Being a nature photographer living in Alberta, I tend to focus my photography on large carnivorous mammals, and got my first taste of marine mammal photography during my 2014 trip into the Great Bear Rainforest – immediately after that trip I signed up to go on a Marine Mammals trip in the summer of 2015.

I figured the Marine Mammals trip would be exclusively just that, marine mammals. However we encountered some very interesting birds as well, many of which I haven’t seen before, especially in Alberta.

This Oystercatcher was photographed while we were out looking for (and finding) sea lions.  What makes these birds so striking is bright orange beak and the yellow eye with the orange ring around it.  It is really a striking animal, and gave me a new appreciation for the beauty of birds.

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Taken: August 11, 2015

Location: Johnstone Strait, British Columbia

Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark ii

Lens: Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4x III Extender

Focal Length: 700mm

Aperture: f/9