Dotterel

I took a trip to North Wales yesterday to photograph a juvenile Dotterel which had been on the Great Orme for a week. As I was driving near I could see that it was quite windy, but when I arrived at the top of the mountain and got out of the car I could barely stand up in the gale conditions.
I had spent about half an hour looking for the bird when some movement caught my eye, it was the blowing feathers of the Dotterel which was keeping very low by some rocks. I settled down nearby and after a while it became obvious that I wasn't going to get many shots of it walking around, every time it stood up it was buffeted around in the wind and quickly settled down again. Under the circumstances I think I just about exhausted every angle and pose possible of this very approachable bird.

Reflected Ducks

With some good weather I have been very busy out with the camera over the last week. From local waders to Otters, Red Deer and a 14 hour day photographing Red Grouse. I even visited the nearby Hilbre Island for a day having not been there for over 15 years, which is terrible really as it is on my doorstep.
This post is of a few incidental Ducks that I photographed that caught my eye with their nice reflections.

Gadwall

Teal

Teal

Shoveler

Shoveler

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.

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.

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.

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

Cormorant

 Leach's Storm Petrel

 Mediterranean Gull

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.