Horned Grebe - Biolab Road, Canaveral National Seashore, Wilson, Florida

Yet another Horned Grebe, and this guy was quite friendly (so long as I stayed in my car). For this capture it sat there looking at me for several minutes, so I cranked down the ISO to 100 and took my chances with some slow shutter speeds to see if I could get some crisp captures while keeping the noise to a minimum.

This guy was a little too close to capture all of its reflection, but I'll take a close shot over a longer shot with a reflection 6 days a week.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida xplr 125 bird ThousandPlus Smithsonian2018 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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Horned Grebe - Gator Creek Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida

There were a number of these guys fishing in the ditch along Gator Creek Road, but in true grebe style they ducked and swam 100 feet under water every time I got close. But I too can play that game, and every time they dove I ran 100 feet down the road, then stood very still with my lens pointed where I expected them to surface, and waited for them to arrive. But of course as soon as they saw me they'd dive again so I decided to lower the tripod a bit and shoot through the "weeds" as they swam by holes in the mangrove bushes I was hiding behind.

I'm sure I looked a little strange running down the road with a 20 pound rig (600 mm lens with a 6 foot tripod) and hiding behind bushes, but that's OK with me since it's all about the photographic image, and my personal image will have to fend for itself.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida bird Nature

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Horned Grebe in winter plumage - Sandy Hook (ocean side) National Seashore, NJ
View On Black

Tags:   KH0831 SandyHook bird aquatic bird Nature

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Horned Grebe in winter plumage (ocean side) - Sandy Hook National Seashore, NJ
View On Black

Tags:   KH0831 SandyHook bird predator prey predatory behavior aquatic bird Nature

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Horned Grebe in winter plumage - Pull-off 6, Playalinda Beach Road, Canaveral National Seashore, Wilson, Florida

We don't see a lot of these guys in Florida so when I see one it gets its picture taken.

This guy was over 100 feet away under poor lighting so the distance of the subject is depicted by subject size in the image.

Tags:   KH0831 Florida bird ThousandPlus 1000+ Top 1000 Nature

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