Plans Need To Be Flexible

(January 25th) When I go out shooting, I always have a plan and a few goals in mind. For this San Diego trip, I had well thought out plans, and was fine-tuning up constantly as I got word of the weather and wind conditions or learned more. This morning I headed to the cliffs again to photograph the Brown Pelicans. Well I took a few pictures of the pelicans, but not many. They were there alright, but there were a few unexpected surprises that had me adjusting my plans. One of which was a pair of Snowy Egrets that showed up. Now I'm used to photographing these birds in the water, but on top of a cliff that overlooks rough surf? Very unexpected, but all the more reason to concentrate on it. It didn't hurt either that the egrets possessed full breeding plumage and this one showed off its crown.

After a while, the egrets chased each other off. Still I didn't go back to the pelicans. There were a group of gulls that were quite raucous. Good behavior, good light, what more can you want? It's amazing how wide they can get that mouth open. Had some shots dead on, but I prefer the ones like this where you get some eye contact.

After the cliffs, I headed down to the place I had seen the turnstones yesterday. Sure enough they were there. Also there was the first Surfbird for me. It was a great sight, but like most first, no photos came of it. The turnstones gave me some fantastic poses though. One of my favorites was this one of a Ruddy Turnstone with the composition and angle.

I walked further up the shore past where the turnstones were and found myself on the edge of a large rock that formed a small cliff to the water. Up here there were a few small shorebirds. One of the advantages of being in a place like this is that no one else in their right mind will climb out onto the rocky ledge, so you don't have to worry about anyone except yourself scaring the birds. At first they were a bit cautious, but they warmed up and approached me. Eventually they too close to focus. These little guys are among the smallest birds you'll see so getting close is a necessity when you're using a 400mm and full-frame camera like I have. Here's one of the Western Sandpipers on the rocks.

I think the best shots of the morning came when I was able to catch the shorebirds right against the edge of the ledge. Then the background depended on the wave action - either being the blue of the water, or the white of a wave, or an ugly combination of both if you didn't time the shot right. Being so close, it made this Least Sandpiper pop out and the over-the-shoulder pose shows off the coverts of its wing.