Beach Stone-curlew (Esacus magnirostris) with Soldier Crab ( Mictyris platycheles) Soldiers Point NSW

[Rod Warnock]

Beach Stone-curlew (Esacus magnirostris) with Soldier Crab ( Mictyris platycheles) Soldiers Point NSW

Canon EOS 7D Lens 400mm L USM 5.6 ISO400 F7.1 1/1250 available light 21 May 2012 2.26pm
The three Beach Stone-curlews at Soldiers Point apparently roost and nest on Dowadee Island which is off a busy marina and opposite a relatively busy small beach. The birds are used to human activity and actually spend most days on the beach and periodically feed on a variety of crabs that populate the area between high and low tides It was fascinating to see the adult pair and sub-adult young walk up the beach and just sit on the sand for considerable periods of time despite people being on the beach they seem to have a space of approximately 20 metres which if invaded will cause them to stand up initially and then walk away. Even relatively close lawn mowing failed to cause movement. Having said that these are still aware and wild birds and observation shows that they start a bobbing action if their space is invaded which will then cause a quick run and then flight to Dowadee Island (observed by Trevor Murray). It amazing to see these birds feed on crabs in general but on Soldier Crabs in particular particularly so as they come out in numbers often large numbers. However it is casual feeding on a few crabs rather than big numbers being devoured as food is plentiful on this beach so much time is spent simply roosting or sitting down. Here the bird is feeding on a Soldier Crab ( Mictyris platycheles).
Thanks for viewing
Best regards
Rod Warnock

[Don Lacy]

Hi Rod, Nice dynamic pose and the crab is a nice bonus. I do find the light bright but my main concern with the image is the cluttered beach and the fact that the subject blends into the bg and kind of gets lost. This could have been corrected by getting a lower shooting angle which would have thrown some of the foreground and all of the BG out of focus giving you a nice canvas to place your subject on.