Wilson's Snipe

Snipes are super sneaky and shifty, so I was thrilled that this individual lit on a roadside fencepost while I was shooting rails, bitterns, and blackbirds in the same marsh. The post was ugly and overwhelming, so I crept as close as I could for this headshot. I wish the bird was facing the other way to minimize/eliminate the soft shadows on the breast, but I'm still really happy with this result because of the open beak and direct eye contact. This is another example where closing down to f/8 from f/5.6 helped preserve the feather detail across the entire bird. I really wanted to get that rufous back nice and sharp!

Sierra Valley, Sierra County, California, 5/30/21
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II
1/2000 at f/8, ISO 1000