White-rumped Sandpiper

[Bill Dix]

When I shot this last Thursday morning at JBWR, I assumed it was a Semipalm, but looking on the computer I think it is a White-rumped. Wings extending beyond tail, grayish nape and mantle, obvious supercilium, just a hint of color at the base of the lower mandible. Hopefully someone will tell me if I'm wrong. Aging of shorebirds is a skill I haven't yet acquired, but I'll take a stab and say that it's an adult, in transition from breeding to non-breeding. Gotta love the muck.:S3:

D7000, 500f4, ISO 500, 1/2500s @ f/7.1 manual, gitzo and mongoose. After clipping the wings of some egrets cavorting nearby, I had just taken off the TC when this fellow appeared, so this is a large crop, at 50% of full width.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Bill,
all good from here,would not change a thing.
Good processing and all the techs spot on and nice clean BG, like the guys in AVIAN like it the most.
Cheers Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

Well done Bill. It is a fading adult WRSA--note also the streaked flanks and the nearly diagnostic faint orange base to the lower mandible. If you processed it a bit darker you would see the grey hooded look and the prominent eye line. Love the pose and the muck but not our obstructed view of the feet :)

[Karl Egressy]

Looks great Bill. I wish it were mine as I still don't have one. It is extremly hard to find one around here.

[Bill Dix]

Looks great Bill. I wish it were mine as I still don't have one. It is extremly hard to find one around here.

Thanks, but you've got the Pectoral that I'm still missing.

[Bill Dix]

Well done Bill. It is a fading adult WRSA--note also the streaked flanks and the nearly diagnostic faint orange base to the lower mandible. If you processed it a bit darker you would see the grey hooded look and the prominent eye line. Love the pose and the muck but not our obstructed view of the feet :)

Thank you Artie. Glad I got one right.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image.Love low angle,great details and above all learning from all of you.

Regards,
Satish.

[Shawn Zierman]

Very solid shore bird image. Great species. I like the looks of that muck too.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, that muck looks real squeechy. :w3 Did you get down and dirty for your low angle, and I like the pose. Good sharp detail on the Sandpiper, and the strip of mud works well with the rest of the water BG.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Satish, Shawn and Stuart.

Very squeechy indeed - I like the word. Must be the technical term for it in SA. Actually in this case I was sitting cross-legged behind the lowered tripod, which gave me a little more flexibility to track the egret antics than I could have from a fully prone position.