Why Did I Go to the Tundra to Shoot Shorebirds?

As you may recall from earlier posts, it was quite a journey to get to Churchill, Manitoba,  just below the Arctic Circle.  It took two days to fly there, one day to Winnipeg (Manitoba’s Capital) and another day to Churchill (the train from Winnipeg takes 2 days!) and the same to return.  When I got there the Hudson Bay and the Churchill River was frozen and it was bitterly cold! Especially getting up for the dawn shoot, sunrise was about 4:30am. “So why go?” I hear you ask.

Well, in 2013 I really found a new passion for shooting wildlife and birds in particular (the Nikkor 600mm f/4 VR II might have something to do with it).  I enjoyed wading birds, loved raptors, but was completely fascinated by the shorebirds.  So here are some shots of Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus) in their “everyday” plumage.  These images were captures at the Bayou Sauvage NWR near New Orleans.

The reason to trek up to Churchill was to catch these guys (and many other species) in their breeding plumage – and what a difference!  Plenty of rufus gets added and most of the grey becomes really dark black in order to attract the opposite sex for mating.  So here are some images of the same species, Short-billed Dowitcher, taken in the tundra marsh in Churchill.

There is also the “show” that the male puts on to impress the female for the same end.

It was great fun discovering these birds and watching their mating rituals and the isolation of Churchill (you cannot get there by road from ANYWHERE!) made it a fantastic adventure.  I can’t wait to get back up there!

See My Complete Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus grisus) image gallery HERE

Gear: Nikon D4, Nikkor 600mm f/4 VRII, Nikkor TCE-17 II, Really Right Stuff Tripod & Gimbal Head, Lexar difital film

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 12th, 2014 at 6:56 pm. It is filed under Birds, Color Images, Shorebirds, Wildlife and tagged with adult breeding plumage, Adult non-breeding plumage, available for licensed use, bird, Canada, canvas gallery wrap for sale, Churchill, fine art print for sale, Limnodromus griseus, Manitoba, Nikkor 600mm f/4 VRII, Nikkor TC-17 EII, Nikon D4, Really Right Stuff Gimbal Head, Really Right Stuff Tripod, Richard King Photography, RRS gimbal head, RRS tripod, Shorebird, Short-billed Dowitcher, The Churchill River, The Hudson Bay, tundra marsh, Wildlife bird photography, wildlife photographic images for sale, www.mothernatureimages.com, www.richardkingphoto.com. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.