herons, herons and more herons...

All taken in Kelsey Park, Beckenham, where the heron community has a vibrant breeding colony. Sensitive souls should be warned that the following images contain evidence of nature being its customarily cruel self. All taken with K-5 IIs and Sigma 100-300mm f4.


1 - Launching


2 - Calling


3 - Contemplating


4 - Staring


5 - Peeping


6 - Interloping


7 - Killing


8 - Consuming

Great set..... nice to see k-5iis with siggy100-300f4 great combo...

Great set Simon, a bit gruesome at the end but great images nonetheless.

Regards
David

fine shots sir

Very good indeed

Why could you not just stick to motor sport.....and give the rest of us a chance

Really excellent work Simon

Great shots. Herons will eat anything!

Great shots Simon

Amazing photos .... The 100-300mm performs very well at f/4.
These demonstrate how useful a zoom lens is. With a fixed
lens you wouldn't have got the Moorhen in the frame. I suppose
you could have asked the Heron to wait until you changed lenses

--

Really good shots..well done.

Karlo

Brilliant and nature in the raw too

Wonderful set. I assume such lenses are both rare and expensive in Pentax K mount?

Gosh, thanks for all the gracious feedback - and apologies for the slow acknowledgement, but I've been on the road all day.

@Algernon: the dead moorhen is/was actually a fledgling coot. The heron subsequently tried to catch its sibling, too, but I scared the predator away with a handclap and the coot was able to scuttle to its parents (although it is unlikely to ;last long, given the size of the heron population). Having been chased away, the heron simply flitted to the far side of the lake and ate a young mallard instead.

@Bill Barnes: the Sigma 100-300 f4 is hard to find in Pentax mount, but seems to change hands for about £800. They don't come up often, though. I was lucky: in 2010, I went to SRS to buy something else... and a 100-300 had that very morning arrived as a trade-in.

@Barrie: I'm not giving iup on motorsport any time soon. Below is what I've been doing today, at Thruxton. I'm now halfway to Donington Park...

Watched the end of the BTCC races from Thruxton on the TV today. I did wonder if any of the photographers were you.