Scottes
15th of August 2004 (Sun), 19:47
CDS and I spent another day haunting some spots around Westport. We went back to the place of Tree Swallows, but there were very very few that day. No opportunities for a Ninja Birder, that's for sure.
We had come in a different way to save some walking on the beach - Ninja Birders *hate* sand in their shoes. This walk led us through a field of evil biting insects, but brought us alongside a small shallow pond that we had seen last time. The pond was full of Yellowlegs, both Lesser and Greater, and some ducks and a couple egrets on the far side. An egret flew very nicely overhead at one point. Well, hopefully it was nice for CDS, since it managed to deflect my Ninja Focus Beam several times.
So we spent a little bit of time with the Yellowlegs, when Buck The Audubon Member engaged us in a hideous conversation involving the ideas of having a nice day and removing CDS's dogs from the grounds. So Bumpus and Roo were brought back to the car, allowing me to enjoy some exceptional time with CDS's MkII and Sigma 500mm. Once I realized that autofocus had been moved to the * button I enjoyed myself greatly.
When CDS came back dogless we snuck across the bit of marsh to get a closer look at the Yellowlegs. Sneaking was almost a waste - as you'll soon learn - as they didn't really seem to care that we existed. We legs weren't yellow (quite white, really) and we weren't stealing their fish, so they ignored us. I ended up getting about 13 or 14 feet from one, and he was nice enough to come closer over time.
Since you're more interested in the pictures rather than my banter, here they are.
This one's my favorite:
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Yellowlegs_8357.jpg
I was surprised, but the 550EX had an effect on this overcast but quite bright day. Now I've got to work on timing to get the catchlight in his eye.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Yellowlegs_8361.jpg
Almost every one of my shots were fairly boring, but I did catch one doing something a little goofy.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Yellowlegs_8362.jpg
Edit: The part about sneaking that I forgot to mention... I snuck in carefully and slowly, watching where I placed every footstep. On the way back I took less care, and ended up with slopping wet feet. It pays to sneak both ways through a marsh. Oh well, it was still better than emptying a pound of sand from my sneakers.
We had come in a different way to save some walking on the beach - Ninja Birders *hate* sand in their shoes. This walk led us through a field of evil biting insects, but brought us alongside a small shallow pond that we had seen last time. The pond was full of Yellowlegs, both Lesser and Greater, and some ducks and a couple egrets on the far side. An egret flew very nicely overhead at one point. Well, hopefully it was nice for CDS, since it managed to deflect my Ninja Focus Beam several times.
So we spent a little bit of time with the Yellowlegs, when Buck The Audubon Member engaged us in a hideous conversation involving the ideas of having a nice day and removing CDS's dogs from the grounds. So Bumpus and Roo were brought back to the car, allowing me to enjoy some exceptional time with CDS's MkII and Sigma 500mm. Once I realized that autofocus had been moved to the * button I enjoyed myself greatly.
When CDS came back dogless we snuck across the bit of marsh to get a closer look at the Yellowlegs. Sneaking was almost a waste - as you'll soon learn - as they didn't really seem to care that we existed. We legs weren't yellow (quite white, really) and we weren't stealing their fish, so they ignored us. I ended up getting about 13 or 14 feet from one, and he was nice enough to come closer over time.
Since you're more interested in the pictures rather than my banter, here they are.
This one's my favorite:
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Yellowlegs_8357.jpg
I was surprised, but the 550EX had an effect on this overcast but quite bright day. Now I've got to work on timing to get the catchlight in his eye.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Yellowlegs_8361.jpg
Almost every one of my shots were fairly boring, but I did catch one doing something a little goofy.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Yellowlegs_8362.jpg
Edit: The part about sneaking that I forgot to mention... I snuck in carefully and slowly, watching where I placed every footstep. On the way back I took less care, and ended up with slopping wet feet. It pays to sneak both ways through a marsh. Oh well, it was still better than emptying a pound of sand from my sneakers.