Been there. Done that.

Tags:   Snowy Egret Egretta thula Famosa Slough San Diego California ABigFave NaturesElegantShots blinkagain

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Tags:   Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias Famosa Slough San Diego Blinkagain NGC

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I needed a ton of patience and luck to get this shot. He spent 95% of his time preening and never came out from behind the bush, the whole time that I was there. He was so far away that I had no idea where his eye was.

This was only the second time that I've seen a Little Blue.

Tags:   Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea Famosa Slough San Diego California COTH

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Take a closer look and they're not so common or ugly, after all. OK, their babies might be, but not so, the adults. I don't know what Jeannie does to shoot them so closely, but I'm pretty sure that she talks to them. I wouldn't even know what to say to them in English, much less American Coot, in which Jeannie is fluent.

They're pretty hard to shoot, primarily because their black bodies and their white bills are so contrasty and it's easy to lose detail in either one or both. Plus, they bob up and down while they're swimming, which they're always doing, so you need a steady scan and a fast shutter speed.

Tags:   American Coot Fulica americana Famoso Slough San Diego BirdPerfect NaturesFinest AvianExcellence blinkagain

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