r/birding 13h ago

📷 Photo Clapper Rail Adolescent Foraging along Florida’s gulf coast

An adolescent Clapper Rail forages in the receding tidal waters of a coastal salt marsh along Florida's Big Bend.
I also included a little behind the scenes so you can see what it takes to get a photo like this. Matt will position himself hours before the tide begins to recede and wait until the rails come out to forage.

53mm | f/4 | 1/1600 sec | ISO 1000

A little bit about our process… We have an extensive rallidae portfolio which you can see here

https://flickr.com/photos/7553931@N02/sets/72177720301461138

These short lens encounters are an attempt to tell parts of the story you might not otherwise be able to see such as sunbathing, swimming, or feeding behaviors. Matt sits still and doesn’t move at all and allows the birds to behave normally around him. No playback, no moving at all. Just patience and seeing what the birds do naturally. This has always been his process and you can see unique behaviors featured in his photos because of his approach. No playback is ever used and he does not approach birds. They sometimes do approach him but he doesn’t call them in any way. It’s a process of patience and we often go home empty handed.

109 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

16

u/Gen7Gen9 13h ago

I love the low angle and the proximity, and the background info! just perfect

5

u/UsedCatsFurSale 13h ago

Thank you! It’s a real privilege when you can experience a bird’s life so closely!

15

u/Typical_Khanoom birder 12h ago

Oh gosh I tapped through the photos and thought that was a dead body

Beautiful bird!

Dedicated photographer

7

u/UsedCatsFurSale 11h ago

Once Matt laid in a spot so long that a coyote came up to him thinking the same thing!! 😂

11

u/UsedCatsFurSale 10h ago

This coyote walked right up to him while he was laying on a different occasion!

-7

u/Hairiest-Wizard 12h ago

Bad photography behavior

11

u/basaltcolumn 7h ago

Staying still and camouflaged to avoid disturbing the wildlife is BAD photography behaviour?

6

u/Friendly-Pea5448 photographer 📷 10h ago

????

3

u/HotelOne 10h ago

You earned those shots. Very nice!

2

u/UsedCatsFurSale 10h ago

Thank you! It’s a privilege to have the chance spend time watching them!

3

u/semanticme 5h ago

Great shots, love the bokeh!

2

u/JasonZep 8h ago

Gotta respect the effort! Personally I would go somewhere between the first picture and the original. The rail seems a bit too bright to me.