Wing Maintenance

Viera Wetlands is a manufactured wetlands (aka Sewer Treatment Plant) near Melbourne Florida, and is, acre for acre, one of the most productive locations for rare birds in North America…and is certainly one of the best venues for bird photography.

Great Blue Herons at Viera like to perch on top of dead palm trunks, 12 feet off the water, and just above eye-level from the dikes around the ponds. They are spectacular against the blue Florida sky. This fellow was grooming and I caught him with his wing fully extended, working on flight feathers. The sky-light coming through the wing makes for what I consider an interesting study.

At this distance (less than 100 feet) even the wide end of the Sony zoom on my digiscoping rig was a bit tight for the heron.

Sony DSC N1 behind the eyepiece of a Zeiss Diascope 85FL. 1100mm total focal length equivalent. F4.0 @ 1/250 @ ISO 64. Programed Auto with Selective Spot Focus. No EV compensation.

Just the most basic sharpening, Clarity, and Vibrance in Lightroom.

From the Space Coast Birding Gallery.