Two shots of a very friendly (or more accurately, tolerant) black-bellied plover. This is either a female in her summer colors or a male in transition plumage. The females don't get quite the striking all-black coloration of the males. After watching this bird go up and down a stretch of beach for a little while, I got into the prone position right in the middle of its foraging area. It didn't take long before it was getting quite close to me, and by the end, it was to the point where I couldn't fit the whole bird in the frame at once. I do so love it when birds give you their trust and you can spend some quality time in the sand with them. I (and my wonderful and understanding wife) didn't love the smell of my jacket so much during our hour-long trip home though ;-)
See more images of these shorebirds, including their winter plumage, in my Plovers Gallery.
Submitted to World Bird Wednesday -- Follow the week to check out this weeks posts!
ha ha! great shots tho!
ReplyDeleteTomorrow my wife and I are going to Point Reyes and try our luck. Thank you for the motivation.
ReplyDeleteThanks, texwisgirl!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sinbad! I hope you guys have a great trip! Looks like it will be a gorgeous day tomorrow.
Great close ups Pat. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteGreat intimate shots Pat.
ReplyDeleteWorth a smelly coat, I reckon lol
Beautiful shots - great details!
ReplyDeleteIncredible Pat, it's like the bird hopped past your filter and into your lens. I'm crazy about the first shot and how that raised foot catches my eye and implies motion. Your depth of focus seems really deep for such defused light too. Just the miracle of great know how, phenomenal equipment, and a dirty jacket I suppose!
ReplyDeleteShe does look more accepting of you in the second shot, Pat. Very beautiful!
ReplyDeletelove that expression... adorable
ReplyDeleteSuch intensity. Great shots Pat.
ReplyDeleteI love watching the transition as they develop the full black waistcoat.
A great post and beautiful images. Well done!
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ReplyDelete(Oops! Too many spelling mistakes in my previous attempt!) Great photos. I especially liked the one in the gallery with the full black front.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots as always. I've only seen them in the fall and would love to see one in breeding plumage.
ReplyDeleteI love both - the story about your loving and undestanding wife and the bird and splended quality of your pictures! It is really posing for you!
ReplyDeleteHi Pat, awesome close-ups,un-friggin'-believable,mate!
ReplyDeletehe has come to check you out..... superb post
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Nice that he came so close, but I think he looks a little angry...;)
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. It is always fun to get close to the birds.
ReplyDeleteI'd say those great closeup shots were well worth the trouble you went to! Well done!
ReplyDeleteSuperb perspective, Pat. Well worth laying on the sand to get them!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful captures Pat..well worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots - well worth the damage to the jacket and dissapoval of your wife.
ReplyDeleteI get similar problems when I ask my wife to pull the car over so I can take photographs. Its the long sigh and a look that says it all!
Stewart M - Australia
The effort was worth the while, beautiful captures!
ReplyDeleteexcellent photos!! Dont you love when they DONT try to fly away from you?
ReplyDeleteWhat neat photos and birds. I love how the bird in the first photo has his foot up ever so slightly and you can clearly see his feet. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, love the way it is posing for you. Beautiful bird!
ReplyDeleteWow, awesome closeups of the Black Bellied Plover. They are beautiful birds.
ReplyDeleteOh what a marvelous idea to lie down in the sand and wait until the birds think you belong there! I'm going to a workshop to photograph horseshoe crabs and the shore birds who eat them (when they come ashore at Slaughter Beach DE in vast numbers in May) and will 'borrow' this technique (unless the crabs are so thick there is no bare sand)!
ReplyDeleteThe Plover images are gorgeous (as are the ones you've posted since Wednesday) so I will just have to 'follow' you. :-)
Nice shots, Pat! He takes a good look at you, wondering whether you are edible?
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