Short-billed Dowitcher.

This individual made a brief appearance, part of one morning, a couple of weeks ago. I almost did not see it only 6 feet away from me, tucked beneath some vegetation hanging from a semi-submerged branch, as I was crossing a shallow marsh to get to some yellowlegs! As you can see, it eventually made its way out in the open. This was my first time photographing this species locally (done so a few times in Florida).

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/500s., f/5.6, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, slight rotation but essentially FF, NR to the BG. I like the small grass blade but understand some may not:S3:

Wonderful frogs-eye view of this guy, with superb water/bg colors. I don't mind the sprig of grass, but it would be a fine shot without it as well. This guy looks fully rounded, almost like a Long-billed ( my birder friends say if it looks like it swallowed a grapefruit it might be a Long-billed); but the buffy colors probably mean that your ID is correct.

Classic low angle view of this guy. Love that green water. Nice and sharp. If i had to nit pick myabe a touch more behind.

Nicely done, Daniel. Creamy and sweet, parallel to sensor, great colors and placement.

I would probably remove the grass... your usual great angle and techs... very pretty photo.

Beautifully Composed. Nice low point of view and head Angle.

TFS

Thanks guys!

Bill, this one was temporarily fluffing up:S3:. It's a Short-billed based on the tertials which have more patterns and colouring than a Long-billed would. Ironically enough, a Long-billed, considered uncommon for our parts, has just spent 5 days at a local mudflat patch and I was able to get just as good images of it! A first for me, so stay tuned.

The oranges over the bird and the greens rock this one. The soft, smooth-as-a-baby's tush, layered background is fabulous. Juvie long-billeds do not usually arrive until the very end of SEPT or the beginning of OCT. That said, there was once one at JBWR in late August. But they are never anywhere near this bright. And yes, the tertials have no internal markings. The call is also useful in separating the two species; long-billed often call keek, keek, keek in contrast to the rolling call of short-billed. Learn a ton more in my Shorebirds/Beautiful Beachcombers.

And BTW, for me, the single blade of grass puts this one way over the top.

a

I love this image so much that I featured it in today's blog post here. I used my version on the blog and offer it here as a repost. Can you spot the differences? They are very minor.

with love, artie