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Believe it or not...


Believe it or not...
Photo Information
Copyright: Bengt Falke (falke) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 158 W: 17 N: 456] (1630)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-04-14
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon 400D, Canon 300/4 L IS USM + EF 1.4 ext. II
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/400 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-06-12 10:14
Viewed: 583
Points: 30
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Believe it or not... but the legs are this long!

This will be my last post for a month as tomorrow morning we are leaving for a month long journey to the Croatian Archipelago in the Adriatic sea. We will be based on the Island Dugi Otok during our excursions there... Hopefully will will bring back some nice photos as well.

So take care and keep posting all those wonderful photos... I will try to keep an eye here when possible!

This Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus/Styltlöpare) appeared for us, during our stay in the Camargue area. We were sitting in a hide waiting for a totally different bird when a couple of these made a very peculiar dance together, and then closer and closer to our hide. At the end I had to remove the extender to be able to capture the scene.

I think they look just amazing and is a very good proof of the power of evolution... ;o)

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Geographic info:

This is from the northest side of Etange de Vaccares in the Camargue area in France.

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Technical information:

I took this in rawformat and used Adobe Lightroom for some adjustments before the edit in Photoshop CS3.

Just crop, white balance and a bit hue
Noise reduction with Noiseware professional
Sharpening with Photokit capture sharpener

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About the specie:

From Wikipedia:
The Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus, is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae.

Adults are 33-36 cm long. They have long pink legs, a long thin black bill and are mainly white with a dark cap and a dark back.

The taxonomy of this bird is still somewhat contentious: some sources believe that there are as many as five distinct species; others consider some or all of these to be subspecies. The five forms are:

* nominate Himantopus himantopus himantopus, which occurs in most of the warmer parts of southern and southeastern Europe, southern Asia and north Africa.
* the Black-necked Stilt, which breeds from the US to northern South American has a dark head with a white spot over the eye (see Gallery). It is recorded as Himantopus mexicanus in the Sibley-Monroe checklist.
* the southern South America melanurus is larger than mexicanus and often has a white crown.
* the rare and endangered Hawaiian knudseni has more extensive black on its neck than the American forms.
* leucocephalus of southeastern Indonesia and Australia has a white head.

The breeding habitat of all forms is marshes, shallow lakes and ponds. The nest site is a bare spot on the ground near water. These birds often nest in small groups, sometimes with avocets.

Some populations are migratory and move to the ocean coasts in winter.

These birds pick up their food from sand or water. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans.

Threats and conservation

The Black-winged Stilt is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Argus, ellis49, uleko, MMM, Shoot_Score, lawhill, garyfudge, CTP, SelenE has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Ken52: Thank you!falke 1 06-13 04:56
To pirate: Tomfalke 1 06-12 15:18
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2883 W: 165 N: 8400] (26072)
  • [2007-06-12 10:46]

Hej Bengt,
Yes, I'll believe it because I have seen them many times, but the legs are amazing. You have captured this individual showing a whole leg, which is quite unusual. This is also a sharp and well presented shot.
Have a great time in Croatia and come back with lots of fine shots!
TFS,
Bästa hälsningar,
Ivan

Hello Bengt
Wonderful shot of this Black-winged Stilt,
I haven't seen this bird with this quality
:-) Perfect sharpness and focusing,
Excellent lighting and POV,Superb shot.

Regards
Fartash

Hi Bengt
Hope you enjoy your holidays and bring us some brilliant captures from Croatia.
This guy is great with perfect sharpness of the eye (which is sometimes difficult in waders with their fast moving head) and perfect compo with full length of leg visible
NICE

Hi Bengt,
agree , the long legs are amazing, the bird looks funny.
The details are fine and the POB as well.
Well done.

have a safe and nice trip.

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2678 W: 173 N: 8282] (26095)
  • [2007-06-12 13:12]

Hello Bengt,
These are such elegant birds and I love the way this one is striding along. I like the POV and the sharp profile. Good colours too.
Hope you have a lovely time in Croatia!
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 793 W: 0 N: 1591] (7364)
  • [2007-06-12 13:14]

Hi Bengt
Very nice image.I like the composition and the sharpness of that image.
TFS Michel

Oh I believe it Bengt! They are not called Styltlöpare for some other silly reason, eh!

Great catch here, for surely these birds can really "loop" on those sticklegs!

One wonders if Global Warming will see them add another foot or so!

Tfs, Jay

Hello Bengt,
Great capture you got it on the walk showing the whole leg,
nice colors very sharp well done TFS. regards/Lawhill

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1446 W: 76 N: 3153] (10349)
  • [2007-06-12 16:14]

Hello Bengt,
Great sharp photo and POV. Beautiful light and focus.
Have a nice time.
TFS,
Peter

  • Great 
  • Ken52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 663 W: 98 N: 1262] (4187)
  • [2007-06-13 0:19]
  • [+]

WOW! What an amazing and interesting photo. The low POV really accentuates the long legs. Outstanding exposure, excellent focus and great composition. Good notes!

Hello Bengt , strange posture , good comp and exposured , TFS.

Un oiseau aux longues pattes emmanché d'un long coup dirait la fable. beau cliché

  • Great 
  • CTP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 774 W: 6 N: 1107] (3183)
  • [2007-06-14 0:58]

Hi Bengt,
Great capture of Black-winged Stilt.
I like your bird's pose,colors,focus,pov,dof,sharpness and note.TFS
Chris

Magnifique avec son oeil rouge.
Bravo
Marie

  • Great 
  • SelenE Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2447 W: 63 N: 4087] (13166)
  • [2007-06-15 5:57]

Hi Bengt,
Nice capture of the Black-winged Stilt with a very good POV and a good composition. TFS
Have a great time in Croatia. Bon voyage
Selen

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