St Mary's - a pleasant surprise
A day off, and as usual I spent much of last night overthinking things. I desperately wanted to get some returning waders, but where in God’s name was I going to find some quiet beach with birds?
I’d had a trip down to Filey on the 3rd of the month and although I could see the birding potential, it was heaving with holidaymakers, and I was convinced that no matter where I ended up today, it’d be much the same.
Having persuaded myself that I was likely to be stuffed no matter where I ended up (having to rely on public transport I’m very limited in my choice of venue – you can’t get anywhere from Blyth), I reluctantly concluded that St Mary’s was as good (or bad) a choice as any other: and if it was crap, at least I could be home again quickly enough.
Now then: it did occur to me that the Summer holidays might have the effect of “watering down” the number of folk who visit the place mid week – maybe it wouldn’t be like normal weekends…
And bugger me, that’s how it panned out.
Miracle of miracles, I had my waders to myself for four glorious hours! I was helped by the fact that the sun wasn’t consistent – it wasn’t very “Summery” (I could really have done with “proper” Auto ISO today) – and by the fact that the beach was covered in stinking rotting seaweed!
I wasn’t bothered: four hours without dog-emptiers and cretins who barge up – just as the birds I’ve waited for half an hour to come within camera range start to oblige – to ask what I’m doing!
Dunlin
Rook
Curlew
Dunlin
Redshank
Starling
Dunlin
Redshank
Dunlin
Turnstone
Dunlin
Starling
Redshank
Dunlin
Dunlin
It’s a shame that it isn’t always like this, but I suppose that if I only ever had good days, they’d become ordinary days soon enough.
The starling on the sand does it for me mate but the blur looks a little un-natural to me especially around the front of the image
Hi Mark – thanks for that.
The blur is for real on the Starling pic – it’s just very OOF because it was close to the lens.
I could clone some sand texture into it I s'pose - or crop it out - but I'm OK with it as is, to be honest.
I'll have another look though.
Talk about filling your boots. Superb!
PS Happy Birthday.
Thanks for that Marcus – it was a pretty good day all told, and I ended up with nearly 100 keepers.
Thanks for the birthday wishes too.
Belated birthday wishes mate! Looks like you had a very nice 4 hours! Some great images there Keith.
Thanks Mark.
Aye, it was a satisfying few hours, to be sure.
If I’m honest, these would be better if they weren’t such hefty crops. Although the Dunlins were recently returned they were still fairly flighty, but all in all I had a good time, and they’re not too bad.
I’m thinking that some of these (especially the Redshanks) might benefit from a little bit more selective sharpening: they’re sharp enough I suppose (given our lack of enthusiasm for things looking sharpened) – but I think I can make a little more of them than this.
You never know – if a 60D is released today, and if it introduces native metering at f/8 and if it focuses well and if it’s not stupidly expensive, I might be able to address the reach thing to some extent..!
Thanks for the birthday wishes too, Mark.
Some great shots there Keith. Great website and good advice already on here, I have tried RT based on this site and have to say how pleased I am with it.
As a beginner who can get to St Mary’s easily where would you say the best area to start would be and any tips on best time of the day? Should I be aiming for when the tide comes in or goes out?< /p>
Thanks in advance for any advice and good to see shots like these can be taken in the local area.
Hi Martin,
thanks very much for the kind words – they really are appreciated.
St Mary’s is (as you’ve probably realised if you’ve read some of my rants about the place!) a funny one: the “best” place to be is dictated, as often as not, by your ability to find somewhere away from the hoards of dog emptiers and the Great Unwashed than by any definitive favourite spot from the birds' point of view…
That said, I tend to gravitate towards South Bay (here basically – although not when the tide’s this high!)
The best thing is to get to a patch of beach where – hopefully – you won’t get bothered by people, as the tide is coming in, have a think about the birds are doing, and settle down in a spot where you think the tide will push the birds: with any luck at all, they’ll end up so close that you won’t be able to focus on them (I’ve had Turnstones walking over my feet).
Unfortunately, the best time of day to avoid people is the worst time of day for light: early(ish) morning would be great, except that the Sun is over the sea then (the birds are between you and it), and it’s there until midday, so an early start is pretty pointless really.
That said, I’m thinking of getting hold of some chest waders and – on a falling tide – getting out into the sea beyond the waders (it’s shallow here), plonking myself down in the water facing the beach with the Sun behind me, and waiting for the birds to come out to me.
I’d hope that this would be sufficiently out of the ordinary for the birds that they’d be relaxed about it, and it would make for some unusual angles: and of course, there’d hopefully be far less potential for disturbance from people and dogs…
Keith,
Just viewed your website for the first time and was blown away with the detail you have achieved, great stuff.
I have a 100-400 but unable to achieve such sharp photo’s you have quite a skill.
Regards
Tom
Hi Tom,
many thanks for the kind words.
I don’t know if I can lay claim to any particular skill, I’m afraid!
I have a pretty good 100-400mm, although I know from comparisons with lenses owned by several friends that I don’t have a particularly great one, but I have worked really hard on developing a decent handholding technique (based on this article) and I will happily use any support that’s available – fence posts, rucksack, my knees (I sit down and use my elbows on my raised knees as a kind of tripod), in order to add stability.
Aside from that, I think my processing “workflow” (I feel such a fraud when I call it that!) does help to bring out whatever detail and sharpness is available – these are all pretty heavy crops, but they look OK mainly because I’ve tailored my PP (and my software choices) to maximise my chances, and I try hard to get as good a file into the camera as I can.
I think I’ve got an OK eye for composition most of the time, and being a birder (and understanding something about the behaviour of the subject matter) goes a long way too.
I wrote a little article ages ago on using the 100-400m ages ago, and its content still holds true.