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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
This is a Sanderling (Calidris alba/Sandlöpare) and it normally stays in the arctic area. In the springtime you can sometimes see the small flocks on sandy shores, when they are passing through on their migration to the north.
We went by bicycle from Arcachon to the south to see Europe's largest sand dune called Dune de Pula. It was truly a beautiful ride along the Atlantic coast. We parked our bikes and walked along the sandy coast when this beauti suddenly appeared.
A few days later we saw lots of them on the beautiful peninsula Cap Ferret.
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Geographic info:
This is from the beach west of europes highest sand dune called Dune de Pula to the south of Bassain d’Arcachon, west of Bordeaux in France.
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Technical information:
I took this photo laying on my belly in the wet sand, in raw format and used Adobe Lightroom for some adjustments before the edit in Photoshop CS2 as my CS3 beta expired and have not yet received the sharp version
Just white balance and a bit hue
Noise reduction with Noiseware professional
Sharpening with Photokit capture sharpener
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About the specie:
From Wikipedia:
The Sanderling (Calidris alba, syn. Crocethia alba or Erolia alba) is a small wader. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches.
It is somewhat unlike other sandpipers in appearance, which has led to the suggestion that it should be placed into a monotypic genus Crocethia. A more recent review (Thomas et al., 2004) indicates, however, that the sanderling is a fairly typical "stint" or small sandpiper and should be separated from the large knots with its closest relatives in a distinct genus.
This bird is similar in size to a Dunlin, but stouter, with a thick bill. It shows a strong white wingbar in flight, and runs along the sandy beaches it prefers with a characteristic "bicycling" action, stopping frequently to pick small food items. It eats small crabs and other small invertebrates. In spring, birds migrating north from South America consume large numbers of horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay area.
In spring, the birds arrival on the High Arctic breeding grounds (see map), where they lay 3-4 eggs in a ground scrape. Later in the summer, the face and throat become brick-red. On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat insects and some plant material.
The winter bird is very pale, almost white apart from a dark shoulder patch. This is the source of the specific name, alba, which is the Latin for "white". The juvenile bird is spangled black and white, and shows much more contrast than the adult.
Sanderling behavior is distinctive, but visually, if the size is misjudged, a breeding plumage sanderling can be mistaken for some varieties of stint, or a winter plumage sanderling can be mistaken for a Dunlin or Red Knot. It can be told from other small wading birds, given good views, by its lack of a hind toe.
The Sanderling is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. |
stevkds, Argus, ralfsworld, MMM, Jonas_Schmitt_ has marked this note useful
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