Water Rail

Sorry for my lack of posting this last month, I have had a lack of material but still enough for a few posts so I hope to put a few out over the next week or so.

Today I got my first pictures of Water Rail, these have been showing well in scarborough's Northstead Manor Gardens since our freeze over a week ago. I was hoping for reports this am. so that I knew chances were good but nothing until 11:40 which reported two birds.

When I got there one bird was present and a short while after there was two, always distant or elisive for a while in awful light. Finally though it did brighten a yad and one bird showed well in a pool not to far off. Some shots were as low as ISO 1250!

Taken with Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm lens, 500mm focal length 1/320sec f6.3

Right Poser

This juvenile Shag was perched on Saturday afternoon just behind Luna Park on Scarborough's South Bay at the corner of the harbour.

The innocence of youth not troubled by me on my hands and knees with my camera on my monopod. Easy pictures, I still need to micro adjust my lens to camera, the pictures were not as sharp as I would like and I have post sharpened a little, but that is all,these are full frame shots of course.

Owl double

We have spent the week-end driving around in search of Fieldfare and Redwing. Yesterday we drove towards Malton on very rural roads and found a number of small flocks of these birds. More Redwing than Fieldfare and present with good numbers of Starlings.

I spotted a Little Owl on a hay stack and managed a photo although it was difficult due to a high hedge to the front and the cut branches stuck up impeding my focus. As we left the site of the Little Owl I saw a white wing beat in a field and then it went down. a slow approach in the car and we stopped 10' from a Barn Owl with a large vole in it's mouth. A fantastic classic view on a great big fence post but into the sun and on the passenger drive so we quickly moved on and left it to it's early tea.

I photographed this female Kestrel who has very worn feathers.

Ruff and Tumble !

The Ruff was pictured at Titchwell RSPB three weeks ago, manuallly focussed as  I tried my Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with 1.4 converter.  Please let me know what you thing good, bad or indifferent.

Yesterday was bright at times, wintery showers (heavy hail), bitterly  cold with really strong wind. In Filey Country Park some waders were on the cliff top in the park probing the grasses, Oystercatchers and Turnstone and a lone Redshank. I got out the car and was blown away, the monopod blew in the wind, stupiddly I fell on some grass that was pure mud underneath, I shot up hoping no one saw me but now sport a lovely black bruaise where I landed on my beloved camera and lens. Serves me right, I need to be more careful but at leaset I got an Oystercatcher shot or two.

 

Sanderling (Calidris Alba)

I was fortunate enough to catch up with these little fellows on a bright sunny afternoon on the beach off Holme Dunes NWT. as usual they were running along at the edge of the tide, they went off along from me. I thought it better to stay put and wait and sure enough they came back and this bird came quite close.

They were adopting the very distinctive dashing style in front of the breaking waves.

Pictures taken with Canon 7D and 400mm f5.6 lens.

Reflection

On our first visit to Titchwell the week before last it was quite a bright morning and reasonably near to the hide a Lapwing was stood in the very still water making for a nice refection effect. I hope my pictures convey a little of the iridescent colours on the wing feathers.

Bar Tailed Godwit

As you would expect I saw a good number if godwits last week on Norfolk North Coast reserves, trouble was they were always a little too distant generally. On Friday afternoon we went on Hunstanton Beach, I was optimistically lloking for Purple Sandpipers on the groynes but in truth itb was too early, high tide was still some hours away and only Turnstones were to be seen until I spotted this Bar Tail.