One of the great wildlife spectacles

The Red Knot’s amazing congregation and feasting on the Delaware Bay has long been on my bucket list to see and photograph. This little colorful shorebird makes one hell of a journey twice a year. On its way north, it depends on refueling at Delaware Bay and the Horseshoe Crab annual coming ashore to lay its eggs. I’ve seen some amazing photos come from there. The Red Knot though isn’t doing so well, and Delaware Bay doesn’t sound like it’s faring much better. You might want to give this a read and put it on your calendar for next spring. I know I have now.

This photo is a real small flock of Red Knots coming in for a landing on Pass-a-Grille Beach, FL. I was laying down on the job when I made this photo, using a Panning Plate to get a bird’s eye view of life on the sand. I went low because as you can see, the sea mist was pretty heavy and the color of the water (the background at any angle except low) had an icky color. So down I went. I located myself in a locale where the shorebirds seem to be feeding so I just waited for them to come to me.

Photo captured by D3, 600VR on Lexar UDMA digital film