Marbled Godwits - Bolivar Peninsula (TX) - November 2019

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I have not seen as many shorebirds on this trip as I expected to see. There has been a lot of rain and wind directions are preventing low tides along the beaches. Water levels are high. Based on earlier e-bird reports, the shorebirds are here. But where are they? I found Marbled Godwits and Dowitchers feeding in the mowed grass at the Fort Travis park adjacent to the beach where I usually see them. Seven photos of Marbled Godwits taken on Nov. 6, 7, and 11 are shown below.

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens
1/1600 sec at f/4.5, ISO 1000

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter
1/2000 sec at f/9, ISO 800

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens
1/1600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter
1/2500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 2000

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens
1/1600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens
1/1600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens
1/1600 sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.