ML385249691

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 6, 2021: I have shared my checklist with another birder (who has Ruff sighting experience) and I mentioned that it was possible that my flight shots may have been of another shorebird than the one I photographed on the mudflat. I have gone back and reviewed my sequence of photos, for that day, and am including more of my mudflat shots even though some are not in focus in case a posture makes the ID easier. My sequence of shots were taken in intervals of 1 to 3 seconds apart. The flight photographs (that I had previously posted) began with a 12 second delay between when my last shot taken of it grounded and the first shot of a bird in flight. I believe, after taking a burst of shots of the mudflat bird, that I may have been reviewing pictures on the back of my camera when it took flight. There is a possibility that I intercepted another bird as there was at least one or maybe two Pectoral Sandpipers in the area. Therefore I removed those flight shots since they may be problematic with the ID. The only flight picture, that I'm including now, is the bird as I first saw it and mentioned in the description below that I provided in my original posting. It flew over me right as I began my kayaking towards the mudflats. I then followed the bird, by sight, to the mudflats and then switched to my camera (at the time I was probably still about 150 yards away). The reason I'm including this photo is that this picture seems to show white on the rump area. I believe on a couple of these photographs, I can see a hint of white around the base of the bill. I should also mention that I've included some side-by-side comparisons where I have duplicated my picture and attempted to silhouette the bird out from the background with a white screen. Below is some of the content from my original posting on Sept. 11, 2021: As I first paddled towards the mudflats, a shorebird flew from behind me and passed me at about 40 feet high on the way to the mudflats. As it approached the mudflats it veered off in all sorts of directions as it looked to be finding the appropriate place to land. It landed straight ahead of me but due to the low tide, I could only get to within about 75 yards to take some pictures at 7:03 am (last photos of it flying off was at 7:07). The sun is just starting to rise on the back side of what I believe is a Ruff, and it revealed (as I discovered later by seeing pics on computer) a golden back with some black "spotting". Also, what I couldn't see in the low light was the black feathering on the front of the bird.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 80D

Lens

EF200mm f/2.8L II USM

ISO

1250

Focal length

200 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

1248 pixels x 400 pixels

Original file size

326 KB