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One Great Shot: The Fog Walker

On a bay famous for kangaroos, a threatened Australian shorebird appears from the mist.

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by Jake Wilton

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oyster catcher in the mist

Early one morning in July 2022, I was searching for the famous kangaroos of Lucky Bay, in Western Australia’s Cape Le Grand National Park, when I noticed a pied oystercatcher a little farther up the beach. The small black-and-white bird was foraging in the sand, ready to snatch a meal with its long red beak. Pied oystercatchers are found throughout the Australian coast and are often spotted hammering at mollusks and crustaceans to feed themselves or their young.

I was visiting in winter, and the pre-sunrise air was chilly. A layer of mist rolled along the beach, giving the appearance of a snowy winter wonderland—a scene you wouldn’t associate with these threatened coastal birds. I moved up the beach and quietly got down on the sand, waiting for the bird to wander past me. Finally, I captured this surreal shot of the oystercatcher ducking through the mist.

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Cite this Article:

Cite this Article: Jake Wilton “One Great Shot: The Fog Walker,” Hakai Magazine, Nov 16, 2023, accessed October 8th, 2024, https://hakaimagazine.com/videos-visuals/one-great-shot-the-fog-walker/.


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