HomeBack The Howland Picture Pages: Spotted Sandpiper

Page by Royce
Last update: $Date: 2004/01/29 02:19:27 $ (UTC)

The Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia) is one of the common Sandpipers through-out North America during the summer. It is a small-ish shorebird characterized by an orange bill with a dark tip, pinkish legs, a broken eye-ring with a dark eye-line and pale supercilium (eyebrow), and bold spots when in breeding colors. Usually, Spotted Sandpipers are seen alone walking the shores of lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands. They bob frequently while moving, and when flying they often take off with a flurry of stiff wing-beats, then glide low of the water.

Resources where you can find out more:

(click image for larger photo)

We saw this Spotted Sandpiper as we walked along the river bank at Bow Valley Provincial Park on July 26, 2003. It was sitting on the top of a small tree, which was not a place we expected to see a Sandpiper. We would have walked right by and missed the photo opportunity if it had not called out as we got near.

This photo was taken with a digiscoping setup. The Sandpiper obliged by staying put while I got ready to shoot. I took a few photos, and then we moved on leaving it in command of its tree top. Looking at the photos later, I saw the need to reduce the exposure by -1 EV or so which would have saved the shot from having blown highlights caused by the bright, overhead sun.

EXIF 2.2 photo info:

 

  • 320 x 273 true color
  • Exposure time: 1/84.30
  • F-stop: 4.3
  • ISO speed: 100
  • Focal length: 14.9000
  • Exposure mode: Auto
  • White balance: Auto
  • Exposure bias: 0.0000
  • Metering mode: Center Weighted
  • Exposure program: Aperture priority
  • Gain control: None
  • Contrast: Normal
  • Saturation: High
  • Sharpness: Hard
  • Camera make: NIKON
  • Camera model: E4500

Larger photo info:

 

  • 640 x 524 true color
  • 191KB

 

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