Irked by my presence as I commuted past the family en route the Red-necked Phalaropes a few weeks ago, this adult Black-necked Stilt crouched down to shelter the chicks (2 under the bird
and a third scampering in that direction). My rig was assembled, so I cracked off a few frames before continuing onto my primary targets. I could have stuck around and tried to get a frame
with better eye contact from the young, but I didn't want to stress the family more than I had.
I just like the behavioral aspect of this frame......
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX2
1/2000 at f/5.6, ISO 800
Processed in LR CC - I did clone out the edge of an ugly brown stump which intersected the left-hand edge of the frame. Hella easy fix in the smooth surrounds.
Nice and clean presentation. I love the sheen on the plumage. Cool to see the extra little legs gathered underneath the adult. Yes, a better head turn from the trailing little guy would have been excellent.
Really neat behaviour! The reflection is super cool. The rocks are slightly unfortunate, but they don't really take away from what is an excellent (and adorable!) frame.
Wow! This image did better than I thought it would! I wasn't sure how people would like the composition and unavoidable strip of mud, so I'm glad to read the kind comments. Cheers!