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I wanted to see how well my new 100-400L II telephoto zoom + 1.4x III teleconverter would track small birds in flight. These are two photos of a violet green swallow soaring over the marsh 100-200 yards away from the #1 viewing platform. I waited until the swallow flew high enough to where there was nothing but sky in the background so the camera would lock onto the bird and not the background.
Thursday (5/7) after lunch, Terry, Daren, and I found a small flock of six least sandpipers in the mudflat off the #1 viewing platform of the marsh. This is the spot where we were photographing snipes last month and the closest we have seen sandpipers to date. [/B]
are those least sandpipers, or western? if the birds in the last photo were out on the "main" mudflat, you'd be hard pressed to even SEE a least sandpiper that far away... they're really tiny! for comparison, i got this shot of one of them standing near a killdeer, and the killdeer is at least twice the size of the sandpiper! the killdeer was a foot or so closer to me than the sandpiper - both were about 50 feet away...
are those least sandpipers, or western? if the birds in the last photo were out on the "main" mudflat, you'd be hard pressed to even SEE a least sandpiper that far away... they're really tiny!
I think there are two separate flocks in the marsh. Friday morning (5/8) I saw two birds that looked like least sandpipers in the mud nearest the #1 viewing platform.
Later that afternoon I saw a flock of eight sandpipers out in the "main" mudflat. I believe they were westerns.
At the same time, I spotted one of the least sandpipers in the same spot I had seen it in the morning. As Rocky noted, least sandpipers are very tiny, about the same size as song sparrows, which also look for food in the mud.
I saw a marsh wren off the #2 viewing platform. I believe it was taking a bug back to a nest to feed babies, as it did not chatter as it perched atop the cattail.
Every year at least two pairs of Canada geese have broods in the marsh. Friday I saw one group of goslings out for a walk with their parent. This may have been the same adult which attacked the juvie eagle last week. The marsh is a very dangerous place for goslings, as it is home to coyotes and raptors including hawks, eagles, and falcons.
Wesley assumed lookout duty as he perched on top of the tallest tree behind the #1 viewing platform.
Wesley landing on the tallest tree behind the #1 viewing platform Saturday (5/9) afternoon. I have now photographed landing sequences of our smallest (hummers) and largest (herons and eagles) local birds.
When we first arrived at the marsh, we suspected a predator was in the area south of Willow Creek due to the constant raucous raised by the crows. I assumed it was an eagle. The coyote appeared and spent quite some time prowling back and forth across the marsh.
He was harassed by the evil minions of the Dark Lord for much of the time.
The coyote got dirty legs from wadiing through the mud.
Monday evening (5/11) I went to the marsh while Daren was at tennis class. I was going to be there for less than an hour and the light was fading, so I did not bother setting up the super telephoto package. I regretted that decision, for I spotted a lone semi-palmated plover among a group of western(?) sandpipers.
All shots: 5DIII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom + 1.4x III teleconverter, very close cropping
At first glance the semi-palmated plover resembles the killdeer, but is much smaller. The plover's small size is very apparent when it is among western sandpipers, one of the smallest shorebirds.
I caught a killdeer (far left) and the semi-palmated plover (far right) in the same shot. You can see how much larger the killdeer is compared to the plover.
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