Leaping American Pipit – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
About two weeks ago I took hundreds of American Pipit images at Farmington Bay WMA and I still haven’t gone through all of those photos but I liked this one and wanted to share it.
There were dozens of pipits in the area which made it hard to pick which one of them to focus on because some of the pipits where close, some were active while others simply perched on the rocks wagging their tails. Some of the pipits had distant phrags in the background, others had the pale morning sky and some had the rocks they were perching on both in front and behind them. I recall trying to get a mix of all the backgrounds that morning and photographed the pipits at varying distances.
With scores of pipits flying in, flying out and moving around on the rocks it was a challenge to decide which bird to have in my viewfinder. At times I just picked one, focused solely on it and hoped the pipit would do something interesting or that I would get an action shot and in this instance that method actually worked in my favor.
This American Pipit was perched on top of a rock wagging its tail in the morning light when another pipit flew in, disturbed the pipit I was focused on which caused it to leap into the air briefly before it landed on another nearby rock.
I’m glad that I picked the right pipit to focus on for that split second in time or I would have missed this shot.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my American Pipit photos plus facts and information about this species.
Let’s play leapfrog! I win! Wow what a photo. You caught it at exactly the correct moment for a magnificent and fun shot!
Brilliant.
Beautiful capture! Since moving back to Florida full time I miss seeing the pipits and Horned Larks in flocks during winter. I don’t miss the cold weather that much!
Love the shot!
Great action shot!