Then, back for a Premier league breakfast, slightly gutted as I knew it was merely a one night stand, car loaded and on the road....
Salthouse was first stop - just Ringed Plover and Redshank. A passing birder was off to 'Coastguards' at Cley on the strength of a Lapland Bunting report - and hot on his heels, so was I! The booth was closed so I got free parking and headed off with a small group of birders down the shingle. Despite a good search, there was no sign but a large brown Skua grabbed our immediate attention as it drifted by and then soared away. The white wing flashes and short tail pointed to a 'Great' tick and long overdue Bonxie for me!! Sea watching was otherwise pretty dire with a freshening offshore breeze. Still enthused by the events of yesterday, I decided to have another session at Titchwell beach - hoping to try and capture those pesky Grey Plovers!
Taking portraits of posing or even running birds is relatively easy, flight is another matter. The ever changing exposure, sudden deviations in flight path and the uncanny knack of the camera's focussing system to lock onto the background all conspire to confound that decent shot.
Just a few examples of the session, posed and flighty. The ever present Knot, a Red throated Diver just offshore in a classic pose plus Sandwich Tern and Oystercatcher in flight......
Barwits and Sanderling became addictive and it was interesting to see both species take to the rocks as they became exposed, leaving the surf behind.
Then came my moment, a juvenile and adult Grey Plover flew in. It took a lot of 'pretending' to walk away when in reality I was creeping ever nearer and eventually got the picture (flight as well when I got too close for their liking!)
Turnstones fascinated me as they really are the most opportunistic of feeders - much of their time was taken in plundering the spoils of other birds. One plucky bird was in and out of the legs of a Great Black backed Gull who was feasting on a crab and eventually persistence paid off and the left overs were there for the taking
Finally, after a busy feeding session, time for Turnstones to freshen up and have a good wash. Always an ideal photographic opportunity - a fast shutter speed (1/2000 +)is essential to capture those droplets and freeze the moving bird.....
I popped up to Choseley barns to watch the sun go down. Starling roost and a few Red-legs but not much else seen. The sky however gave me a treat with strange rainbow like phenomenon (ice crystals in the cirrus?) preceding the sunset.
Then it was off to my B&B, a friendly welcome and then up the dark dark creaky uncarpeted stairs to the dark dark creaky uncarpeted room, where......
Well, it might be nice one day? There was a '40's' festival on in the area and I reckon the bed would have made a very useful prop for this! After swatting 30 odd mosquitos and gently ushering a couple of spiders out of the window, I decided the pub was a good idea.
A couple of pints of Stella later, the room didn't look so bad after all, time to select 'keepers' from the day and delete a load of 'not do good', then zzzzzzz....
