I've got two mottos. 'Never birding without my camera' and 'Always go back'!!
Yet another 'arrival' shot :-) Yes, it was 10.30 am and I was back, problem was, within minutes - the Tern had flown off - back to Cheshire!!
I decided not to give chase and I opted for sitting it out for a while - confident it would return??
And it did! So a new 'out and back' flight shots followed.....
I also wanted to get some closer 'fishing' shots, so opted for leaving the mud viewing area and drove down the lake opposite to where it normally dived?
Problem was, with dark skies approaching and the odd rumble of thunder - was this the end of photography for the day? I grabbed my brolly and continued waiting by the waterside.
With big spots falling and lightning now visible, erm was this wise? I could see the gallery suddenly looking left and realised the Tern was on it's way and with an almighty clap of thunder - so was the storm :-(
The brolly was magic, I wasn't actually getting too wet and my left hand concentrated on keeping the rain off the camera equipment while my right hand panned - finger poised over the shutter......
It was actually fishing in this!!
In torrential conditions, I'd worked out that a pale background was next to useless but with trees in the background, the raindrops were clearly visible......
The bird was quite easy to keep in focus because the distracting background was now a blur in the haze so from loads of images, these are my favourite.....
Eventually with lighting too close for comfort, I had to seek the safety of the car - and I did get wet then!! The rain eventually stopped and I had to leave..... But not before a couple more 'normal' shots:-)
What a bird, what an experience! And the kit stayed dry :-)
We humans view Thunderstorms as potentially lethal, thoroughly irritating weather phenomena. We stop what we are doing, switch computers off maybe run and hide! In the tern's world, life goes on - storms are just another obstacle in the quest for fish....
