Black-necked stilt

The legs on this bird are truly ridiculous. And the color scheme! You could put this bird front and center in a ballet and it would fit right in.

I’d had black-necked stilt on my wishlist for months and gave myself a tension headache squinting through my binoculars at the mudflats of Pointe Mouilee, scanning acres of birdless waterlilies in breathless anticipation (it was also very hot, which may have contributed to the breathlessness). Finally, after what felt very much like a nature-coded Where’s Waldo, I spotted one tucked in near a copse of dead trees. The one in the photograph here was busy supervising its gangly cotton ball of a baby, which can be seen just to its left.

New birds never get old. Somehow, no matter how much I’ve built up anticipation for a particular bird, seeing it in person is always even better than I’d hoped. I could’ve watched this graceful pair pick their way across the marsh all day.