Photo of the Day - American Avocet

Each spring when I'm done photographing bears in the Rockies, I usually pack up the car and head southeast into the glorious piece of prairie that I described in my recent article in Outdoor Photography Canada. And while I'm often in search of the more exotic prairie species like swift fox and burrowing owls, I do also stop to smell the flowers and take pictures of things like this beautiful avocet.

American avocet in a prairie slough near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border

These guys are tough to photograph, as they never sit still.  It's back, forth, over, to the side, back a foot, dip the head, quick shake, squat, over, back...it's hilarious to watch, but not so hilarious to attempt to photograph.  I set my camera to Servo mode to deal with the constant movement, then, using center point focus, I tracked the avocet's head and fired off a series of shots whenever the bird turned sideways to me with a full reflection.

Hope you enjoy the photo!

John

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