Ready... set... Action!

Action photo it is! A great theme in this week's SMAP contest; finally getting back to posting on the community, after a loooong absence. But for a good reason: wonderful vacations in a country I was hoping to visit for so long, and then Hivefest, that completely blew my expectations.

Besides meeting different cultures, places, foods, another bonus of travelling is... more bird photos!! And fresh from Croatia, a few of them fit this week's theme nicely!

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Action photos are not exactly easy for me; I have a pretty decent bridge camera with a big optical zoom. The problem is, either I have really great conditions, especially light wise, or more often than not the "action photos" end up being "blurry and frustating photos attempts". Luckily for me, odds were in my favour when I saw this beauty.

^{Grey heron - Ardea cinerea}

These waterfalls are part of a natural park near Split. When I arrived, a lonely grey heron was basking in the sun, in a rock near the waterfall. As she decided to flew to the rocks in the middle of the waterfall, another heron appeared out of nowhere to try and claim the same spot! The waterfalls were stunning by themselves, but seeing the herons was the cherry on top .

Before arriving to the waterfalls, I got lucky on another action shot:

^{Mute swan - Cygnus olor}

A small boat ride provided the opportunity to watch several small groups of swans, some swimming quietly and others in flight. I was trying to get decent photos of the landings or takeoffs, but I had to settle with only this one, as the lonely swan touched the water.

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Following the trail up the waterfall, there were calmer and shallower waters, but still with a strong current. But that was a bonus for these guys.

^{Gadwall - Anas strepera}

The gadwalls were having a blast, feeding in the fast water.

I was actually confusing them with the mallards at first, since they were on eclipse plummage, so a lot less colourful than the usual plummage; and the fact thare there were indeed some mallards among them didn't helped! But with the white abdomen and the slightly different size, I think I'm doing the correct identification.

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Ready for a little more action? This time... le sexy action! 😏😏

^{Rock pigeon - Columba livia}

From the nature to the city; this time, Dubrovnik. A couple of piegons were letting love run wild, on top of the stone walls. And well... who can blame them?? The sun was setting, goldn hour was almost there, there was a fascinating view of the ocean, and Dubrovnik is such a romantic city!

So no wonder the passionate couple simply ignored all the passing tourists, and decided on sunset lovemaking on the spot! The result? More photos for this contest! 😁

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Have a great weekend everyone!

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