Nature Photography

Furthering the defensive excursion from before, I stuck around after sunset to photograph the aggressive little Sandpoper daddy. He was definitely protecting a nest or his mate, at the time I was unsure which. If I moved away from the shore after him, then towards the shore, he would fly out and perform his little display out on these big mats of pondweed. I really liked the green and blue balance, and he was rather funny trying to walk on this marshy, mushy mat that didn’t really behave all that well as a performance platform.

For those who did not notice in the previous blog about this protective little daddy, many of his spots are heart shaped. Particularly along his sides, in the white feathers below the wing, is a whole chain of heart-shaped little spots.

Anyway, LOTS of photos in this one. Including a couple of verticals. (Many were shot at very high ISO, and I apologize for the noise (just too many photos to perform heavy processing on.)

The mats of pondweed were rather amazing themselves. They were teeming with life…huge numbers of snails, spiders, a host of insects, worms and grubs, and a variety of other critters (including cicada nymphs.) A tiny little ecosystem all within itself. And VIBRANTLY GREEN…when bathed in sunlight, the Cottonwood Creek area became more green than I’ve ever seen it (something I greatly appreciate…Colorado often has a very dry, drab appearance…very unlike many of the extremely green coastal areas of the United States.)

A mat of Pondweed