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<\/p>\nYesterday morning at Bear River MBR I was frustrated by what I call a “cloud from hell” for almost the entire three hours I was there. It was really a bank of clouds that hung over and just to the east of the refuge, when I could see that it was mostly sunny everywhere else. And it barely moved all morning, keeping me in deep shade or marginal light at the very best.<\/p>\n
As a result, today’s photos and some others that you’ll see in future posts were taken in pretty poor light.<\/p>\n
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1\/8000, f\/5.6, ISO 1600, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This grab shot (thus the excessive shutter speed) of an American White Pelican illustrates the lighting conditions well. As we see in the lower background, the refuge itself was in deep shade while the Promontoy Mountains in the upper background were well lit, as was everything else except the refuge and vicinity. It was frustrating but I made do with the light I had.<\/p>\n OK, onto the ‘meat’ of today’s post.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I was excited to find my first nesting American Avocets of the year. I almost missed her because she was just standing there when I approached and her mud-scrape nest was very difficult to see. I couldn’t even see the egg through my viewfinder and didn’t know it was there until I looked at my photos at home on my big screen.<\/p>\n Avocets typically lay four eggs in a clutch in a five day span and so far she’s only laid one egg. Usually they don’t begin incubating until the third egg is laid so that probably explains why she was just standing there, rather than incubating.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 1600, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Her mate, who was foraging in some standing water about 100′ away, was calling to her so after a few moments she responded to him by…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 1600, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n taking off and landing close to him. I got two photos of her in flight but in the first one her right wing obstructed her head and neck and the second one was a little soft.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A better look at the single egg and most of the nest. The nest appears to be a rudimentary bowl of scraped mud that had subsequently dried. Before and during incubation both adults will collect and add lining material to the nest.<\/p>\n I suspect that while the adults are incubating, some of that emerging green pickleweed will be tickling their tummies.<\/p>\n Other avocets and Black-necked Stilts appear to be in the early stages of nesting in the same area of the refuge. I look forward to seeing their fuzzball babies.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday morning I was excited to find my first nesting American Avocets of the year. (5 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-avocet-6906b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"american-avocet-6906b-ron-dudley\\"")
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