Preening Dipper

American Dipper preening on the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park. One of my goals of this year’s trip to Yellowstone was to spend some time observing ...
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American Dipper preening on the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park. One of my goals of this year’s trip to Yellowstone was to spend some time observing and photographing American Dippers. And they were very easy to find. Just look for any clear water, fast moving mountain stream and you will find one or more of these water ouzels. But photography proved more difficult than I had expected and when I could get close these birds were nearly always in shade, requiring extremely high ISO settings (up to 2500 as in this image). But I did find a bridge where they liked to hang out. I sat on a muddy beach and waited for them to come to me, which they eventually did. Canon 1D X using a 500mm IS II lens and 1.4x TC on a tripod
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