 |
| Add caption |
Last week I paid a visit to Leighton moss reserve nr Silverdale,I was accompanied by my good friend and fellow photographer Brian Rafferty.News had spread that good numbers of Curlew Sandpiper were present with counts of up to 22 birds seen.K
nowing the layout of the lagoons, we were confident that the birds would be well within camera range.Brian had wanted to photograph these birds for a long time and I wasn`t going to miss out on the opportunity too!Arriving at the carpark to find it full, was a good sign that the birds were still around.There are 2 hides at this particular lagoon,the Allen and Morecambe.The first hide we entered was deserted,but there out in front about 20 metres were 5 Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper avidly feeding!Brian couldn`t get his camera out quick enough and was onto them like a shot,firing off volley after volley of shots!On looking across to the other hide we could see scopes and lenses pointing out of nearly all the windows,obviously birds were present there too!After a good 45 mins , we decided to try our luck amongst the crowds at the other hide.Squeezing in with the cameras we enjoyed a good few hrs with other birders admiring what lay before us.I counted 23 Curlew sandpipers,2 spotted redshank, 3 greenshank,numerous Redshank and Dunlin,a handful of Black Tailed Godwit,3 Ruff as well as a Kingfisher which showed briefly.What a display of birds, with many of them being less than 10 metres away.To say we filled our boots was an understatement.A few images of our day are posted below for you to enjoy.As I type this, the Curlew Sands are still present after nearly a week,testimony of the rich feeding grounds which they have found.
nowing the layout of the lagoons, we were confident that the birds would be well within camera range.Brian had wanted to photograph these birds for a long time and I wasn`t going to miss out on the opportunity too!Arriving at the carpark to find it full, was a good sign that the birds were still around.There are 2 hides at this particular lagoon,the Allen and Morecambe.The first hide we entered was deserted,but there out in front about 20 metres were 5 Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper avidly feeding!Brian couldn`t get his camera out quick enough and was onto them like a shot,firing off volley after volley of shots!On looking across to the other hide we could see scopes and lenses pointing out of nearly all the windows,obviously birds were present there too!After a good 45 mins , we decided to try our luck amongst the crowds at the other hide.Squeezing in with the cameras we enjoyed a good few hrs with other birders admiring what lay before us.I counted 23 Curlew sandpipers,2 spotted redshank, 3 greenshank,numerous Redshank and Dunlin,a handful of Black Tailed Godwit,3 Ruff as well as a Kingfisher which showed briefly.What a display of birds, with many of them being less than 10 metres away.To say we filled our boots was an understatement.A few images of our day are posted below for you to enjoy.As I type this, the Curlew Sands are still present after nearly a week,testimony of the rich feeding grounds which they have found.
You and Brian have certainly had a good day photographing a wonderful selection of waders with the cream of the crop being the curlew sandpiper,very well done.
ReplyDelete