Leighton Moss Waders

Back in September I spent a couple of mornings at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve in Lancashire. The target was waders and hopefully some nice reflective shots. Of course things never really go to plan and with a breeze picking up on the first visit, the perfect mirror reflection was never going to happen. On the second visit the levels were so low that there was more mud than water. Still, a few good shots were taken and here's a selection.

Black-tailed Godwit

Greenshank

Great White Egret

Greenshank

Greenshank

Spotted Redshank

Dunlin

Little Egret

Holidaying in France (Part 2)

My trips to the park would vary from day to day, no two being the same.  Different species would come and go, from small waders such as Green and Wood Sandpipers to large Herons and Egrets. The lake was too deep for waders, so they would circle around and then fly off again. I never knew what would turn up next.
I had hoped to photograph Purple Heron, as I had seen some good shots of one taken here earlier this year.  Speaking to a local, he told me that May and June was the best time to see them, although I did briefly see one but wasn't able to photograph it. Here are a few shots of some of the species that were photographable.

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Black-winged Stilt

Little Egret

Little Egret

North Wirral Coast

A few shots from a couple of weeks ago. The winds weren't quite strong enough or in the right direction to bring the Leach's Storm Petrels as close as hoped, although I did get a couple of "at sea" images. Here's some of the species that were close enough for photography.

Leach's Storm Petrel

Little Egret

Little Egret

Oystercatcher

Common Redshank

Black-headed Gull

My Favourite Images (5)

Part 5 in the series of some of my favourites.

Leach's Storm Petrel.
I have many shots of these birds but I particularly like this one with the low sunlight illuminating the underparts.

Little Egrets.
Flocks of these Egrets come in over the estuary to roost each evening. This was a lucky shot with a whole line of over 20 which took the perfect route between the dark clouds with the setting sun behind them.

Little Egret.
This is another shot that benefits from the low angle of the sunlight.

Mistle Thrush.
This bird was guarding the berries of a Mountain Ash tree. I was photographing it from the car and it would occasionally drop to the ground to pick up the fallen berries.

Nuthatch.
A simple shot but I like the gnarled wood on this one.

Osprey.
I have spent quite a lot of time in Scotland photographing Ospreys. The next two shots are a couple that I particularly like.

Osprey

Conwy RSPB Reserve, North Wales

Whilst I was in North Wales last week, I called in at the Conwy RSPB Reserve for a few hours. From past experience I know that you can either come away with nothing or a card full of images, on this occasion I was lucky. The tide was on its way out and due to the wind direction the birds returning to the estuary would fly past the hide. These would be mainly Curlews and Oystercatchers. A bonus was a Little Egret which made it's way along the waters edge right up to the hide. One of my more successful visits there.

Curlew

Oystercatcher

Little Egret