In the corner of a horse pasture
A little patience goes a long way
It was late in the afternoon and I was on my way home from a long day of photography.
As I approached a four-way stop, I thought to myself, “I should really pull over here and check out the corner of this field.”
It had first come to my attention a couple of days before — as I stopped for the stop sign, I had heard the mating call of a Wilson’s snipe. It was unmistakable, a high pitched whinnying that pierces the ears. I didn’t have time to stop that day, but now would be a good time.
I pulled well off the road and began to survey the corner of the horse pasture. The corner closest to the road was flooded from the recent rains, so conditions were perfect for the snipe. It would be a challenge to find it in the grass because they are one of the best camouflaged birds out there.
Their brown and beige feather pattern blends in with the grasses and bushes so that they just disappear even though they are standing right in front of you.
After a few minutes of scanning the field, something moved about 20 feet out to the left. Closer inspection revealed a killdeer. It is surprising how well they blend in too. When you see one out in the open they don’t appear to be well camouflaged with their bold black and white striping and orange eyes, but put it in among some bushes or rocks and it too just seems to disappear.
At first there was just one killdeer, but it was soon joined by its partner. This might make a nice photo, so I got the camera ready. Just as I did, to my surprise the second killdeer hopped up onto the back of the first one. Click! You never know what will happen right in front of you when you pay close attention.
The two killdeer stood there for a couple of minutes just frozen, one standing on top of the other. I figured they were going to mate, but it was as if they were waiting for me to stop watching them and give them some privacy. That wasn’t happening, so they went ahead and did their thing very quickly. I will have to watch this spot for some young killdeer chicks in a few weeks.
Next up was a mourning dove, and then a pigeon, and a red-winged blackbird and some robins digging worms. This little corner was thriving with activity.
The thing that really struck me was the huge difference in the size of the mourning dove compared to the pigeon. They are both in the same family. I knew the pigeon was bigger, but I had never seen the two side by side, so never got a direct comparison. The pigeon was nearly twice the size of the mourning dove.
The reason for me stopping here was still eluding me though. No sight of the Wilson’s snipe. I knew it was here because I could still hear it calling. Even with that lead I couldn’t spot it ... until all of a sudden there it was. It had been right there the whole time, I just couldn’t see it. Like I said, it just disappeared among the grass. Once I spotted it though, it got interesting.
Like the killdeer, the snipe was soon joined by its partner. The constant calling was them always letting each other know where the other was, then every so often they would get together and make sure there were no interlopers moving in.
They played around with each other for a few moments and put on a good show for the camera. I thought they might mate too, but they didn’t. I was glad I stopped here though, and checked out this little corner of a horse pasture.