This may look like a typical wing stretch but looks can be deceiving and this one is.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Three days ago I watched as this Spotted Sandpiper was bathing. I wasn’t very close to the bird and it had its back to me so I didn’t take many photos but bathing is always interesting to watch through my lens.
When its bath is finished this species has a highly predictable behavior of flapping its wings as it rises a foot or two above the water and then landing on the shore which is usually very close to where it was bathing. I believe it to be a drying-off maneuver but whatever its function you can count on it happening after the bath.
I wanted photos while it was still in the air but sadly those shots were soft. Here I caught the sandpiper immediately after its short flight-hop to the shore of the sand bar.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Typically they hold their wings up for a moment after landing so I got several shots of this pose. Only moments before this bird had been in a serious fight with two other sandpipers and that may or may not explain why it was also calling.
I wish I’d been closer to the bird so I had better image quality but if I had been the shooting angle would be even steeper than this. So I’ll take these shots as an acceptable compromise between distance and shooting angle that allowed me to document at least part of an interesting and highly predictable behavior.
Ron
On an unrelated note:
Our predicted low last night here in Salt Lake City was 65° but when I got up this morning at 3:30 my thermometer read 78°. This summer is shaping up to be an unmitigated disaster.
Wonderful sandpiper images — I love watching birds bathe/groom. I had a front-row seat to two sparrows duking it out over prime dust-bathing real estate on Friday. They finally settled on taking turns. Fortunately, the Husky I had out at the time was more interested in getting attention (and hot dogs) from me than in the fracas going on just outside the small yard we were in.
Take care of yourself in all the heat! Yesterday, I left my iced coffee in the car (in the shade) for a few hours and when I came back to it, it was as hot as if I had just poured a fresh cup.
Marty, I’m in a dilemma because of the heat. My lawn hasn’t been mowed for over two weeks because my mower has been in the shop. My grass is so long it needs to be baled instead of cut and I’m afraid my neighbors are going to string me up because it looks so bad.
I got my mower back this afternoon but it’s so damned hot out there (95) I’ll get heat stroke if I mow it this afternoon. It’ll be cool in the morning but if I do it then I can’t go shooting.
Birds or cut grass and happy neighbors, what do I want more… 🙂
Birds.
Or that would be my selfish take on the conundrum anyway.
Decision, decisions, decisions…… 😉 Know how THAT goes…..
I ended up mowing it this afternoon, at least the worst part of it which was the back yard.
Now it’ll probably be cloudy tomorrow morning so I won’t go shooting anyway…
Of course! 😇
Birds. Twice.
1. To have in my viewfinder.💜
2. To flip at nosy neighbors. 😂
One of my favorite pastimes watching birds preen and bathe.
Not looking forward to the heat this year, plus we will be making lots of trips to St George this year to work on remodeling one of our properties. The last 2 trips really broke my atopic dermatitis out. It is rather embarrassing where one of the big break outs it located this time around, I will have to stay home so I can be bra-less and I can itch in my own privacy!
Ha, yeah that kind of scratching in public is likely to turn heads!
I say go braless and let the scratching fall where it may! I have it too and can definitely commiserate on how horrible those break outs can be. Hope you’re able to get some relief and some sleep.
I always love your behavioural series and this is no exception.
Today it was your last sentence which caught my attention though. Shudder. I do hope it is temporary aberration.
After such a night one could be envious of the Sandpiper dipping his feet in that cool stream.
BotW’s treatment is quite detailed, especially breeding behavior and biology, but no mention of the post-bathing flap/hop that you describe. As they say in Oz, “good on you” (right, EC?) for noticing.
We do say that.
🙂 I wondered if you’d see that, EC.
Lyle, I know. I looked for a description of the behavior on BotW but nary a mention of it. I was surprised. In my experience with this species it’s an absolutely predictable behavior.
Thank you for the information Ron. Very interesting and useful.
78º at 3.30 in the morning? That’s what we are having here now, and it’s 4pm.
Jorge, see my comment to Judy below. So far it’s been an unusual day where temps are involved.
Hard to picture these cute little guys fighting, but I guess all we creatures here on this planet fight at one time or another. I always enjoy watching and or getting photos of birds bathing.
Hope you have a good week.
Yup, they put everything they had into that fight, Everett. And they’re so FAST I never did get any decent photos of it.
Take what you can get with the birds……😉 I’ll take these – quite the stretch! Finally got the water going yesterday – we water the lawn from the creek due to a shallow hand dug well. Many birds VERY appreciative of the sprinklers and a few puddles…….😄
44 this morning and only 68 yesterday for a high after a few days in the 90’s. Doesn’t know what it wants to do and sure stressing the hell out of everything including us! 😬 Summer is NOT shaping up to be at all pleasant…… I’ll take this to what you have however….
P.S. 37 in town this morning which is “pushing it”………. 🙁
Judy, it’s been a weird day so far. 78° at 3:30 AM but only 82° at 11:30, even though it’s a sunny day.
Perhaps the “cool front” coming our way is seeping down there a bit? That IS strange…….