last year. It's going to be back this June.

Love the B-17, Ed. My dad trained as a bombardier in those after the air corp had moved on to newer, bigger models in combat, but used the 17s for training. Luckily, for me, the war in Europe ended right as he completed his training (he'd been a flight instructor for a couple of years) and the discharged him rather than send him to the Pacific.

Dave

[dcstep]

Bufflehead runs on water:

Bufflehead Takes Off by David Stephens, on Flickr

[M_Six]

^^^Very cool shot, DC. Was that just one exposure? If so he must have been really moving to get all those splashes frozen in one image.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

^^^Very cool shot, DC. Was that just one exposure? If so he must have been really moving to get all those splashes frozen in one image.

Thanks Mark.

That's one shot, at 1/2500-sec., of a very fast breed of duck. I've clocked mallards with my car at 40-mph. My guess is that buffleheads and some other small, diving ducks, are up to twice as fast. So, when airborne, I think that these guys fly 60 to 80-mph. I have no idea how fast they run on top of the water, but you can see that it's fast.

Dave