2105_1340 Standoff
A Western Painted Turtle and American Bittern eye each other cautiously at the edge of a pond. Although the bittern is a ruthless predator - I once watched one kill a Wilson's Phalarope that swam by too close - I think this reptile would be more than it could "chew". We watched these two for an hour, and neither of them budged. In reality they aren't quite as close as it may appear - my telephoto compressed the distance between them.
Because I could not align both in the plane of focus, I shot one frame with the turtle sharp and another focused on the bittern, then blended the two images, with appropriate masking and other little adjustments.
I wonder how these two are doing now. In May when I made this shot there was still some water in the ponds, but it dried up completely when the heat wave struck in July. I assume the turtle buried itself in the mud and is now in premature hibernation, although it may have followed the scent of water down to the river, which is only a hundred yards (metres) away. The bittern probably sought out a more promising location to breed. But I'll never know.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2105_1340 Standoff
A Western Painted Turtle and American Bittern eye each other cautiously at the edge of a pond. Although the bittern is a ruthless predator - I once watched one kill a Wilson's Phalarope that swam by too close - I think this reptile would be more than it could "chew". We watched these two for an hour, and neither of them budged. In reality they aren't quite as close as it may appear - my telephoto compressed the distance between them.
Because I could not align both in the plane of focus, I shot one frame with the turtle sharp and another focused on the bittern, then blended the two images, with appropriate masking and other little adjustments.
I wonder how these two are doing now. In May when I made this shot there was still some water in the ponds, but it dried up completely when the heat wave struck in July. I assume the turtle buried itself in the mud and is now in premature hibernation, although it may have followed the scent of water down to the river, which is only a hundred yards (metres) away. The bittern probably sought out a more promising location to breed. But I'll never know.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.