Their name comes from their loud call, which sounds like clapping. Their booming voice belies the fact that they hide perfectly in their marsh world. A tad smaller than a chicken, you can find them in tidal marshes on both coasts, with the west coast species in dire straits. This individual was photographed on the Delaware coast, where the healthy marsh system supports a healthy population. I’ve been fortunate to spend time with all the species over the decades and can pass along one tip if you want to photograph this very secretive rail. First, be prepared to have them do goofy things, no way to describe them, but once you see them, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The other is, time your visit to the marsh when high tide is going out around sunrise. They like to travel the tidal creeks to define their territories, which is when they expose themselves. They are a great bird, them secretive, goofy Clappers!

Old school, shooting up on a subject makes them look more masculine. In the critter world, more majestic. Making a cow look more masculine might seem a stretch, but most don’t distinguish a cow from a bull, they just see a Bison. An easy way to accomplish this is to shoot from a lower angle. Getting down physically with Bison is not a smart idea, so we look for opportunities when they are on a slight hillside where we can shoot up on them safely. The best is the rarest occurrence, and that’s when they ridgeline. It’s a word I made up to quickly inform others that a critter is on the top of a ridge with only sky behind them, they should point their lens to make the shot. See, ridgeliner is faster than trying to say all of that in the heat of shooting. In this case, the background was the growing thunderheads of the Black Hills of SD. The drama, the light, it was simply breath taking and if I arranged all the elements correctly, that drama has been said. Or what I like to simply say, ridgeliner.

The “trick” I share with new birders to know it’s a Barn Swallow is by its tail. I tell them it’s a pitchfork for moving hay in the barn, Barn Swallow. A common species found throughout North America, these aerial speedsters come here for the spring to raise the next generation before heading back south. I’ve enjoyed their antics forever, but last week was the first time I spent time photographing them. A couple of pairs were busy building their nests on a couple of outbuildings in the Black Hills, a couple of log buildings. That got me to thinking, where did they nest before we built barns?

These are photos of the two different males at the two different nest sites on the two different buildings. Interestingly, both buildings had a large spike they could use for a perch. The challenge was to say “barn” without having their great pattern dominate the story. This required moving to the point of almost leaning against the building to throw it out of focus. The amazing MFD of the Z180-600 did the rest, allowing me to be just nine feet away. With sex in the air, the males couldn’t care less I was there. They went about trying their best to attract the females. Then comes time to cough up all those exoskeletons from all the insects they eat. I guess the females gotta do the same thing because the gagging routine didn’t seem to get in the way. They were so fun to spend time with all those days. I’m so glad we found a barn.