Diameded Sandpiper-Plover

This cryptic shorebird occupies high-elevation bogs in the Peruvian, Bolivian, Argentinian, and Chilean Andes. They are very few and far between, and the species was my #1 target on my inaugural trip to Chile. Furnished with some inside information, I ventured to Embalse de Yeso, a glacier-fed reservoir high above Santiago. It took some serious searching, but I finally intersected this wary individual as the afternoon sun was dipping behind a steep and overhead ridge. I didn't have much time to mount an approach, but I was able to creep close enough to capture this frame before an unexplained gunshot scared it away. It would have been nice to draw the bird out from the reeds to get a cleaner/smoother background, but I'll take this result given the disappearing sun and unexpected gunplay. Same goes for the bands; were this any other species I'd probably delete this frame!

Embalse de Yeso, Region Metropolitana de Santiago, 12/16/21
Canon 600mm f/4 IS + 1.4x III on EOS R5
1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 800