27th July 2014 - Spoons, Egrets and Golden Hour Godwits

Back to Frampton for a few hours on a warm, breezy summer evening. On these hot days with bright sun, the angle of the light, the strong contrast and the heat haze generally make for poor photography conditions, but the few hours around dawn and dusk can still be rewarding.

Arrived at just before 6pm, and shortly after leaving the car I was watching a mixed group of waders and three yellow wagtails feeding along the shore near the visitors' centre. Some of the waders looked up, and the nearest lapwings squatted down, still looking upward. The swallows breeding under the eaves of the centre gave sharp alarm calls, and the yellow wagtails quietly vanished. I turned and looked up, following the birds' lead, and an immaculate hobby swept close by, then climbed steeply and made off the the east. Not a bad start...

If anything, black-tailed godwit numbers were higher than ever and, for once, there were good numbers feeding very close to the "360" hide, beautifully lit by the warm evening sun. In these conditions, the birds in breeding plumage really do glow with fiery chestnut tones. After about 30 minutes I had the hide to myself until the sun hit the horizon. It would be a bit boring to "long list" the birds seen, but the highlights (for me) included: -

• Three spoonbills - I think two second calendar year and one third CY birds (?) - all unringed, which did a close formation fly-by and spent the evening feeding and loafing in front of the hide.

Spoonbill Fly-by

Monopod Spoonbills

• At least six spotted redshank, one of them still in almost complete "black" breeding plumage.
• Common, green and marsh sandpipers. 
• Good numbers of ruff, including one male still wearing a white ... ruff.

 As usual, there were lots of little egret around. I only took a few shots because they were either too distant or too inactive, but I rather like this one.

Little Egret Passing in Front of Roosting Godwits

The stars of the day, though, were the black-tails. These birds are very entertaining when they are feeding and there are enough birds around to cause competition. Conflicts break out regularly, and vary from some plumage fluffing and tail fanning, coupled with an exaggerated walk, to chasing, bill fencing and all-out fights. I took a lot of short sequences of these flashpoints, and the following are just a small selection.

Raised Feathers, Tail Fanned and Calling - Keep Away!

Charge!

A Subordinate Bird is Firmly Put in its Place

In This Case, Neither Bird Will Back Down and a Fencing Match Develops

Or is it a Tug-o-War?

And Disengage!

The Loser (left) Breaks Contact and Moves Away

I guess you have to start somewhere, so I'll just share a few pics from this month - so far...

At the RSPB Burton Marsh reserve on 13th July, there were amazing numbers of young little egrets, recently fledged from the nearby colony that they share with grey herons. There were more than 100 birds on one lagoon - anyone remember when they were rare? Although I was shooting against the light, it seems to have worked quite well on these white birds with the sun very close to the horizon behind them. A multiple exposure sequence of a young egret chasing one of its parents.

Young Little Egret - feed me!

There are spectacular numbers of waders at the RSPB Frampton reserve at the moment, with black-tailed godwit numbers exceeding 1,000 birds. Sadly, the lesser yellowlegs prefers a photo-inaccessible area but the other waders, along with the exhibitionist glossy ibis, provide plenty of interest. The black-tails seem to be very argumentative, and intense fights between individuals break out from time to time. A small number of birds seem to be involved in a disproportionate number of the squabbles .. ?

Black-tailed Godwits squabbling at Frampton.

This will seem ungrateful, but I am really annoyed by this photograph. The ibis was working its way very slowly toward the hide but the low evening sun was at its back, throwing the entire bird into shadow. It was clear, however, that the way it was working along the lagoon edge it would eventually pass me and be beautifully lit - critically important for an iridescent "black" bird. I took a single shot as the ibis began to move into position, then the slightly noisy arrival of another photographer flushed the bird - which settled several hundred metres away. Aargh!

Glossy Ibis, Frampton

This was a real "grab" shot. We were crossing the runway of an airport in southern England after a summer downpour when I spotted this little chap picking drowned insects off the surface. So a quick stop, window down (engine still running) and a few shots rattled off before we were obliged to get off the runway. I was surprised to see that it was a little ringed plover - there was a pair of "common" ringed plovers nesting just off the airport - but these birds are migrants and this young bird may have fledged far away from where we saw it.

Little Ringed Plover - Juvenile