Black-bellied Plover

Gallery: AvianPosted September 12, 20041,971 views12 comments

Here's a shot from yesterday morning of a juvenile Black-bellied Plover flapping its wings after a bath in the Conneaut harbor along Lake Erie in NE Ohio.

Although the composition may be bit awkward, I was happy just to not clip the wings. About 99.99% of every shorebird photo I've taken with stretched or flapped wings has them clipped off somewhere.

Canon EOS 1D2
600IS + 1.4x
ISO 320, f10, 1/400th sec.

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Garth McElroy on September 12, 2004 at 2:20 PM

Nice one Bob! I agree about the clipped wings!!

Looks a bit over on some of the underwing but I bet it was unexpected and you had the correct exposure dialed in already. BBPL's have to be one of the most SKITTISH shorebirds around IMO. Check that..... I chased 8 American Golden's the other day that were 10x as bad!!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 248 Posts, 4406 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Royse on September 12, 2004 at 2:46 PM

Comment posted by Garth McElroy on 09/12/04 at 2:20 pm EST

"Looks a bit over on some of the underwing but I bet it was unexpected and you had the correct exposure dialed in already."

The histogram didn't show it as being over. I could probably play around with the RAW conversion more. The wing is slightly blurred so there isn't going to be a lot of fine detail there anyway.

"BBPL's have to be one of the most SKITTISH shorebirds around IMO. Check that..... I chased 8 American Golden's the other day that were 10x as bad!!"

I haven't had any luck with adult BBPlovers this year, but some juveniles can be pretty obliging sometimes. Along the CA and FL coasts in winter they're so tame you could probably pet them. There were 3 AGPlovers there yesterday too. (2 scruffy adults, 1 fresh juv.) and they were off a.s.a.p. when I walked toward them. Sometimes you can find unwary juveniles when the adults aren't around. If you want them in breeding plumage, I think you need to go to a place like Churchill.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 218 Posts, 2427 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on September 12, 2004 at 2:48 PM

Excellent illustration of the "black armpits" diagnostic of this species.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Justin on September 12, 2004 at 4:53 PM

Excellent shot.Gorgeous light and great action.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 106 Posts, 1697 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Danzenbaker on September 13, 2004 at 11:06 AM

Bob,

Stupendous ! I'll bet you were excited to see this one on your screen. I would have been.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 40 Posts, 791 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Steele on September 13, 2004 at 11:09 AM

Beautiful !! We don't get any BB Plovers to speak of around here, I'd be thrilled with anything close to this!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 354 Posts, 13896 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Heironymus on September 13, 2004 at 11:04 PM

A slight bit of wing blur, but still a great shot. <br> Nice!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 36 Posts, 1110 Comments

Comment posted by Herman Blockx on September 14, 2004 at 7:08 AM

beautiful pose!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 238 Posts, 760 Comments

Comment posted by Misty Varuolo on September 15, 2004 at 10:22 AM

I really like the waterdrop at the tip of his tail feathers...it adds some "flare" to it I think!!!

Registered on September 14, 2004, 20 Posts, 45 Comments

Comment posted by Jay Barnes on September 15, 2004 at 5:40 PM

I saw this one on your website last night and loved it! The action and lighting are sweet.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 231 Posts, 1153 Comments

Comment posted by W. Tracy Parnell on June 26, 2006 at 4:59 PM

Registered on March 4, 2004, 27 Posts, 1638 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on August 3, 2006 at 5:20 AM

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments