Black-legged Kittiwake

Gallery: AvianPosted May 26, 201489 views7 comments

Canon 1D-X, 500mm f4, hand held
f7.1, 1/6400, ISO2000

The cliffs on St. Paul island have to be among the best places on the planet to practice flight shots. Tens of thousands of birds fly by every hour. This Black-legged Kittiwake was headed back for a marshy area 3/4ths of a mile away to get more mud and grass for his nest.

Full frame. Slight sharpening.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on May 26, 2014 at 10:42 PM

Nice exposure on the bird with a nice gliding flight pose. Which part of Alaska is St. Paul Island in? Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 26, 2014 at 11:26 PM

St. Paul Island is part of the Pribilof Islands, 300 miles west of Alaska and 250 miles north of the Alaska Peninsula, in the middle of the Bering Sea. They are volcanic mountaintops (last eruption c. 3,200 years ago), sticking up from what was ice age Beringia.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on May 27, 2014 at 9:30 AM

Well done - fast flyers as I know them... . Congrats, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Barb Pflaum on May 27, 2014 at 8:08 PM

Excellent flight image! I love the wing position.

Registered on January 14, 2009, 316 Posts, 2724 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on May 27, 2014 at 9:44 PM

A real beauty, Jim. Sounds like a great place.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 28, 2014 at 9:33 AM

Very nice FF shot, you just fit em' in.
Like the flight pose/diagonal wing position here Jim

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on May 30, 2014 at 7:21 AM

Very nice BIF image Jim. The background sets the bird off well and you have a nice look underwing.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments