Slowing wading through a clear tidal pool, about knee deep, in coastal Florida, I was trying to move slow enough to not disturb a gorgeous American Oystercatcher that was napping on a small sandbar in the middle of the lagoon. Oystercatchers are amazing looking shorebirds with a black hood punctuated by a bright yellow eye surrounded by a striking orange ring. Matching the crazy looking eye is a very long, thick, orange to red bill that the bird uses for probing into the sand for aquatic insects.

It has long sturdy legs and when resting they have the habit of tucking one leg up into its belly feathers and slipping their long bill under a wing to conserve warmth. This is a standard resting position for many shorebirds.

I was slowly moving across the shallow lagoon, being careful to watch for alligators and water snakes. Each advancing step needs to be tested to make sure it’s not too deep, not too slippery and I am not stepping on any hidden aquatic critter. In addition when carrying 30K worth of camera gear, the last thing you want to do is slip and drop your camera gear in salt water. That would be a major disaster.

I had the sun at my back and the lighting was perfect. It was just an hour or so before sunset and the harsh light of the mid-day had passed and now the shadows were nice and long making the light soft and warm. The air temperature was in the high 70’s and no wind. Absolutely perfect conditions for this kind of photography work.

As I approached I could see the oystercatcher’s had his long orange bill tucked under his wing and he was sleeping. This got me thinking about shorebirds in general. Studies show that when shorebirds are resting they often gather in small flocks. They collect close together, often standing on one leg which helps them conserve heat.

The birds that are located near the center of the flock will close both eyes and sleep. The birds on the edge of the flock will sleep with one eye close and the other open. In addition the open eye is usually the one pointing outside of the flock to watch for incoming predators.

Birds have the ability “sleep” with one eye closed and one open. It is called unihemispheric, slow-wave sleep (USWS) and allows the birds to see approaching danger/predators while still being able to rest/sleep. If the right eye of the bird is close, the left side of the brain rests. And if the left eye is close the right side of the brain gets a well-deserved break.

This ability to control sleep and wakefulness simultaneously is unique to birds but has also been observed in seals, manatees and dolphins. This allows these aquatic mammals to sleep underwater and still be able to rise to the surface to breathe without having to fully wake up every few minutes.

When approaching the American Oystercatcher, who was all by himself, he quickly saw me coming with his one open eye. He untucked his bill from under his wing to watch me, but he was so comfortable with me that he never put down the leg that he had tucked into his belly feathers. Obviously I wasn’t a threat to him and he remained comfortable, allowing me to capture a few images before I turned and headed back to the other side of the lagoon. While walking back through the water I thought about the amazing adaptions that wildlife employs in their everyday life. These are the aspects of nature that are the least understood but are the things that fascinate me.

It wasn’t until recently that USWS was first observed and studied. This kind of behavior was once thought (sleeping with one eye open) to be impossible but of course nature has been doing it for millions of years. We just hadn’t noticed it and certainly didn’t understand it. Perhaps this another wakeup call (pun intended) for us to learn from mother nature. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the world to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on www.facebook.com and twitter.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com. 

There are many differences between Bison and Buffalo. For one, Bison are adapted to harsh cold winters with lots of snow. Neither the Water Buffalo nor Cape Buffalo could survive these wintery conditions. Bison have huge heads with thick fur a mop top and full beards, where Buffalo are beardless and don’t have much fur.

Another defining characteristic is, Bison have a large hump at their shoulder, which Buffalo don’t. The hump is a mass of muscle that moves the gigantic head of the Bison. The muscle is used when males fight for dominance in the breeding season. Males will spar by striking their massive heads and horns together and pushing against one another. The bigger and heavier male is usually the winner.

They also use the large shoulder muscle to power the head to act like a snowplow in winter. They sweep their head back and forth moving several feet of snow to the sides to expose dried grass below. During winter all their food is covered in a thick blanket of snow and the only way they can gain access is to push the snow to the sides.

The horns are another difference between Buffalo and Bison. The horns of Buffalo are much longer (upwards of several feet) than the horns of the Bison. The Bison’s horns are shorter, point pointed and often curved upwards.

I was thinking about all of this recently while leading a photo tour to Yellowstone in winter. By far the most common animal we saw while touring the back country of Americas first National Park was the American Bison. Many herds inhabit the park and we where treated to many opportunities to capture some amazing images of this gigantic animal.

My personal favorite is when the bison get close to the hot springs or geysers and become encrusted in snow and ice. A similar condition occurs when it snows. The bison get covered with snow. They are so well insulated that the snow doesn’t melt, so if they don’t shake it off, they walk around covered in a blanket of snow.

One day, deep in the interior of the park, we came across a small herd of Bison. Several large males where with a group of females. This is fairly unusual because during the non-breeding season the males are often off by themselves or in small bachelor herds. More so, the herd seemed like they were a bit gitty or happy. The entire group looked like they had springs in their feet. They would jump and bounce around then start running.

My group of photographers got into position to capture some images while the herd of bison started moving our way. It is always amazing to watch these kinds of animals and their behaviors through a long lens because it looks like you are right in the thick of things.

Suddenly the herd looked like they started to frolic in the snow, jumping and trotting. Several of them would turn sideways while running. In all honesty it looked like they were having so much fun. Normally you see the Bison in a real-life struggle for life. Most of the time they are just plowing through the snow to get to the grass beneath.

Everyone was capturing some amazing images when the Bison got to close, and we had to retreat to the safety of our gigantic big wheel trucks. The Bison herd passed us, and we all celebrated the satisfaction of obtaining some amazing images of the American Bison in winter. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the U.S. to study and capture images of wildlife. He can be followed on www.facebook.com and twitter.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com.