As I take these shots, and then work through them I am in awe of the vast number, so close to each other, and flying in high speed precision.
Click the image above for full screen to view how tight the formation is. Very impressive.
And, they will fly this was for thousands of miles during migration.
He was running to catch up with his buddy.
The shrimp boat was tied up for the night, but I think these Pelicans wanted to make sure it didn’t go anywhere without them.
One great thing about these boats is almost everything is a bright, neon, color. Nets, floats, rigging, even the bait bins are vivid.
Makes for great images.
A few photographs of a Dolphin as he drove a school of fish to shore.
At this pass fish were caught before reaching shore. The Dolphin then turned aside and repeated the chase to shore several times.
While I photographed at this location, a photographer was on either side of me capturing a different set strand feeding.
So we all have been going out to find some Black Skimmers to photograph. Beautiful, fast, slightly odd birds. We all had a mission.
Well, we found them.
Then we found more.
And finally…
I have a whole lot of Skimmer photographs now.
On the shore you can always count on these little guys for a photo opportunity. You may not get the shot, but they’ll give you a chance.
Two speeds in this bird, stop and fast.
They are fun little birds and great practice at moving subjects.
One thing I did notice just the other day. They pay almost no attention to other birds or animals nearby. Just do their business at top speed.
This is a rather long article with many photographs. It’s a start to finish capture of a Dolphin ‘strand feeding’. A link below reviews stranding.
The first image is the Dolphin moving along the shore towards me and herding a school of fish.
Suddenly the Dolphin attacks the school, and splashing, drives fish towards the sand.
The quick charge and splashing confuses the fish, and photographer. The Dolphin is 500 pounds (227 kg) and throwing water all over. My lens was pulled back as far as I could so I’m not going anywhere.
Below you can see a fish landing on the sand. That wave behind him is a really big predator.
Now fish meets Dolphin.
As you can see the Dolphin pushed up onto the sand to catch the fish.
Now below, photographer meets Dolphin. This was a first for me. An incredible moment, but I was not going to miss any shots so I kept shooting.
Dolphins strand themselves on the right side (in some images I could see rub marks) which helps them roll back into the water.
Here a Pelican comes crashing the party. Birds follow and dive all around the Dolphins. They take advantage of the fish being trapped in the shallows.
Finally, a moment later the Dolphin moves by joining the others out herding more schools of fish.
I have been told most Dolphins don’t strand fish, however a little further down the shore another pod of Dolphins has begun doing it.
Click here for National Geographic info on strand fishing.
Photographing in the center of a large flock is an (almost) impossible task.
Ultimately you figure out the correct settings and with luck they’re still around.
