Getting old and taking things lying down

The old back won't take lying down efforts to capture small shorebirds at eye level but is willing to allow me lying back with big lens propped on elbow or raised knee. The birds learn to ignore the chatty creature in the long grass. So, mud, messy gumboots and floundering mishaps at Pandanus viewing area, Town Common, Townsville. And the birds . . .

Red-kneed Dotterels (top, adult; above, post-juvenile and juvenile)

Pied Stilt with long legs forward for gentle landing.

Two for one offering from Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

Plenty of preening keeps Glossy Ibis looking its colourful best.

And, courtesy of Sue Rutherford, I'm caught lumbering out of swampy long grass on another day and in another part of the Common. The gear changes, the ugly mug remains the same.