"SOLITARY SANDPIPER"

by Trevor Pottelberg, featuring a beautiful Solitary Sandpiper feeding in a shallow golden marsh has just won a Best in Class & Judges Choice Award at the 2020 Professional Photographers of Canada - Ontario Provincials.

This bird is only a visitor to our region during it’s long spring migration north. He spends most of his winter season all the way down in South America.

This entire photographic event unfolded unexpectedly while I was capturing some images of baby goslings. I was just about to pack it in for the night when I spotted this little guy in the back end of a local marshland. His mirror reflection is what first caught my eye. As I studied his movements, I noticed that he was constantly probing the mud and foraging on tiny aquatic life.

I knew it would be tricky, but I thought it would be great to capture a photo of him just as he breaks the water’s surface with his long bill. As you can imagine, I had to fire off hundreds of photos before getting him in a perfect parallel position to the camera. Due to the shallow nature of the marsh, there were many protruding distractions that I had to work around. I had to wait for the right moment where the bird had moved into a clean area.

The golden glow came from the setting sun casting it’s light onto tall reeds, which in turn were reflecting into the water below.