Black-Necked Stilt, Sunset Reflection. = © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A black-necked stilt wades in shallow water reflecting sunset sky.
In this place where we gathered to photograph migratory birds on New Year’s Day, our attention often turns to the most impressive sights — giant flocks of thousands of birds, collected on ponds and fields, or suddenly rising into the sky all at once. Or perhaps to other birds at dawn, or to their return at dusk. Sometimes the landscape and sky can produce spectacular scenes.
The end of this day wasn’t like that. We did find a very large flock of geese, but they were hunkered down on a close-cropped field, feeding in low and flat light as much of the sunset was cut off by clouds to the west and haze was everywhere. However, sometimes it is possible to find smaller subjects at times like these, and we spotted a few of these black-necked stilts wading in shallow water with a bit of colorful sky as a backdrop.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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