Cattle Egret in flight

[wigz]

Cattle Egret are still nesting at Tygum Park where they now seem to outnumber the Little Black Cormorants. They were flying back and forth gathering nesting material, so I stood there for a while trying to get flight shots, as birds in flight can be a bit scarce here. I took far too many, but here is a small selection.

1.


2.


3.

[Isac]

All dressed up in their breeding plumage and focused on the job at hand, to get that house built before the egg deliveries. Amazing how you got them to fly left to right for perfect framing.
#1: I think needs a little less brightness in its left wing to show more feather detail - easy fix - that's my only CC.

[wigz]

Thanks Isac. It would be nice if they did follow instructions, but most were nesting in one of two trees on tiny islands, and were bringing sticks from mostly one direction. It was a matter of finding a spot on the bank with the best view and best light and waiting for birds to fly past.

[kevinj]

Wonderful, #3 would be my pick, I love a reflection.

[wigz]

Thanks Kevin.

[AlfandBen]

Agree with Kevin. All great shots but #3 is superb.

[HansE]

Looks like #3 is the winner Kevin. Great shots all of them.

[wigz]

Thanks Hans.

[David_MC]

Beautiful shots. Well done!

[wigz]

Thanks David.

[avkomp]

good work on all these. is handy for flight practice when they keep repeating stuff for you. you can try stuff and get some good practice

[wigz]

Thanks Stephen, Yep it's a great chance for practice. I tried 3d tracking which I don't normally use. It seemed to work fairly well but might have failed to lock on a bit more frequently.

[avkomp]

I tested all the modes available to me on my cameras,
and I reckon the one that gives me the best results is either single af point, or d9.
I may change focus tracking with lock on a bit depending on what is around in foreground and background.
that way the camera only focuses on what I want and not like background more, assuming you can track properly. you practice that until you can track properly.
I found, at least with my generation of nikons, the more focus points you have active, it may be slower to focus, and certainly could choose something other than what you want.

[wigz]

I normally use single point for stationary subjects, and 9 point dynamic for birds in flight as these seemed to give good results. I’ve never tried 3d much as I didn’t like the way the focus point display seemed to lag. Mirrorless with eye focus looks to be a big jump in autofocus function.

[avkomp]

I think you are right,
I know of a few people who couldnt take a flight shot to save their life who are now getting amazing stuff and passing themselves of as experts. just cos they got mirrorless and eye tracking and it is solving everything for them