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Litle stint - Calidris minuta Expand text

I admit that when I was getting up at 5 am in August in Swinoujście to go to the seaside with the camera I was quite skeptical about what I could photograph. The holiday season in a place like that means people on the beach practically around the clock. But without trying I will have no pictures for sure. When coming to the beach I could confess my fears proved correct, even so early you could count a dozen people. A novelty for me was that when I slowly approached closer to the plants thrown out of sea during the night I could see a cluster of tiny birds feed on the leftovers. It was surprising that they accept people walking by the sea (within few meters). Annoying thing, however, was that If I had not been there other people, particularly some older women would pass without noticing feeding birds. But if they are interesting for someone to photograph them, then they are worth taking a look at, very carefully indeed. Women passed treating me as if I were invisible and came up closer and closer, so that scared off everything that could pick up the flight. Despite my respect for the elderly, I cannot understand why they behaved like that and I do not know if it was an ordinary carelessness or malice. Anyway it wasn’t nice of them. Fortunately, the birds returned, but because of the growing number of people on the beach there were fewer and fewer birds. After 9 o’clock it was hardly anything to photograph. But never mind, the outdoors session was successful. Birds let me approach close enough to take some good photos that I could publish in the gallery. The lighting conditions at the rising sun were perfect. I was fully satisfied because of the fact that I was able to photograph the new species -dunlin, red knot, turnstone and ringed plover. Not only the new species but also of a satisfactory quantity and quality. Too bad that the ringed plovers soon abandoned this place because of the walkers. It is a long time I have not not managed to take pictures of the representative of the genre, and they aren’t satisfactory either in quality or shots. This comment will be common for photos added to the gallery in August, during that session. There are several reasons. The most important fact is that the whole session lasted several hours when birds were continuously disturbed, and as a result I was waiting and waiting for them returning. In such conditions, it is difficult to tell stories about the natural behavior of the species. Just like with the sounds of birds. Although the microphone was turned on all the time but after listening you could only wring your hands, or better ears. There was recorded everything, apart from the sounds of birds. The sounds of the port, the ships, walkers’ conversations, dog barking ... It is a pity, even far from perfection sound but recorded on my own is better to listen in correlation with pictures of the species than downloaded from another source of sounds. Short description, sound, photos, it's almost a movie, complete report of communing with nature. My diary. But it is not a market. What and how we can capture is always a lottery. This time the effect of several hours’ activity, without camouflaging, couching was stunning. Welcome to my galleries: Dunlin, Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone and Common Ringed Plover. At the end of my comments I have included data describing the bird of each species to have an idea of its size. And about a little stint I have found out that it lives in northern Scandinavia and Siberia, winters in the Mediterranean and Africa. Like a turnstone, or a red knot in Poland it is being seen only in passing. The weight of this stint does not exceed 50 grams and its wingspan is of 30 cm.
Last minute news 04/2015-Malta
I uploaded a few photos of the little stint taken against the background of the “reddish” Maltese soil in quite an interesting place, for the Maltese landscape (see the description for the wood warbler).
Last minute news-06/2016-Mongolia
Awaiting white-winged scoters I took some pictures of grey herons and little stints. The birds weren’t skittish and they did not fly away, even when we were packing our foam camping mats and camouflage nets. They allowed us to approach them for a distance of several meters.
Last minute news -12/2018 Sri Lanka
Last minute news -08/2020
At the end of August, several little stints were observed on the beach in Mikoszewo. They were few, as were the dunlins. Some interesting photos were taken and the gallery was rebuilt.
Last minute news- 09/2020 Heligoland – Germany
Little stint photographed not so long ago in Mikoszewo, has been recharged, or actually replaced with photos in the gallery. The ones made in Helgoland are so different, more interesting, different and must be added to the gallery of the little dungeon. It is a pity that he always kept his distance from us, because he was one of the few to have a wedding ring, which, however, could not be read from the photos.
Last minute news- 09/2021 Heligoland – Germany
Last minute news-11/12-2022 – Botswana