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.

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.

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.

Spain Crossbills

26th September 2017.

Crossbills photographed on the recent Spanish trip, not a common species at all down here in Cornwall/Devon ,I see them once in a while, but where we were in Spain one of the first to arrive at the pools, usually hearing them before they come down to drink and mostly in small groups. There crossed tipped mandibles are an adaptation for extracting the seeds from conifer cones. Super birds and great to watch and photograph them at close quarters.

Adult male Crossbill

Adult male Crossbill drinking

Adult male Crossbill at drinking pool

Male Crossbill drinking

Female Crossbill

Crossbill Bathing

Female Crossbill drinking

Juvenile Crossbill

Golden Eagles in Spain

24th September 2017.

A great week with five friends from Cornwall in the Spanish countryside, based in the old town of Bocairent,( not to far from Alicante) for the annual congress of the International Federation of Wildlife Photography.
The highlight of the trip had to be close views of Golden Eagles, seeing them in their natural habitat  like this is  a dream come true for me, and very exciting watching two adults and a juvenile. The juvenile stayed in front of me for fifty minutes  devouring a Rabbit before the female came in and finished off the leftovers (fur and all). Lots of frame filling photos ( a bit too close for my 500mm lens at times), but hey just to watch these magnificent birds would have been enough.

I used my 150mm macro lens for these last two to try and get a little of the environment included