Saturday 18 November 2017

White Rumped Sandpiper

2nd November 2017.

I love waders and White Rumped Sandpiper is one species I've only seen once before ( and the photos were not too good), so with one being present down at St. Gothian Sands nature reserve near Hayle (Cornwall) for a few days gave me the chance to catch up with another. A good job I chose to go on this day as it wasn't seen again. ( It was still present and feeding well when I left so it wasn't me that made it decide to move on!) A rare vagrant from North America and like many American waders it was quite approachable , feeding on a small pool. I watched for some time and took a few record shots ( as you do), without being disturbed by the many dog walkers, who I must say for once were very understanding and on seeing me and my camera/tripod gave me a wide berth and stopped their dogs from going into the pool. I observed the direction in which the bird was going and decided to lie on the ground some way ahead of it, the Sandpiper approached and took no notice of me whatsoever and continued to feed just feet in front of me. I love it when this happens as getting down to the same level as the subject always adds a little more feeling to the photograph.







Saturday 11 November 2017

Spain birds - The best of the rest.

26th September 2017.
 A few more of the commoner species photographed on the recent trip to Spain.
Serin. Only seen a couple in the U.K.,but always seems fairly common in Europe.

Serin

Coal Tit

Goldfinch

Chaffinch

Great Tit

Grey Wagtail

Mistle Thrush

Red Legged Partridge

Tern (Little)?

Tern (Little)?

Black Winged Stilts

Greater Flamingos

Mouflon-Spain.

26th September 2017.
Mouflon are a species of wild sheep which inhabit mountainous areas of parts of Europe, resting up by day and feeding early in the mornings or in the evenings. I found them very wary and any movement from inside the hide would send them running,  so waiting until they were settled before attempting any photos was the best policy to adopt .Gorgeous animals.








Saturday 4 November 2017

Crested Tits

17th September 2017.

More photos from the Spanish trip, Crested Tits are delightful to watch and were common in the pinewoods of the region ( not far from Alicante), coming to feed and drink at the various feeding stations on the reserve. A bird I have seen quite often in Scotland but never managed to get any decent photographs. Not particularly easy as constantly on the move.






Bad hair day


Lovely little birds.