ML63004541
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
This is a conservative estimate of the many many Black-necked Stilts. They were everywhere and easy to count with a good quality scope. We were meticulous and diligent about counting them as we drove the Missouri part of the Levee/Island Rd looking for the Anhinga. We made sure to not recount any of the BNST - and used the count we made on our first pass along the levee. There were as many youngsters as adults. What confuses us is that many people are putting down super low counts of 1 or 3 or 6 or 12. Perhaps they were more interested in finding the Anhinga than giving an accurate count of the other bird species present? Or maybe they didn't have scopes? Or maybe they didn't have time? Or maybe the birds moved? We were fortunate to have a good quality scope. We were the first to spot the American Wigeon that was not spotted by most of the birders present. We spotted a Black Tern, which was also way out and only spotted accurately with a scope and not spotted by others. Rhonda's count of 53 was approved late June, but we feel that is underestimated, as is ours. The real count is somewhere closer to over 80, but to avoid a recount, we only listed the birds we counted the first time through on the Levee. Diligence and integrity and accuracy are our motto - or the data suffers. This was a new area for us. We enjoyed witnessing and documenting everything - what we could, the best we could. We did not spend much time looking specifically just for the Anhinga, even though that is the bird that lured us to this area. We felt that finding the Anhinga was going to require some major luck, after seeing all the places it could be flying around to in that area, if it was in the area. So, we focused on witnessing and celebrating all the birds present while keeping our eyes peeled for the Anhinga. We were lucky. The Anhinga flew over us twice, once right away upon getting to the area, and then again, when we were leaving.
Technical information
- Model
- NIKON D5300
- ISO
- 320
- Focal length
- 420 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/2000 sec
- Dimensions
- 2123 pixels x 1668 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.42 MB