Sanderlings are small sandpipers with black legs, stout black bills and appear very plump. They are very pale and grayish in nonbreeding plumage while in breeding plumage they are black, white and rufous.
I wanted to share this photo of a Sanderling racing the waves at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida because I photographed it on a warm, sunny day.
When I look at this photo of the juvenile Sanderling I see a bird that was so relaxed that it fell asleep while I photographed it because it was comfortable with my presence and I felt honored that it was.
Sanderlings look very different in appearance during breeding season and winter and novice birders might even think they are two different species.
Wow, this is my 500th blog post and it has been great fun to share my images and the stories behind them. I thought I'd share a few images and bits about my thoughts on photography.
Because I live far from my family and have no children at home my yearly Thanksgiving tradition includes spending a part of my day out photographing birds, mostly early morning outings.
Sanderlings can be a challenge to photograph because they move erratically at a very fast pace but creating images of them at their level is well worth the trouble of getting dirty and being exhausted by trying to follow the movements of these tiny dynamos.
Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.