After a stop in Vancouver to visit a terminally ill friend, I drove to Malheur on my way to Colorado to visit Tyson and Jen and grandchildren. I definitely needed an uplift before the long drive to Broomfield.
Luckily, it didn’t take long to find many birds on Ruh Red Road. Driving down the road, I was surprised when this Black-Necked Stilt stood her ground instead of immediately taking flight as they usually do. When it started looking in the reeds and making strange sounds,
I realized there was probably chicks nearby, and it didn’t take long to find one,
apparently totally indifferent to the car and photographer not more than a few feed away. I must admit that if I hadn’t seen them together I doubt that I would have recognized it as a Black-Necked Stilt.
Once I’d sighted the first chick, I soon began seeing them everywhere, and in different stages of development, like this older chick which seemed almost recognizable as a Stilt.
It was the first of several different chicks I saw that evening and the next morning before heading out on 12 hours of driving.
Serendipity! And a prepared photographer and camera.