A productive couple of hours at St Mary's
Having felt pretty flu-ey all week (no, not Man Flu!), I decided that some fresh sea air might help clear my head (and my lungs and my nose and throat…) so, more in hope than in expectation, I wandered along to St Mary’s at around lunch time.
It wasn’t bad at all, really..!
The beach was smooth and sandy for a change (I’ve mentioned before that it’s often very rocky, but the recent tides have dumped loads of clean sand, making for much nicer backgrounds), and the light was great.
Best of all, there were (eventually) a few birds around.
I’d really hoped for some waders (suffering from withdrawal symptoms!) but initially there wasn’t a wader to be seen because the tide was still high.
This Pied Wagtail made up for that though:
Pied Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
A Rock Pipit made an appearance:
Rock Pipit
There was a Water Pipit about too, but they don’t take kindly to being photographed!
By this time the tide had dropped a bit and the waders started showing up, starting with Turnstones:
Turnstone
Turnstone
Then – at last – my favourites, Sanderling.
I really tried hard with these, getting right down onto my belly (and getting completely drenched for my troubles) in order to get that “bird’s eye-level” composition that the best wader shots demonstrate.
It didn’t really work. Even with the lens no more than five inches off the sand, the shape and angle of the beach here means that I just can’t get that open, uncluttered background I like so much, and so well employed by my mate Mark Wilson.
But y’know? I’m still pretty pleased with what I got:
Sanderling
Sanderling
Sanderling
Sanderling
Sanderling
Sanderling
Sanderling
By now the light was fading, and with nothing else about I headed off, but on the way home I couldn’t resist these two Stonechats in the last of the sunshine:
Stonechat (female)
Stonechat (male)
A lot of PP involved with these two shots, removing twigs, leaves and whatnot…
last two sanderling are superb mate
I must have just missed you as I was at St Marys in the afternoon watched the golden plover coming in to roost on one of the green fields must have been several hundred of them all came in together.
Really like the first wagtail image, Keith…
Thanks lads (and nice to hear from you again, Mick).
I’m umming and aahing about the first piewag shot, Mick – I like the comp and the background, but I’m not sure about the PP on the bird itself. Maybe a bit too much sharpening, or losing something in downsizing/compression for the net.
Hi Mark,
I’m pretty happy to get some Sanderling under my belt again, and – I think – I like the two images where the bird is running: they’re tough to do well even with a faster-focusing lens than our 100-400mms, and I’m pleased with the sharpness and amount of feather detail I got here.
Well worth the soaking I got.
The Golden Plovers are quite a sight, aren’t they? They settle in the fields while the tide is in, and head back onto the intertidal rocks when it goes back out: there are well over 1,000 “GPs” in the St. Mary’s roost.
Fine set Keith the leaping Pied Wagtail ticks all the right boxes for me. Did hear about your watery adventures, but worthwhile to get those images.
Thanks Brian – yeah, it’s an odd shot, that one!
Getting soaked was my own fault, really – I was wearing good waterproofs, but forgot all about the pocket slits in the trousers: the incoming tide found the buggers quickly enough!
I hope you’re keeping well, and no doubt we’ll bump into each other in the new year.