Saturday, August 29, 2009

Dunlin Everywhere

I recently had an enjoyable but relatively short session with a large flock of Dunlin. The numbers of these birds seemed to have started building early this year with good numbers around locally already. It was a well a well timed visit as the ebbing tide had just exposed a mud bank and the birds were busy feeding on it. As usual with waders the usual approach of sitting away and still at distance and hoping they will come to you work well, and at one point I had several birds feeding with a few feet of my position.

Some of the birds still showed remnants of their summer plumage.
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These birds never stay still for a moment when they are feeding and given their small size makes them quite a tricky target.
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Looking around for food in the small puddles left on the shore.
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If that approach doesn't work then its time for them to get the beak muddy......
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.....with the occasional stop to clean off the excess
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As a bonus there were a couple of Ringed Plover mixed in amongst the chaos of the Dunlin flock and I was fortunate to have this one pause briefly close by.
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9 comments:

FAB said...

As I've come to expect from you, stunning detail especially for a species that rarely stands still AND far better than any ID guide.

Unknown said...

Love that Ringed Plover, lovely detail.

holdingmoments said...

It's always a pleasure to visit your blog Richard.
The quality of the pictures are superb.

Shelly Cox said...

Beautiful photos, each one a work of art. I especially love the plover, that picture is stunning!

bronwen said...

Fantastic photos. Congratulations.

JanS said...

Nice close ups. What camera lens did you use?

Chris said...

Hi Rich,
Ok now I know where they all are!! We do not have any of them now in Iceland, they are all gone!!
I'm wordless in front of such a high quality of shots... They are all fantastic shot, well composed and I love the low angle point of view... Well done.

Peter McSweeney said...

I find myself continuously impressed by your wonderful images. I have featured your site on my web site "When to Watch Wildlife" on my blogs page: http://www.whentowatchwildlife.org/Index/Blogs/When_to_Watch_Wildlife_Blogs_Chat.htm where your work is definately a highlight. Keep 'em coming. Peter

Rich Steel said...

Many thanks for the comments.

Jan the camera kit I use is detailed on the right of the page. Most of my photographs are taken with either the Canon 1Dmk3 or 50D with the 500mm F4 lens.

Chris I suspect some of these birds have come down from where you are!

Peter many thanks for putting the link on your site.

Cheers

Rich

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