Sanderling

CDS and I went out Saturday and had an extremely good day, one which made up for our birdless Saturday last week. Allen's Pond proved to be a veritable goldmine - or, as CDS put it, "Blankity blank!! We musta seen 15 blankity blank different kinds of blankity birds today!" I have to assume that he was just talking about shorebirds, ignoring the variety of gulls, egrets, cormorants, and even the osprey which soared overhead for a while. Not too shabby.

A good number of the shorebirds were pretty blankity close, too. The sanderlings were just about fearless, coming within the MFD (Minimum focusing distance) of our BFLs (Big Freaking Lenses) on several occasions. We practically walked right over this little guy, and he didn't seem to care.

Hahaha!

I just got in from celebrating Labor day Viet Nameses style.. (stuffed with really good food) and this is the first blanking Post I saw!

Great shots... so it was a "sanderling" I suddenly feel really smart!

Excellent, as always, Scott. Must be some work hauling those BFL's and trudging through the sand. Any special precautions for keeping sand infestation at bay?

Great shots! I hope to one day get me a BFL but for now I'll have to stick to my MFL....LOL ( And get a TC 1.4 )

Dan

these are great.i want a BFL too.someday maybe.till then i will have to push the lowly 75-300 to the limits

Really nice!
Allen's Pond? Must not really be a pond.

herderdog wrote:
Really nice!
Allen's Pond? Must not really be a pond.

If they're refering to Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Dartmouth, MA it's a great spot for migrating birds. BTW Scottes, great shots too.

Very nice!

Love the action in the first shot. The different colored pebbles add interest to the photos.

Great shots! Industrious little critter.

Nice shots, the lighting is really mellow in both. You know you're having a good day when you have to worry about the min focus distance, I mean that just never happens with birds! Did you take your tubes?

Thanks for all the comments folks!

Jay, I only had the 400mm Prime, but "BFL" sounded good. Besides, I had it loaded with the LSA (Canon Life Size Adapter) which gives about 1.4x and a closer MFD. As for infestation, well, I did get nibbled by green-heads when going after this guy, but I did kill one (a greenhead, that is) so I felt VERY good about getting bit.

Herderdog, this is a pond, but a salt-water pond which is right next to the ocean (about 100 feet at it's most distant).

Airedale, you are right, this is an excellent spot. I'm beginning to think that this is the second best shorebird photography spot in New England, second only to Monomoy. Birders might argue, but when you need to get within 15 feet it's Monomoy or Allen's Pond. (Of course I'd *love* to be wrong, since that will mean I'll learn about some other, better place...)

Foxbat, I agree with you completely! At least 3 times some bird got too close and then flew away - and CDS and I would look at each other with big grins. Once CDS looked around and nudged me, because some bird (willet?) had snuck up behind us. Another frame-filling bird, though the light was not in our favor. But it was a very good day.

Nice shots! I love the way the sand and the rocks look, not to mention the bird of course! Makes me wish I had gone 'down the shore this weekend, but I didn't feel like spending $100 on gas. Next weekend though for sure, as the hawk migration has begun....Cape May beckons!

Nice shots scott

Two great shots of this little fellow in a natural setting and behaviour. Well done!