Now that we are getting some cloudless skies, I've been looking for some free moments to get out to the outflow of the water lake and get some photos. I managed to find a couple of hours late last night, got dressed in some camo, and headed out. My goal was to get a decent photo of Red-throated Loons, but as someone once said "You can't always get what you want." There had been three of the loons hanging about the other times I was there, but they were strangely absent when I arrived.
The water has risen an incredible amount in the last few days and I had to alter my plans and I found myself near some flat rocks that had been propped up against each other. I had noticed that several times in the past a male Lapland Longspur would occasionally land on these rocks after an aerial song and continue to sing, so I set up with the idea that it would make a cool photo. But of course, the longspurs had other plans. At one point I had three or four males all around me, flying up in the air and parachuting down singing, but none would land on the rocks my camera was pointed on.
This female, however was hanging out in the shadow of the rocks when I arrived and as she moved away from me I took a couple of photos of her in the low light on the late evening sun.
There were at least three pairs of Baird's Sandpipers scattered amongst small pockets of dry tundra, and I'm guessing that if nesting hasn't already happened it will very shortly.
I spent a great deal of time snapping mostly useless photos of a Long-tailed Duck male who would start to get closer to where I was but then kept changing his mind.
Of course, right on cue, shortly after I gave up and started walking away a pair of Red-throated Loons appeared. As they came in, seemingly unconcerned about my presence, they shone in the light of the low sun. As I watched them circle in to land they seemed to glow and it was an incredibly beautiful sight. I was apparently unaware that there was a camera in my hand and didn't even attempt to raise it up for a shot...
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