Pied Herons

A pair of beautiful Pied Herons (Ardea picata) photographed at the sewage ponds outside the Northern Territory Aboriginal community of Gapuwiyak, in November 2008. Wildlife is very difficult to photograph around here. As soon as they see me they are gone, as everything around here will be shot by the locals if they linger. because of this I had to shoot these pictures (the only kind of shooting I do) with a 450 mm telephoto lens, in late afternoon light, with a consequent loss of sharpness.