Greater Painted Snipes

[Tirso Paris]

Just to share with you some of my captures of the Greater Painted Snipe taken mostly at the IRRI Lowland Experiment Station fields in Los Banos, Laguna. I find this bird to be very shy, hiding from intruders for a very long period. If you are patient enough to wait, however, they would invariably come out to the open to feed or preen.

All pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 7D and an EF100-400mm L IS USM, car window support, and in natural light.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Male
2012-06-10 07:14, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 5.6, ISO 250, 390 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Female
2012-06-10 07:51, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 5.6, ISO 400, 380 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Male
2012-06-10 07:50, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 5.6, ISO 250, 380 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Male
2012-06-10 08:00, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 6.3, ISO 320, 400 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Female
2012-05-27 07:11, 1/800 sec, Shutter priority, F 11, ISO 2000, 800 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Male and Female
2012-05-27 08:25, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 6.3, ISO 250, 380 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Male and Female
2012-05-27 08:26, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 6.3, ISO 250, 380 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Female
2012-05-27 08:27, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 6.3, ISO 250, 400 mm.



Greater Painted-Snipe (Rostratula benghalensis), Female
2012-05-27 08:27, 1/1000 sec, Shutter priority, F 6.3, ISO 320, 400 mm.

[Mick Harris]

Wonderful series

[William Lim]

Best captures of this bird. Congrats Prof Tirso.

[Ely Teehankee]

Bravo. They are the best I have seen. You must have waited in hiding for them to get that close to you. Usually the male would look much better than the female but in this specie, it seems like the female is more colorful. What do you think? Well done Tirso & Mabuhay.

[tina mallari]

I will have to agree with the others. This set of photos of the greater painted snipes is the best one I have seen so far. Your invisible ninja skills are truly well practiced ;-) I hope to learn that ninja skill one day.

[Tirso Paris]

Thank you all, Mick, William, Ely, and Tina for your kind comments. Yes, Ely for this bird, I had to patiently wait inside the car for them to appear , sometimes for an hour or so, as I could see their beaks and eyes behind the bushes. The first few pictures were also taken at close range, probably not more than eight meters away. Tina, I had to forego airconditioning and had lots of water and gatorade to avoid heat stroke while waiting.

[Clemn A. Macasiano Jr.]

Wish I can do that ... Good shot Tirso

[Ramon Quisumbing]

Great series, Prof. Tirso.

[Tirso Paris]

Thanks Clemm and Ramon! In birding, I'm sure you appreciate the fact that oftentimes patience is indeed a virtue.

[Neon Rosell II]

Wow, great captures as always, Prof Tirso! Wish I could visit your place one of these days.

[Mark Itol]

Very very nice, Prof. Tirso!

[Tirso Paris]

Thanks a lot Neon and Mark!

[Toto Gamboa]

Wow ... unbeatable set of GPS! This makes me wanna go there

[Tirso Paris]

Thanks Toto! Please send me a PM if you come so I can accompany you especially in restricted areas.

[Bobby Kintanar]

Excellent series. Well done!

[oespena]

Nice shots!!! so clear and sharp!!!