I don’t think the local birds had ever seen anyone sitting on the muddy banks of their tiny ephemeral lake; they carried on with their daily business as though I wasn’t there.
Red-kneed Dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus)
1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 800
Red-kneed Dotterels are totally adorable little waders with, you guessed it, red knees. They were racing back and forth along the shoreline, dipping their bills into the mud and collecting all kinds of tiny critters.
I needed high shutter speeds, these images were taken at 1/2000th and 1/2500th of a second and still there is a little movement blur in image above.
These dotterels are beautiful. The bird above is an adult with its black cap and breast band standing out against its white underparts, chin and throat. I like the way the breast band tails off into a dash of chestnut on the flanks and is set off by the bronze-brown upperparts.
Red-kneed Dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus)
1/2500, f/8, ISO 800
Young Red-kneed Dotterels are stunning. They’re a mottled, browner version of the adult bird with the same dark eye, sharply defined cap, red bill with its dark tip and the same knobbly red knees. A hint of chestnut on the flanks is already emerging.
Red-kneed Dotterels are scattered across mainland Australia and although they are generally stay in their own areas they are believed to travel long distances when necessary to find suitable wetlands. I travelled long distances to find these birds and it was worth every kilometre.
Happy birding
Kim
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Beautiful little Dotterels.l Great images and a very rewarding trip.
Thanks Peter. It was a fantastic trip, the red dirt is still all over the car, I can’t bear to wash it off just yet
I love to see Red kneed Dotterels scurry around, however more often than not, when I see them I am with my dog Rolly. 🙁 Consequently I do not get to watch them for long, he unwittingly scares them off.
I’d never realised quite how quickly they move, I guess it was exaggerated as they were much closer to me than usual. Maybe you could try getting Rolly to wear a chook costume 🙂
Beautiful photography Kim. Love these birds.
Thank you Joyce, it’s so good to have you back on board
Wonderful images ! Beautiful birds , very nice to see the young one !
Thank you Catarina. It was just perfect to be out there with them foraging so close to me.
Time spent watching the smaller, less showy birds is never wasted is it? Muted magic.
And thank you. On a chilly morning these images were heart balm.
I especially like small birds EC, ‘muted magic’ is a perfect description. I’m glad it wasn’t a chilly morning when I was sitting on the muddy banks, brrr
Lovely images of a sweet native waterbird 😊
Thank you Alyssa. They are gorgeous little birds.