Avocets

It was a balmy 30 deg before sunrise at Bolivar on 2/5/11 but the birds were still out.  Wasn’t sure what I’d find as my last trip there was a bust for bird shots.  Not many birds near shore before sunrise so I waded out about 100 yds into the gulf while waiting for the sun to come up.  Didn’t want to get wet and cold laying down quite yet.  Got a few blurred flight shots and worked my way west towards the jetty.  Saw a large flock of birds flying around and was hoping for Avocets but it ended up being a few hundred black skimmers.  Tried to get close to them to lay down on a sand bar when the water came up and covered the sand bar just as I got there.  Moved to a different area and laid down to shoot.  Got some skimmer shots and they eventually flew off. 

Decided to stay put to see what else would come around.  A flock of Avocets landed near by and they started walking towards me.  Of course my memory card was filling up so I changed it before they got too close, or that was the plan.  After I got the new card in and formatted, looked up and they were right in front of me about 30 ft away.  Didn’t want to take time to put my glove back on so I shot away and got some frozen fingers.  The Avocets ended up being all around me and I got several almost full frame shots.  The challenge with Avocets is that they like to walk around together in groups and it’s tough to get individual shots of them so I’m very pleased with these shots.  Ended up being a great day for bird photography despite the cold weather.  Here’s hoping for 20 deg weather next time!

All taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on ground pod, no flash

F7.1 @ 1/1600 sec, ISO 200, spot metering, +.33 exp comp

F7.1 @ 1/2000 sec, ISO 200, spot metering, +.33 exp comp

F7.1 @ 1/1600 sec, ISO 160, spot metering, +.33 exp comp

F7.1 @ 1/2500 sec, ISO 200, spot metering, +.33 exp comp

F7.1 @ 1/2000 sec, ISO 200, spot metering, +.33 exp comp

F7.1 @ 1/1000 sec, ISO 200, spot metering, +.33 exp comp