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

3 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

a true beauty queen (or king) with gorgeous, dramatic eyes.

Unknown said...

What an incredible series!

Anonymous said...

Steve, I was at Fairhaven Lake on exactly the same day as yourself with this little beaut, the Grey Phalarope.....I popped off to the bay to photograph one of the numerous wheatears and came back to find the little phalarope entertaining people right by the RSPB point...magic!

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