I have a ground blind set up on some private land near Dodge City which has a spring fed pond. I also have a time lapse camera set up next to the blind to monitor wildlife around the blind pointed at the pond near where the spring feeds. Since around Christmas, I noticed that a shorebird was making a regular visit, foraging in the spring water very near the blind. I wanted to photograph this particular bird and see what kind of images I could come up with. The shorebird is a Wilson's Snipe, which usually migrates south during the winter, however a few do winter around Kansas if shallow water is open near any springs to forage through. The weather was very cold on the morning of the third (pretty much every morning right now, with the snow cover)... with a temperature between 10 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. This made photography a little more challenging, but I managed to make it about 3 hours in the blind before completing the shoot satisfied with what I got. Here are the 19 images from this morning shoot. Enjoy!
Photographed through glass, just a quick snapshot. The kestrel was
perched about 8 feet away from my sliding kitchen door out to my deck
where the feeding station is. Wow!
Nikon D3 with 80-400mm f/4-5.6 VR lens
230mm focal length
1/8000s
f/5.6
ISO 500
