[Leica] IMG: Long-billed Dowitcher

[wildlightphoto at earthlink.net (Doug Herr)]

This morning I visited the Davis Wetlands, which is the final stage of the 
Davis city sewage treatment facility.  The ponds have been drying up over 
the summer and now, mid-August, most have turned into dried cracked mud.  
The mudflats that still have water in them harbor huge numbers of 
invertebrate animals beneath the surface and it's these critters that the 
shorebirds probe for with their long bills.

One particular mud flat/pond was especially suited to setting up a blind 
with a semi-dry grassy hill within a few feet of the water's edge; I waited 
in this spot inside the blind for 3 hours to photograph Dowitcher (a 
medium-sized Sandpiper):

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/scolopacidae/lbdowi04.html

technical stuff: R8/DMR, 280mm f/4 APO, tripod & blind.  All comments 
welcome.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com