Spotted Sandpiper - Chevalier grivelé
After several early mornings in the mosquito-infested sewage lagoons, I realized that the setting of the lagoon and the birds dashing along the mucky shore was less than ideal for Spotted Sandpiper images. Apart from the fact that the birds were in constant motion, often with different parts of their bodies moving in different directions, decent images of shorebirds are often as interesting (or not) as the shore itself.
So I branched out a bit. The Ottawa River had been where I started trying to learn how to photograph shorebirds. But the last two years have seen record-high water levels in the spring and fall migration seasons, and the birds had stopped coming.
The levels are lower now - or were, until a few days ago: the shoreline in the image is now underwater.
In any event: I went to this location early one morning because of reports of a Northern Shoveller, one of my favourite ducks, and was delighted to find a pair of Sandpipers dashing about. The light and the water were a big improvement on my sewage lagoon experience.
This bird left what I suspect is a nesting area, in some reeds hidden from access, and made its way along the shoreline, grabbing insects out of the air and picking up bits and pieces from the soil. It made a few passes and by the third I had adjusted as best as I could to its speed and pathway.
Female Spotted Sandpipers can have up to four mating partners. The males take care of the nest, the eggs, and so on, freeing the female up for her polyandry. And it is females who establish the territory, arriving first and fighting off contenders. It is easy to imagine that the slightly aggressive first bird out at sunrise is a male, based on experience with other species, but it isn’t the case with these birds.
Spotted Sandpiper - Chevalier grivelé
After several early mornings in the mosquito-infested sewage lagoons, I realized that the setting of the lagoon and the birds dashing along the mucky shore was less than ideal for Spotted Sandpiper images. Apart from the fact that the birds were in constant motion, often with different parts of their bodies moving in different directions, decent images of shorebirds are often as interesting (or not) as the shore itself.
So I branched out a bit. The Ottawa River had been where I started trying to learn how to photograph shorebirds. But the last two years have seen record-high water levels in the spring and fall migration seasons, and the birds had stopped coming.
The levels are lower now - or were, until a few days ago: the shoreline in the image is now underwater.
In any event: I went to this location early one morning because of reports of a Northern Shoveller, one of my favourite ducks, and was delighted to find a pair of Sandpipers dashing about. The light and the water were a big improvement on my sewage lagoon experience.
This bird left what I suspect is a nesting area, in some reeds hidden from access, and made its way along the shoreline, grabbing insects out of the air and picking up bits and pieces from the soil. It made a few passes and by the third I had adjusted as best as I could to its speed and pathway.
Female Spotted Sandpipers can have up to four mating partners. The males take care of the nest, the eggs, and so on, freeing the female up for her polyandry. And it is females who establish the territory, arriving first and fighting off contenders. It is easy to imagine that the slightly aggressive first bird out at sunrise is a male, based on experience with other species, but it isn’t the case with these birds.