For most wildlife photographers, the most satisfying pictures are often the riskiest, and least likely to succeed. Getting them to work means taking chances. This is one of my favorite pictures of endangered Maleos that I took on their breeding ground in Indonesia. Endemic to the island of Sulawesi, these birds travel from all over the island to lay their eggs in the hot sand near the coast. Then they will depart again, leaving the sand and sun to do the job of incubating the single egg.

Yet although they nest communally, they never seem reconciled to the presence of the other birds and the males spend much of their time trying to defend their own patch of sand from other nesters. Sometimes this grows into outright warfare.

I spent much of my week in a small blind trying to photograph these lively birds, and slowly began to recognize the behavior that would lead to a fight. But getting that fight on camera proved immensely challenging. I was shooting with a long lens, and the birds, when active, ran around like mad, often jumping into the air. I have DOZENS of near-misses: shots of feet, disembodied heads, and blurry masses of feathers.

Even this shot is not what I would have liked. Although there is lots of action - and I love the wild burst of pink belly feathers - I wish I could see than angry face of the bird behind. Who knows? Given another couple of weeks, I might have actually gotten it...

 

 

Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens

 

 

Life, Color, Drama, Reality .... No Digital Manipulation