About the Image(s)

Purple Galinule Breeding Colors

Nikon D850, 200-400 f4 lens with tc1.4. ISO 500, f4, 1/1600, with polarizer, tripod.

Just for fun and to appease those who want clear separation between subject and background I decided to share this image because it has no distractions. It was taken on an overcast day and from a relatively low camera position. I raised the camera just high enough to get only a water background with no foliage. These birds like to run and climb on stems of various reeds and so I waited until the bird was high enough of the reed to eliminate anything floating on the water surface thus zero distractions. A secondary goal was to show the size of the “toes” and the claws with which the bird grasps the reed stem. I also selected on of the few images where the bird semi opened its wings to add more interest. As the bird really does little flying but rather hops from reed to reed and wades through the grasses it is seldom seen in this wide open of an area. It took about 45 minutes of following his guy around to get this shot. The bird is about the size of a chicken but with really long legs. It feeds mostly on plant material it plucks from the bottom of the pond and also on the flowers of lily pads. The bird has become rare in south Florida due to the number of hurricanes and the increased depth of the water. Even with its long legs it is having trouble reaching bottom of the pond for food. The number of visible nests has drastically declined in the last 3 years. Last year I only found 2 nests where generally there are dozens.