American Pipit

A portion of the massive mudflats at the upper end of Hoover Reservoir in Delaware County, Ohio. Mudflats of varying size form here every autumn, and this can be a great place for seeking shorebirds. I made a trip to Hoover on September 15, and as always the birding was good and varied. The most notable shorebird was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, although these fascinating long-haul migrants are annual here and to be expected.

As a footnote, the vegetation of these seasonally exposed mudflats is fascinating. Shorebirds such as the Buff-breasted Sandpiper probably play a role in the distribution of some of these plant species, when looking at plant distributions on a long time scale. CLICK HERE to read a piece I wrote about that phenomenon quite some time ago (and probably should write another).

An American Pipit briefly mounts a rock, the better to cast an eye about its wide-open surroundings.

I was quite pleased to hear the calls of pipits as I made my way out the flats. This bird is strictly a transient with us, and it's possible that the animal in the photo came from from the high Canadian arctic or even Alaska. In North America, they breed at northerly latitudes across Canada, throughout much of Alaska, and at high elevations in the western mountains. American Pipits - there are seven subspecies - also occur across much of Eurasia.

This pipit is a diurnal migrant, and knowing their flight calls will greatly aid in their detection. Many times they will only be heard as flocks pass by high overhead. At the peak of their migrations, in favorable locales such as along the south shore of Lake Erie, I have heard several hundred pass over in a few hour time span. Fortunately for me on this fine day, a small flock of four birds did settle onto the flats to forage.

There's no sneaking up on an American Pipit, as they favor flat, wide-open landscapes. But they are rather tame, and I was able to sneak into a good spot and let the birds wander my way. Eventually I was able to get the above shot and some other decent ones - the first acceptable American Pipit shots that I have managed to obtain.

PHOTO NOTE: It's often best to try and get as close to the level of your subject as possible. In the case of a pipit, that means you'll have to be on the ground or as close to it as possible. I was shooting my big telephoto on a tripod, but had the legs splayed out so that the camera rig was only a foot or so above ground level. Such an angle puts the photographer on the same terms as the bird, and leads to a more pleasing image.