Foraging Marbled Godwit on exposed mudflatsForaging Marbled Godwit on exposed mudflats – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Cruddy light and snow yesterday kept me at home and today is also supposed to be cloudy but starting tomorrow the weather forecasts starts to look brighter for a few days. This morning I went wandering through my archived files to look for images I had taken the 28th of February of all the years I have been photographing and found quite a few.

In 2009 I photographed this foraging Marbled Godwit and friends on exposed mudflats of a Fort De Soto County Park lagoon. It was low tide while I was there and there were hundreds of shorebirds in the lagoon feeding, preening and resting. There were willets, plovers and godwits all over the place. As soon as I could I knelt laid down in the mud and warm water of the lagoon and slowly wiggled my way across the mudflat to approach the birds. Once I was in a good position I laid there while the shorebirds moved around me and I took hundreds of images as the birds went about their normal routines as if I weren’t even there. Later when the shorebirds moved away from me I backed up just as slowly as I had crept up on them and when I could I stood up and walked away with mud dripping off of me and a smile on my face.

Life is good.

Mia

(The “friends” in the background are Willets)

Click here to see more of my Marbled Godwit photos plus facts and information about this species.