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| TITLE: | Moorhen chasing juvenile Coot on calm water with reflections
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| INFO: | "During July a pair of Moorhens with their chicks appeared frequently in front of Goosander Hide and they were always delightful to watch and photograph, though often they were too close to the hide so that the angle down to them was rather steep for photography.
Usually, Moorhens get bullied by Coots, which are aggressive bolshie birds at the best of times as well as being larger and more powerful anyway, but occasionally the tables are turned if the Moorhen is protecting its young. In this image, one of the Moorhen parents is chasing off a juvenile Coot that has ventured in too close to its young chicks. Usually such chases are very brief affairs, all flapping and splashing and over in a couple of seconds, so one has to be aware of the birds' behaviour and try to anticipate when such action is about to take place, and then get the camera onto it quickly and fire away. Shots of such action often rely heavily on a degree of luck as to what is captured in terms of birds or splashes, bird positions, wing positions, etc. but with quick trigger finger and timed bursts one tries to also input a degree of skill ! Fortunately, this image has worked quite well, with both birds clearly visible, both with good wing positions, plenty of splashing but not too much, and a reasonable reflection in the calm water which they had not yet rippled from their action. I don't think an adult Coot would've been quite so easy to chase off though but things can change when an animal is defending its young!." July 2012 (Goosander Hide) |
| TECH: | Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 zoom lens at 400mm, ISO 720, f5.6, 1/3000 sec.
Hide shelf platform with ball head. Cropped image about 60% of frame from full-frame FX-format image. |
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