Almost as if it knew it was in deep trouble, the leech wound itself up tightly around the Hudsonian Godwit's upper mandible, hanging on for dear life! The hungry godwit eventually managed to kick/scratch/shake the leech off and grab a better hold of it before gobbling it down.
BTW, I was lying flat in the water, and after the godwit started pulling up leech after leech I thought to myself "Oh boy, wait a minute here....". Good thing I was wearing... long sleeves!
Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1600s., f/8, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, cropped for composition (about 70% FF), darkened the pupil, lightened the iris, NR to the BG.
Lovely foreground and background! I have the impression that the shot could be rotated CW a tad, referencing the in focus ripple at the bird's feet and the bird itself.
I watched that leech coiling dilemma unfold several times on the day I was there. It was quite amusing. The look on the bird's face is "Uh oh, what now?" Lol.
You are a brave soul to lay in cold leech infested waters, Daniel! I'd say it certainly was worth it seeing the shots you got :)
Great frame and story Dan. I love the colours throughout and the detail on the bird. The leech adds so much to a wonderful capture. I hope you lay there long enough to get some 'action' shots to share Nice work.
Leech vs Hudsonian Godwit.
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Nice work.
