Spotted Sandpiper

SCraig · May 11, 2014

I'm not real thrilled with the sharpness of these because they are rather heavily cropped. I've never seen one of these birds around here before and they are QUICK! This one was hopping everywhere and running from one end of the log to the other. I was shooting through heavy brush so every time the bird moved I had to find a new clear spot to shoot through.

oldhippy · May 11, 2014

Great shots, 3&4 are spot on. Later ed

baturn · May 11, 2014

Cool set! #3 for me.

nzmacro · May 12, 2014

That water colour and the ripples looks great, just love that effect in reflections. Also love that last one Scott, really like the leg up taking a step. Always breaks it from being static that type of shot. Nice details showing even if you did crop these heavily.

All the best Scott and glad you got shots of these. Always nice to see something we don't get to see normally in an area.

Danny.

SCraig · May 12, 2014

oldhippy said:
Great shots, 3&4 are spot on. Later ed

baturn said:
Cool set! #3 for me.

nzmacro said:
That water colour and the ripples looks great, just love that effect in reflections. Also love that last one Scott, really like the leg up taking a step. Always breaks it from being static that type of shot. Nice details showing even if you did crop these heavily.

All the best Scott and glad you got shots of these. Always nice to see something we don't get to see normally in an area.

Danny.

Thanks, guys. I really wish I could have gotten some closer shots of this one, but it didn't happen. The last two were a little closer than the first two but still not enough. I kept working my way a little closer and the bird finally decided enough was enough and headed across the lake.

Always nice to see something we don't get to see normally in an area.

Danny, this is one of the things I have always enjoyed about photography. We get a glimpse of places that we will never get to visit in person. Even what one person feels is mundane and ordinary can have meaning to one who will never get to see it in person. Your part of the world, New Zealand and Australia has such awesome scenery and wildlife that you may take for granted but to others it is fabulous.

A simple example is just plain ordinary water. Rivers and lakes around here are normally muddy because we have so much red clay dirt. About the only time we get to see relatively clear water is in mid-winter when the water is so cold and dense that most of the particles settle out. During the summer this particular lake gets a layer of green scum on top of it that completely obscures the water beneath. You can see it already starting in the third photo above. Because of that seeing crystal clear water is something that I'm not accustomed to and really enjoy even though many people take it for granted every day.