Photo Friday: Dusk Descends and Yellowlegs

The Nature Conversancy has a tract of land just north of Lincoln, Nebraska called Little Salt Fork Marsh Preserve that is home to some unusual salt tolerant plants and animals. The source of the salt is believed to be from about 200 feet below the surface and the process that causes the salt to rise is largely unknown. Among the flora and fauna that exists in this small area, this is one of about 3 or 4 places that the endangered salt creek tiger beetle can be found. Although this April continues to be cold and bring snow, last Sunday was a fairly nice day and I went out to see what landscape and animals I could find. I spent the first couple of hours photographing and viewing the birds. There were two cattle egrets, northern shovlers, and some yellowlegs hanging out on a small lake. I spent some time capturing the yellowlegs and watching them run through the marsh and grass.

There was no wind this evening and amazingly quiet. As I was preparing the above shot, a group of Double Crested Cormorants floated over my head by about 30 feet and I could hear the gentle fluttering of their wings, the black of their bodies reflecting the warm tones of the setting sun. I didn’t grab my camera, but instead just observed them, content to keep the image as a memory.

Technical Details:
Dusk Descends: Canon 5D Mark II, 24 F/3.5L TS-E, f/9, 1/5 sec.
Yellowlegs: Canon 50D, 500 f/4L + 1.4x tc, f/5.6, 1/320 sec.
Scurry: Canon 5D Mark II, 500 f/4L + 1.4x tc, f/5.6, 1/1600 sec.