Only rarely do I go to a spot to photograph a bird that has been seen and get the shot. Usually, it's more complicated. This past week I went to a 

sod farm and saw some sandpipers in a field near a ditch covered with weeds. I was trying to get close and thought that I could walk through the ditch to get to the field. What I didn't realize was that the weeds were hiding how deep the ditch was and that it was filled with water. As I walked in the weeds, I sunk into muddy water which came over my knees. I was lucky that my gear didn't get wet. Yesterday I drove over an hour to a spot - it started to rain hard, more than the showers forecast. I turned around and came home.  Most of the good shots that I get are the unexpected ones. Maybe today I'll have better luck on the difficult trail to get a good shot.