Though this is the least exciting of my recent trifecta of shorebird frames, it represents the best frame I've captured of this species. Baird's Sandpipers nest in the Arctic and migrate to the neotropics through the Great Plains. Juveniles make occasional deviations to the coast, and this individual offered the first decent photographic opportunity I've had among my ~dozen West Coast intersections.
The species can be identified by its black legs, buffy breast, beautifully scalloped back pattern, and hella long wings, the primaries extending well beyond the tail tip.
I would have liked a raised foot or some other touch of action, but this is what he gave me before flying off. It was a long, elbow shredding crawl to this point with my heavy-*** rig in hand!
Florence, Oregon, 8/28/20
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX2
1/3200 at f/7.1, ISO 800
Processed in LR CC without trickery.
Baird's Sandpiper
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