AVOCETS ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE BIRDS. I have taken so many photos of American avocets that Connie has placed a moratorium on any more. But Red-necked Avocets are a different story and today I took dozens of shots of hundreds of avocets, pied stilts and pelicans at the rapidly evaporating Lake Dyer. None are suitable for National Geographic — 100+ meters is a long way even for my 100-400 mm Canon telephoto lens to get much detail — but the avocet is a new species for us.
As long as there is water they won't fly far
Smoke from the fires that are raging in New South Wales clouded the skies and watered the eyes. The long drought has shrunk “Lake” Dyer to a pond off-limits to swimming and fishing due to a bloom of blue-green algae. But as long as there is a puddle remaining you will be able to see avocets, stilts, pelicans and green sandpipers.