Saturday 19 April 2014

Snow on the beach in April

A change of scenery works wonders! With talks down in Devon and Somerset plus a break down there in between, there were quite a few year ticks on offer! Birding rather than photography was the aim of the game (for a while anyway!) Up to 29 Whimbrel at Bowling Green Marsh were a good start, plus female Garganey, House Martin, Swift and Sandwich Tern at Exminster Marshes on the 18th.  These were followed by Mandarin and Pied Flycatcher at Yarnold wood and Common Scoter (c60) at Dawlish Warren.

I returned to Dawlish Warren today with (faint) hopes of the Kentish Plover seen the previous evening, making a return? It didn't sadly so after giving the Bight a lot of attention as the tide dropped, I moved on..... To try and find some snow on the beach? No-one I asked had connected with the Snow Bunting seen on the Warren on previous days but I had a good idea where it was showing so tried my luck......

I even walked past the little blighter (less than 5m away!!!) Only spotting it perched motionless as I retraced my steps further away :-)


Confiding indeed and without taking liberties and just sitting still, the beach became a studio withe a variety of flotsam props!


There was so much rubbish to contend with - this was the only sand shot I managed!


It seemed to have a liking for wood and perching up - I wasn't complaining!






Every angle was covered.....




A brief flight onto a post and then back down again!


With the 1.4x extender on a 500mm lens, some close up work often became the norm but I had to be mindful of an ever increasing f stop....




One feather ruffle (I love these moments!)



Quite a session - I was joined for much of it by local birder/photographer David Land for this amazing spectacle! And never mind 'snow on the beach', out of the wind it was HOT and I had certainly caught the sun as I called it a day and yomped back to the car.....