It’s incredible fun getting down in the sand, eye level with the many birds that cruise the surf looking for a meal. The panic attack we see chasing the waves to and fro are the Sanderlings. These puff balls of energy are on the beach most of the time fueling up on migration. They feed on these tiny little crustaceans and slimy things and they need thousands to put on weight. That’s what keeps them a panic attack, finding their food items in the receding surf. The beds of sand where there is the most prey will have the most birds, so that’s where I hit the sand.

I literally lay right in the sand and with my rig. The Z 9 / Z600f4 TC rests securely in a Panning Plate which I have inside a Frisbee. The panning plate as its name suggests provides limited panning with the lens though it’s “resting” on the ground so I can photograph moving subjects like, the Sanderlings. The key to making sharp images is to first realize you have very limited panning maneuverability when you’re on the sand. This requires you to pick your foreground and background and “hope” your subject uses it. In this case I wanted the small section of reflection in the foreground so that’s where I positioned myself. Then, as the Sanderlings zipped by, the Z 9 zipped to bring home the photograph. I knew they would come there because of the food, they needed the food. So when I saw the crabs pop up, I would say to myself, hold that crab!

We’d seen this individual the day before. It appeared it had impact damage to its left wing that was in the process of healing. It flew just fine, had no problem gliding just above the surface with ease but the wing wouldn’t completely fold into its body at rest. On more than one occasion it would perch on a piling as pelicans like to do and on this occasion its body gesture sent my mind into goofy land. The first image I saw as it talking to its imaginary friend about the good old days. The next image it’s smelling it pits getting ready for a hot date. The two poses came back to back, literally. I was taking the first image when it changed to the second pose. I let the Z 9 rip, its 20fps capturing what my warped sense of humor was seeing. The photos still make me chuckle, all with a turn of the head.

Sharon especially has always had a thing for Pileated Woodpeckers. These big birds have a ton of character! A year after coming to The Ranch, a male showed up which was a total shocker. They are not supposed to be up in the Sapphires where we live. They’re in the flats miles below us, thick in the Bitterroots on the other side of the valley, but we don’t have the forests they prefer. We didn’t mind having what we thought was a wayward male for a few days. We saw him on and off, a glimpse here and there for a week or so. Then in late summer, two fledglings showed up for over a week, that meant they had nested somewhere in the neighborhood. Then nothing for months and months and months. We were crushed but that’s how it is with birds. Then last fall a female appeared and by Thanksgiving becoming a daily regular. She had just left the feeder the other morning after her 09:30 breakie when I said to Sharon as I was heading out to the hide for a couple of hours, “You know, where there’s girls, the guys will follow!”

I was in the hide for just a short time when I heard the Pileated pounding on a tree, then calling. I thought it was slightly odd the female was coming back so soon as she normally reappears in mid afternoon. I texted Sharon the female was drumming and gave it no more thought. Then I saw that classic black form come gliding past the hide confirming her presence. A few minutes later I heard their distinctive drumming on our Owl Box #1. Man, was that loud! I texted Sharon who looked out from the office and confirmed its presence. We both assumed it was the female again so didn’t glass to confirm. Then it flew to Owl Box #3, the photo above. I slowly swung the lens to watch it when I saw, it was a male! He was on the property advertising for spring having seen the female that was just feeding. He’s been back a couple times since, the female keeping her daily schedule. We’re incredibly excited at the possibility of nesting Pileateds! Turns out, they have been known to use nesting boxes. We don’t have the right size, old pines they require to nest so we have hopes for spring.