Happy Valentine’s Day, Bird Photography Style

With February 14th all about love, romance and heart-shaped things, here are a few images to make the birding world a bit more affectionate 🙂  You won’t find any extra technical stuff (save for the exif posted below every image), and there are not many lessons this time, simply a few delightful images that follow the theme in question.

First up is an oldie but goodie, which I seem to bring up almost every year somewhere online around this time.  First time on the blog though, so here it is again:  a mated pair of Burrowing Owls photographed in Cape Coral, Florida on…wait for it….February 14th, 2009.  A true Valentine’s image!

Burrowing Owls, Canon 40D + 100-400mmL @300mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/125s., f/6.3, + 0.7 EC, ISO 800.

Next up, an image I created this past summer, and immediately saw the Valentine’s Day potential in the heart shape it took while preening:

Great Blue Heron, Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1250s., f/8, ISO 800.

Another heart shaped pose lined up for you:  A juvenile Semipalmated Plover that did its best to get noticed by cupid when it stretched its wings in a loving way:

Semipalmated Plover, juvenile, Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/5.6, ISO 400.

One early summer morning a couple of Hooded Mergansers were hanging out on a rock in a local urban pond.  The sun had just come out, and I knew some good silhouettes could potentially be had.  I lined up for the best view, and after a few moments they gave me this face-to-face pose against the nice orange water.

Hooded Mergansers, Canon 7D + 100-400mmL @400mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1600s., f/6.3, ISO 800.

Although not an avian subject, what’s Valentine’s without a flower?  This one is from a bouquet of flowers my wife and I got for our wedding day (ahhhh!).  So on this note, wishing you all a very warm and special day….and that it especially carries over beyond today!

Dahlia detail, Canon 7D + 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/250s., f/5.6, ISO 800, fill-flash.

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6 Comments

  1. Faraaz Abdool February 13, 2017 at 9:30 pm #

    Lovely images Dan! What a treat, photographing those Burrowing Owls on Feb 14th!

  2. Laura February 15, 2017 at 7:23 pm #

    Gorgeous images Dan. I love the Juvenile Semi-palm – a really creative Valentine’s Day photograph!

    • Daniel Cadieux February 16, 2017 at 6:32 pm #

      Thank you Laura. It’s a cute little fella eh!

  3. Allen Sparks February 17, 2017 at 2:21 am #

    Wonderful images Dan! Love them all – I think the mergansers are my fave.

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