Red Knot: Threatened

[Bill Dix]

Yesterday the US Fish and Wildlife finally listed the Red Knot as "Threatened". Of course it has been threatened for a long time, but now it's official, thanks to some hard work by NJ Audubon and others. Hopefully this will help to protect the habitat and food resources of this species during its amazing 9,300 mile one-way migration to its high Arctic breeding grounds. It times its migration to coincide with the spawning of the Horseshoe Crabs at places like Reed's Beach on the Delaware Bay, and gorges on the nutritious eggs to refuel. Unfortunately the Horseshoe Crab population has been in steep decline for several decades due to over-harvesting of the eggs by fishermen and the biomedical industry; thus the population of the Red Knot is also in steep decline. Almost half of the birds that stop at Reed's Beach fail to regain sufficient weight to safely resume their journey north.

Taken in Mid-May of this year, showing the bird in transition to breeding plumage. Given my itinerary on that day I couldn't help the overhead sun, but did my best to mitigate it somewhat.

D7000, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 500, 1/2500s @ f/7.1 manual, fill @ -1.3 EV.

[Bill Dix]

After looking at the Preview, I felt the bird looked a little washed-out. I've boosted the Vibrance and Saturation, and added some black to the Neutrals. Any better?

[gail bisson]

Hi Bill.
Great news about the new listing for these wonderful shorebirds.Not great news that they are threatened.:-(
I love the little pebbles he is walking on and the nice striding pose.
I think I prefer the OP but you were there so go with the one that you feel accurately represents the scene. The repost seems to have boosted the reds a bit too much on the breast.
IQ is excellent.
Agree about the light being a bit harsh but certainly not a deal breaker. A little bit of a head turn our way would have been awesome.
Gail

[keith mitchell]

Bill not familiar with this bird so I can't really comment on the reds on the repost ,both very good but the repost gets my vote.

[Bill Dix]

Gail, thanks for your finely tuned eye. The OP probably does more closely represent the scene as I saw it, given the bright overhead sun.

[Sharon Hallowell]

Great timing with this post and yesterday's news! I vote for the op on this one....and I like the stride you captured it in. Sharon

[Daniel Cadieux]

The full stride certainly is pretty neat! I agree the light is harsh, but one thing the high sun did advantageously for you is the way the pebbles are lit.

[Grace Scalzo]

Great news, but for all the wrong reasons. Let's hope it's not too late for this beautiful species. Well imaged, love the striding pose. Sure the light was on the edge but my rule regarding red knots is to photograph them in whatever light is available. And don't delete many images, because their future remains in great peril.

[dankearl]

I like the light you had, the shadows are minimal and the beach is lit up.
Good info and story about the listing.
Bird looks great, I like the OP.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the walking pose, low angle, pebbles and composition. Another vote for the OP. Well done Bill.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

This is indeed great news. It was quite a lucky day we had albeit high noon. I like your OP with the more subtle saturation.



Geoffrey