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Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper (Image ID 39234)
Photographed byJim Schultz on Fri 21st Feb, 2020 and uploaded on Sat 22nd Feb, 2020 .
Resolution1400x939
Viewed231
ID39234
CommentIn identifying this little wader as a Wood Sandpiper take into consideration the bird’s mottled breast as well as it constantly bobbing the tail while dashing around, feeding. The brow line, though clear, is not all that distinct in this bird, however. The 3 cm, delicate and straight bill is pointed like the rod of a scratch awl and without any hint of being bulbous at the tip. A small bird, just above the size of an Australian Spotted Crake, it jitters around more like the Spotless Crake. The fact that Wood Sandpipers prefer inland, freshwater wetlands and Bibra Lake being fresh is also indicative. The species forage on moist mud and in shallow water. Main breeding grounds are Scandinavia, the Baltics, northern Europe and Russia. The Australian population likely breeds in eastern Siberia, using the East Asian-Australasian Flyway to and fro Australia and wintering here from September to April. A few birds do stay for a full year, however. Bibra Lake; GPS. Status (2016): Least Concern [Moderator's Note: Identification notes are all correct.]
EquipmentOlympus OM-D E-M1X camera body with Olympus 300mm f4 IS Pro ED M.Zuiko lens + MC-14 Teleconverter; Velbon Neo Carmagne Carbon Tripod with Manfrotto Ball Head Art 498RC2.
Camera settings: Exposure Program/Shooting Mode: ‘Manual’; shutter speed 1/1000 sec, f5.6 & ISO-640. Metering Mode: ‘CenterWeightedAverage’; Focus Mode: ‘C-AF’ with the AF-system further set to ‘AF-Target Mode’ with a target group of 9 sensors (3x3). Drive: ‘Sequential shooting (2frame)’ in ‘Continuous Low’. Maximum burst rate habitually set to 12 to prevent filling up the buffer for which reason also I only shoot in RAW. Image Stabilizer on (S-SIS AUTO); In-camera Sharpness +2. (The settings are the combination I favour for birds in flight; it took quite a bit of experimentation with the Olympus OM-D E-M1X +300 mm F4 lens combo to find a setting suitable for this noble discipline.)
Olympus Workspace for metadata; FastStone for viewing & sorting; Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw/CC 2020 for post-processing; Topaz Pro plug-ins Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI & Studio 2 for sharpening and noise control. Slater’s ‘Australian Birds’ and ‘Australian Bird Guide 2019’ for identification, supplementary data and colour checks.
LocationBibra Lake; GPS, Western Australia
Keywordsadult, non-breeding plumage/features
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