![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/mountain-plover-4395-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"mountain-plover-4395-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nFive years ago tomorrow I had one of my most memorable experiences with birds of any species in the field.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n On the morning of\u00a0April 10, 2013 Mia and I found a pair of Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island. Mountain plovers are\u00a0uncommon throughout their range and rare in Utah –\u00a0these birds\u00a0were only the 10th confirmed sightings of the species in Utah. After\u00a0Mia reported\u00a0them that morning (she spotted them first\u00a0while I was driving)\u00a0they understandably\u00a0created quite\u00a0a stir among the birding community for\u00a0a couple of\u00a0days before they continued their journey to their breeding grounds in places like Wyoming and northern Montana.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Mountain Plovers have\u00a0a reputation\u00a0for being unwary and highly approachable and these two fit that description perfectly. They were absolutely fearless of my pickup and there were times I thought they were going to disappear beneath it while they were foraging for insects. In stark contrast their reaction to every potentially threatening predator flying overhead\u00a0(ravens, harriers, gulls\u00a0and even curlews) was to\u00a0squat down like this\u00a0on their tarsi in the\u00a0grasses and make very little movement as they became as inconspicuous on the ground as possible. Typically they would hold that position for some time after the threat was gone before continuing to forage.<\/p>\n I often say that I’m not a birder in the traditional sense because I don’t keep lists and I almost never chase rarities reported by others but these two\u00a0dandy little plovers\u00a0gave me a taste of the\u00a0euphoric rush and excitement\u00a0most typical birders must\u00a0experience when they discover a rare species. It was a feeling I don’t think I’ll ever forget and one I’ve only experienced two other times when Mia and I also discovered\u00a0a couple of\u00a0other rare species in\u00a0northern Utah – a Gyrfalcon along the causeway to\u00a0Antelope Island\u00a0and an Upland Sandpiper in Box Elder County. As is typical with rarities I was only able to get documentary quality photos of the Gyr and Upland Sandpiper so I was super-thrilled to get many high quality and aesthetically pleasing images of these rare\u00a0Mountain Plovers.<\/p>\n Mostly because of rotten weather and miserable light it’s now been almost a week since I’ve been out shooting but as I type this at 3:10 AM (don’t ask…) the forecast calls for sunny skies today\u00a0so I’m excited to get “out there” again. It’s been much too long.<\/p>\n Who\u00a0knows, maybe there’s another rarity on my near\u00a0horizon. Highly unlikely but I’ll\u00a0confess that the possibility\u00a0did enter\u00a0my semi-consciousness at this hour of the morning…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Five years ago tomorrow I had one of my most memorable experiences with birds of any species in the field.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/mountain-plover-4457-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"mountain-plover-4457-ron-dudley\\"")
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