Monday 26 September 2011

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Being one of the less approachable species of gulls, I was lucky to get some nice full frame images of them recently. They are smart looking birds when you see them close up.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, seagull, bird,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, seagull, bird,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, seagull, bird,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, seagull, bird,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, seagull, bird,

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Bar-tailed Godwits

More waders from my recent coastal sessions. This time a species that is usually quite difficult to get close to. I think I must have been invisible as this pair of Bar-tailed Godwits didn't seem to be bothered by my presence.

Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader
Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader
Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader
Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader
Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader
Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader
Bar-tailed Godwit, birds, wader

Friday 16 September 2011

Grey Phalarope

 After all the stormy weather, a calm sunny day was forecast for yesterday. I decided to travel up to Fairhaven Lake near Blackpool to photograph a Grey Phalarope which had been there for several days. It had been a few years since I had photographed one so I wanted to get some new images using more advanced cameras. When I arrived the bird was close to the edge of the lake but on the wrong side for the direction of sunlight, I settled down on the other side and waited in hope that it would come over, which it did after about an hour or two. Being seemingly fearless of humans, Phalaropes are very obliging for photographers and will come very close. This bird was no exception and was at times less than 6 inches away from the end of my 300mm lens. Their hyperactive feeding behaviour does make them a tricky subject though. Overall it was a very productive and enjoyable day.


bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope
bird, Grey Phalarope

Wednesday 14 September 2011

North Wirral Coast, Sept 14th 2011.

With the winds dying down now and never having been in the right direction to bring the hoped for birds close enough, it has been a little disappointing from a photographers point of view. There were a few Leach's Storm Petrels passing closer than they have been which provided some distant record shots. Interestingly a ringed Mediterranean Gull that I photographed here back in 2006 has returned to the same spot and was performing nicely for the camera yet again today.

Knot
Knot, wader, Red Knot, bird
Cormorant
Cormorant, bird
 Leach's Storm Petrel
Leach's Storm Petrel, bird
 Mediterranean Gull
Mediterranean Gull, bird, seagull

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Ringed Plovers

With the strong winds at the moment I have been spending some time on the coast, hoping for the opportunity to photograph some of the seabirds that get blown in at this time of year. Up to now the winds have been too south-westerly with little coming into photographic range, so I have been photographing the waders and gulls that are building up along the shoreline. There are a lot of Ringed Plover at the moment with many juveniles. One of the adults I photographed has a ring on it's leg that's from Norway.

ringed plover, wader, bird
ringed plover, wader, bird
ringed plover, wader, bird
ringed plover, wader, bird
ringed plover, wader, bird
ringed plover, wader, bird
 

Thursday 8 September 2011

Curlew Sandpipers

With a large number of these scarce UK birds in the country at the moment I wanted to try get some decent shots of them, my only other attempt at them was back in 2005 in Mallorca. There are plenty reported around the coast locally so I set out to try and find some. I came across four of them feeding on the last bit of sand as the tide was coming in and the results were better than I expected, even the sun shone for a time. Fortunately I had managed to get a good number of shots before the obligatory dog walker threw a ball into the sea and frightened them away, she then claimed she hadn't seen me lying on the concrete.... unbelievable! Still, it could have been worse, she could have turned up 45 minutes earlier.

curlew sandpiper, bird, wader
curlew sandpiper, bird, wader
curlew sandpiper, bird, wader
curlew sandpiper, bird, wader
curlew sandpiper, bird, wader

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Turnstones

A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon photographing Turnstones. This time of year they are in various stages of plumage, some are still in breeding colours which is where they get their proper name of Ruddy Turnstone. I didn't manage any in full breeding plumage but some that were in photographic range were quite colourful. This selection shows just how varied they can be.

ruddy turnstone, wader
ruddy turnstone, wader
ruddy turnstone, wader
ruddy turnstone, wader
ruddy turnstone, wader
ruddy turnstone, wader
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