A trip to the beach

[dadas115]

After a long time away I recently discovered with the help of Lava Lamp that there is now a Nature and Wildlife board here so I decided to give it a try. This is a group of pictures that I took near Galveston, TX on Christmas eve using a Canon 350D and EF 100-400 IS lens.

The day turned out to be very windy and there was quite a bit of sand blowing about which didn’t exactly make for great birding or photography though I think I managed a few keepers.

The first bird is a willet, the second a snowy plover, the third a western sandpiper and finally the last one is a ring-billed gull.

Please let me know what you think,

Greg

[paulnj]

Welcome back Greg!

That Snowy plover is sweet!!!!! I love the alert look to it's posture.

The action in the western sandpiper image is what nature imagery is all about! Too many wildlife images are static subjects! "bird on a stick" images , while nice, just aren't as eye catching as the ACTION you have captured there.

[srobb]

Some really sweet shots, Greg. These are the times that make me wish I did not live in ky. ;) Though I did manage to shoot quite a few birds this past weekend, there is just no where to get pics like that.

Have to agree with Paul on the 3rd one. It's shots like that which most of us would love to get that show a little action.

[dadas115]

The beach really can be a neat place. I was very pleased to find that these birds would just walk right past me while I was laying on the sand and being still. It is always a blast for me to see the little sanderlings running back and forth chasing the waves as well as many of the other sandpipers probing the sand for food.

I also agree that shots that show some sort of action are a lot more lasting than the typical static portrait though both types of pictures can be nice.

Thanks so much for your comments.

Greg