This is not so much a pond these days, as a grassy mud hole. (This is actually more water than it held a month ago.)
But not everybody thinks this is a bad thing. Look who popped in - a Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata).1
If the previous picture is the heads-down position, this must be half-mast. And the following is...
Up periscope! Almost looks like a different bird.
I love the way the stripes continue from the head all the way down the back.
He tends to sink in the mud a bit, so you're not always aware...
of the big feet.
He was quite content to have us stare from an open position across the pond. He wasn't shy or wary at all. We didn't try getting any closer though - we're hoping he'll stick around a while.
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1 I didn't realize until I went to look up the latin name just now, that this bird's name had been changed. The species formerly called the Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) has been split, and the one here in the Americas got a new name.
15 comments:
Cool! I've never seen one before.
Cool bird, cool pictures.
If I were a bird I'd be a little nervous at my name ending in "delicata."
awesome bird for sure and they never let me get that good of shots! You should be very proud of those pictures you captured! BRAVO
Very cool. I've never seen a bird like that. I hope he stays around awhile too!
Very, very cool photos. Usually (well, at least when I've seen them) they're not so "out there" but are hiding in grass or in ditches.
Carolyn H.
http://roundtoprumings.blogspot.com
Great shots - how fun to have him at your pond.
What a great looking bird to have hanging around the pond. That is a lovely surprise and real treat.
Thanks y'all! When I first started birdwatching, I thought people were pulling my leg... you know, snipe hunts and all. But he's real. And you can actually hunt them, although I haven't ever run into anyone who does.
I haven't seen him again since I took these pics, so he must have just been migrating through.
What a beauty! Thanks for posting about your visitor! You got some good shots of him!
Wow, I never realized there was an actual, REAL snipe. Like you, I'd always thought the proverbial "snipe hunt" was a southern joke.
Great photos, and factual info for anyone in the south who thinks they've been duped by the "snipe hunt."
Cool bird, and so bold! Good shots.
A snipe hunt might just be frustrating because they fly in crazy zigzags. Funny: I don't see as many of them as I used to.
A hunting of the snark, on the other hand, would hardly be necessary. Snark'll show up on its own.
You are one sucessful snipe hunter! Nice pics!
When I was little, my brother taught me how to hunt snipe: Go climb a tree with a paper bag (to catch the snipe, I guess) and then softly call out, "Here, snipe snipe, snipe". He also told me that a snipe is a small, gray mammal.
I don't believe much of what he says, nowadays.
: )
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