Back to Merced NWR

Not only did I see the Snow Geese I missed at the Sacramento NWR at the Merced NWR, I also got to see Black-Necked Stilt that hadn’t arrived at Sacramento yet. Unlike the Snow Geese, they were spread throughout the refuge. I got some nice closeups of individual stilts foraging in the shallows

and some nice shots of small flocks hanging out with some Yellowlegs.

Of course, it only took two nervous stilts

to spook the flock.

Photographing birds is always a delicate balancing act as I want to get good shots but I don’t want to stress out birds, particularly at this time of year. As it turned out, I hadn’t even seen the two stilts that spooked the stilts I was photographing.