Ever wonder how birds gobble up the worm? 10 Frames per second with my trusty Nikon D500 shows us how!
Kingfishers are fascinating subjects to watch. They sit for hours, patiently waiting for prey and then BAM! in a few mill-seconds, a juicy worm or a fish is eaten up ...
How they gobble up the snack makes a great subject to try out high speed photography.
I tried to capture the stages in which the worm is gobbled up with following camera settings on a cloudy rainy day -
- 10 Frames per second (this is the maximum I can get on my camera)
- ISO 640
- Exposure comp +3.0 due to the cloudy day and dark subject against light background of a meadow
- Shutter speed 1/1000s
I could capture tons of frames that showed the entire sequence in which the Kingfisher had it's breakfast! 😀
I present below, a few frames that illustrate the sequence.
Step 1 - Find a suitable tall perch, Sit patiently and look for prey
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Seemingly, they just sit there doing nothing - for long periods. They are, however, keenly observing the air, land and water around for prey. Insects, worms, caterpillars, fish, crabs - anything actually!
Step 2: Catch the worm and return to perch
Ahhh - caught it! Back on my home perch to enjoy breakfast!
Step 3: Change hold - without dropping the worm
This is a prep for getting the worm dead and ready to be gobbled up. The kingfisher has to be careful to change grip on the wriggling worm to such a position that it can bash it against the perch without hitting own beak or head on the perch.
Step 4: Twist head violently from side to side and bash up worm against perch
This is the 'Kill stroke". Breakfast is ready to be gobbled up now!
Step 5: Toss the worm vertically in mouth and gobble up
It is important to align the worm lengthwise with the beak so that it goes in whole!
Step 6: All Done! Smile now!😀
Seems to be happy after eating the worm and sits with a goofy smile on face!
Getting the shutter speed and exposure right is key to high speed photography in the wild. Especially when it is cloudy with very low light.
I think I managed to get it right. What do you think? Please feel free to comment with your opinions and suggestions.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures ...
Please comment freely and let me know your opinion. I will try to bring many different types of wildlife photos/macro/Astro posts to the community. Feedback and comments are welcome,. I am still learning many techniques and always value feedback from experts in this community.
Have a nice day everyone. Cheers!
