Nick, Joel, Great work. Joel, That texture is very "painterly" like---I really like the effect. And Nick That first one of the gull skimming the water is killer---again, nice work to you both. Sorry for the late reply but I have been out of the loop this weekend (had to do a computer rebuild-- but all is running good now) anyway, I thought that any serious bird photographer would appreciate this video http://youtu.be/OcCP4_R8QBw what was most impressive was this:

8 Years
18 expeditions
544 days
51 field sites
39 species
39,568 photos

I guess I shouldn't complain if I have a bad day at the Bosque Del Apache. Seriously this just goes to show what the folks at National Geographic and elsewhere have to go thorugh to get those incredible shots.

Enjoy.


Bob