2506_1789 Killdeer at River's Edge
There's a certain mindset that I like to slip into when I'm out there alone with my camera. It's a sort of relaxed attentiveness. A meditative state that's easier to reach on familiar turf, perhaps, than when travelling. Instead of trying to rush from highlight to highlight - which doesn't work very well on the prairie, where one hillside is very much like another - I slow myself down and get on "prairie time."
In June I was able to practice this on an overcast day when I slept too late and drove out to Grasslands without any fixed idea of what I wanted to do. After an unproductive half hour getting there and driving down to the valley bottom, I parked near a little bridge and wandered down to the water's edge. And sat. And waited. "Let it come to me," I thought. Which "it" did.
First, the birds. A Willet, some Brewer's Blackbirds, and a Killdeer pair all arrived on the scene and decided I was no threat. Gradually they worked in close, catching insects, the female Killdeer taking time out for this courtship display, the male Killdeer too involved with feeding to take much note. (Get with it, buddy!)
Three more shots to come from this outing...
Photographed along the Frenchman River in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2506_1789 Killdeer at River's Edge
There's a certain mindset that I like to slip into when I'm out there alone with my camera. It's a sort of relaxed attentiveness. A meditative state that's easier to reach on familiar turf, perhaps, than when travelling. Instead of trying to rush from highlight to highlight - which doesn't work very well on the prairie, where one hillside is very much like another - I slow myself down and get on "prairie time."
In June I was able to practice this on an overcast day when I slept too late and drove out to Grasslands without any fixed idea of what I wanted to do. After an unproductive half hour getting there and driving down to the valley bottom, I parked near a little bridge and wandered down to the water's edge. And sat. And waited. "Let it come to me," I thought. Which "it" did.
First, the birds. A Willet, some Brewer's Blackbirds, and a Killdeer pair all arrived on the scene and decided I was no threat. Gradually they worked in close, catching insects, the female Killdeer taking time out for this courtship display, the male Killdeer too involved with feeding to take much note. (Get with it, buddy!)
Three more shots to come from this outing...
Photographed along the Frenchman River in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.