As the end of summer is getting closer, I wanted to take advantage of this beautiful day to experiment with the remote shutter release in a spot where I know the Kingfisher often perches. I wasn't sure though if it would come along on a hot afternoon. When I arrived I was a little distracted by the presence of several White-headed Ducks, of which I took several close-to-the-ground shots. That only took me a couple of minutes, and I had barely put my little stool in a good position when a Kingfisher arrived!
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| Little Tern surfacing after a spectacular dive |
I was too surprised however to react quickly as it dived into the water to catch a little fish and flew away past me. It didn't give me the chance to test out the shutter release, something that I might first want to try out with a more predictable species. |
| Female Kingfisher |
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| Male White-headed Duck |
Shortly after the Kingfisher had left, I was visited by a pair of Common Waxbills.
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| Common Waxbill |
It was then time to take some photos of a colony of Cattle Egrets, that were first gathering on the grass and then decided to move up a tree.
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| Cattle Egrets |
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| A massive colony |
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| A dinosaur-like Little Egret |
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| The same bird telling me to mind my own business |
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| Wonder what this Cattle Egret was saying... |
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| Common Sandpiper |
After a short break, I then moved to the other artificial lake, where another whole lot of birds were waiting to be photographed.
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| Ruddy Turnstone |
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| Common Greenshank |
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| Common Pochards |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Black-winged Stilt |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Little Egret in its favourite tree |
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| Another Little Egret in the final stages of landing |
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| Joining his mates in the tree |
Before photographing some diving Little Terns, I first practiced a little on more slowly flying gulls.
And after the easy gulls, a bigger challenge: diving Little Terns! Without a doubt one of the hardest shots to take.
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| Still relatively easy when they calmly fly by |
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| Things get harder against a cluttered background |
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| One of many dives |
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| One of many splashes |
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| Another successful dive |
I'd say there was a dive every three to five minutes, but it is extremely difficult to take a sharp photo in the exactly correct moment. Looking forward to the next attempt!
Celia.
