Monday was my birthday and I took the day off from the day job. Went back to the Heron Pond and set up about 15 yards from my Sunday location because the shorebirds seemed to like that area. Action was some what sparse early since most of the birds were feeding at the upper (parking lot end). Luckily there were some terns fishing and watching them was quite entertaining. Trying to photograph them is quite a challenge since they are small and extremely fast.
About 30 minutes after sunrise, the shorebirds began to mill around and I believe that the migration may be starting. There was the mega flock of around 100 birds and several smaller groups of from 10 to 30 birds flying from one end of the pond to the other. The two flock shots have several birds cropped out to meet the 800 pixel size for the web– add that to the narrow field of view of the 500 with the extender and the pictures do not do justice to the number of birds in the air.
Favorite shot of the day is the Preening Pectoral Sandpiper. “Educational” shots of the day are the two flowers. If any of you know the name of the flowers,I’d appreciate you ‘educating’ me.
This post was edited 8/6/2012, because it described how to get down to the water’s edge to photograph the shore birds from the parking lot area. It seems that doing that is against the rules of the area. The regulations ( there is no sign that informs you) are to stay on the mowed paths.
