Spring Couples - Oyster Catchers, Shelducks and Avocets

As the weather has been so great recently I went for a long walk along our local river, the Douglas to practice my photography skills and to see if i could manage to get a half decent image of birds in flight with my current equipment.

With the dry weather and the sun the banks of the River Douglas had dried considerably leaving shallow pools for wading birds to sift through for food, the usual suspects were in abundance; Oyster Catcher, Curlew, Shelduck, Mallard but it’s the first time I’ve seen Avocet on my local patch although they do breed at RSB Marshside, Southport which is about 10 miles up the coast.

As for catching birds in flight? These are the best of a LOT of photographs.

Lapwing on flight -probably pushing the lens a little here

Shelducks in flight - sometimes luck is all you need...

I’m pleased with the one of the Shelducks which just flew right past me while I had the camera set up ready to go, although the sky could have been a bit more interesting – can’t have it all I guess. The Lapwing was a bit tougher, they fly very erratically at this time of year and realistically the lens I have (Canon 55-250) isn’t up to the job – hence they’re a bit blurred, although still recognisable.

Still… practice makes perfect.

Avocet at RSPB Marshside, Southport

As the weather has been so good this week we went for a quick walk to RSPB Marshside, Southport, to see if we could spot the Avocets and chicks that have started breeding on the marshes in recent years. As per normal we took almost every piece of optical equipment we owned assuming the birds would be miles and miles away.

Shock of shocks! There birds were on the rapidly drying up pond as close to the road as they could possibly be so our walk quickly became a good excuse for me to practice with the Canon EOS 450D I purchased a couple of months ago. The chicks were to far away to get a good photo but I managed to get a few others.

Although I prefer the top image of the Avocet it was a tough decision as the reflection of this other one and the birds profile go together so well.

Black Tailed Godwits being boisterous in their summer plumage.

After spending some time just watching the birds from the hides at the reserve we walked round the old sand reclamation plant where I did my best to take a few photos of the smaller birds that seemed to tease us where ever we went, eventually getting a shot of a male Linnet in the evening sun. I tried to get a few photos of the young rabbits but they were just too fast – even though there seemed to be hundreds of them.

After driving past the sands works so many times it was great to walk round it for a change. The amount of birds, animals, grasses and flowers that thrive on the marshes in the area is astounding and I’ll bet most people who drive past have no idea of the fantastic diversity on their doorstep.

Sometimes something as simple as grass can make an impact. Looking towards Blackpool in the distance.

Even more grass - I like the vibrant green vertical stems on this one. Camera practice - adjusting depth of field.