Early Morning Landscapes at Cleethorpes.

I am building a portfolio of images for an assignment for my photography degree and had a few shots in mind that I hoped to secure this morning; unfortunately the sunrise had other ideas and I didn't have the lighting that I could have wished for.  However, it was still a lovely morning and pleasure to be out.  It was still dark as I made my way across the marsh and out to the dunes frequented by the snow buntings.  The idea was to secure some traditional sunrise shots looking through the dune grasses and also some looking back towards Cleethorpes in the early morning light.  On looking back towards the town, the lights were still on and I decided to take a shot.  As the lens was focusing I noticed that just out of focus an interesting abstract could be obtained so I switched of to manual and just defocused slightly to see what it would look like.  The result is shown below.  In the dark I could hear curlews calling, one of my favourite bird sounds, evocative of wild places.  Geese could be heard calling as they made their way back out to the mudflats to feed.  As it began to get light I could see two other figures out on the Dunes and it was good to meet up with Don Davis and Dave Bradbeer out looking for and photographing the snow buntings.  Yesterday Dave had seen a superb male hen harrie ; only the second sighting here in 30 years.  The snow buntings were about again but very flighty and there was a large flock of linnets.  Little egrets were feeding in the marsh.  A wonderful morning and good to return home for breakfast.

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Experimental shot looking back to Cleethorpes with the lens slightly defocused

The same view slightly less defocused

Taken towards the sunrise.  I liked the way the mackerel sky was lit by the sun.
10mm 1/50 @ f16

As above.

Close up of rope.  59mm 1/100 @ f5.6.  I found that using a wider aperture isolated the central orange fibres from the background.

 The following shots are all taken looking back towards Cleethorpes in the early light.  I was hoping for better light.  Still, c'est la vie!!

Cleethorpes Pier. I used the 10-20mm lens 1/40 @f16 and used the vertical alignment tool in lightroom to correct the sloping uprights.

Cleethorpes Pier.  A conversion to B&W was made and the blue enhanced to make the most of the clouds.  I feel this makes a more dramatic image than the colour version.

Failure with the Long-Tailed Duck but Success with the Snow Buntings.

Although I was successful in photographing the long-tailed duck at Humberston yesterday, and pleased with the images, the light was rather poor.  In view of this I decided to return this morning in bright sun.  Unfortunately before I arrived an aquatic dog had frightened it away and all I found were one or two disconsolate photographers.  Not to be defeated I drove the shot distance to Buck Beck car park and set off across the marsh to the outer dunes.  The first bird I came across was a very tame turnstone which was so intent on feeding underneath a clump of seaweed it let me walk right up to it.  Getting into position was a different matter but eventually I managed to get between it and the dunes to get a clear shot.  Further along were two of the photographers I had met up with at the Fitties and they seemed to have their eyes on the snow buntings.  They had found one of two flocks of about 30 birds but they were becoming increasingly skittish and difficult to photograph.  Once settled though they proved particularly confiding but difficult to find in long grass.

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All taken with Canon 7D with 500mm lens and 1.4 converter.  ISO 800 f5.6

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Turnstone

Turnstone

Long Tailed Duck at the Fitties.

I don't normally chase rarities and I am just as happy photographing common species and local landscapes.  When there is on on your doorstep, however, it would be churlish not to take advantage. So this morning saw me completing my share of the housework as quickly as possible and driving down the coast at the Fitties end of Cleethorpes on the edge of the Tetney Marshes RSPB reserve where the bird, a female in winter plumage, had been in residence for a few days.  The sun had gone by the time I arrived and it was cold and bleak.  I saw plenty of mallard on the lake, or series of lagoons, a pochard and three teal.  There were plenty of brent geese flying around and large numbers of waders on the tideline.  the courlie call of a curlew echoed across the marsh making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but no long tailed duck.  I met up with a lady bird watching on the marsh but she hadn't seem it either.  Back to the drawing board thought I.  Just then my phone rang.  It was a wildlife photography friend, Dave Newby, who had just turned up and seen me out on the marsh.  Where would we be without mobiles.  I wandered back to the car park and we elected to have a look round the other side of the lake.  Sure enough my lady birdwatcher had got it spotted in the bottom corner.  Settling down we waited for it to come to us, which it did.  In fact it came so close I had to take off the 1.4 converter from my 500 lens and still could not get it in!!  We did all get some good shots, though, so all was well.  It was just a pity that there was no sun which meant there was a lot of glare off the water making exposure decisions difficult.  If the sun shines tomorrow, in the words of General McArthur, I may return.

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Grey Seal Pups at Donna Nook.

It's that time of year again to go and catch up with the grey seals now it's pupping season.  We are very fortunate in Lincolnshire to have the Lincs Trust Reserve at Donna Nook.  It is owned by the MOD but managed by the trust.  The MOD use the beaches hereabouts as a bombing range.  Amazingly the wildlife does not appear to be disturbed at all.  During November and December each year around 3000 seals haul up onto the beach and dunes when the females give birth to their pups and then mate with the waiting bulls.  Around 1000 pups are born each year and at the moment there are around 100 as it is still early in the season.  As soon as we opened the car door we could hear the seal.  The pups crying to be fed sound just like a child crying 'Mum' while the eerie whoo call of the female is one of aggression if another seal (or person) gets too close to their pup.  The bulls make very little sound other than snorting or snoring.  They show excitement or aggression by raising their whole body and letting it crash back down with a reverberating thump.  Many bear the bloody scars from battles competing for the attention of the females.

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Sleeping female.

Grey Seal Pup.

Female taking her ease.

Bliss!

Pup.

Bull.

Just don't disturb me!

Aahh!!

Pup calling for its mum.

Where is she?

Relaxation.

Love is in the air!

Mum and pup.

Hey! Look at me!!

This female has just given birth.

Watching over a very newly born pup.  The yellow stain is from the amniotic fluid.

Mum and pup.

Now, who bit my nose.

Not a seal

Two more sessions with the Snow Buntings.

Having had a good day with the snow buntings on Sunday 3rd November, I decided to have an early start down at the Fitties on Monday morning and then move on to see if the snow buntings were still there.  I arrived at The Fitties yacht club before sunrise and just as the tide was beginning to recede.  It had been a big tide and had brought large numbers of waders high up the beach.  It was beautiful down there and I had the world to myself; the only sounds being the sea, wind and slightly bad tempered mutterings of the wader flocks as they jostled for position.  I was delighted above this to hear the very distinctive sound of two whooper swans as they flew in from the sea, a majestic sight.  Sadly it was still nearly dark and so I took no pictures.  As the waders began to move I was delighted to get a shot of them against the sky which was painted orange by the rising sun.
Moving on to the  dunes, it was good to see that the snow buntings were still there.  I was also pleased to capture photographs a sanderling running in and out of the tide.
I thought that was going to be it for the buntings but last night I received a message from two friends who had not yet been to see them to see if I was up for another session.  Not one to refuse I was down at the car park early to meet Roger and Dave.  The tide was still up and had brought a good number of little egrets into the near marsh.  As I waited the large numbers of waders began to leave their roost sites.  The sight of then wheeling in the sky like smoke is amazing.  When they turn to show their undersides they gleam silver for a while before turning again to become grey, smokey and ethereal.  Once we had waded out to the dunes we soon came upon the snow buntings.  Their numbers had increased to about thirty and when they flew and tumbled over the beach as they moved from one feeding spot to another they became a blizzard of snow flakes.  Wonderful!  Now their numbers have increased they seem more skittish, however.

Sanderling

Sanderling

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Mixed Wader Flock.

Snow Bunting

Mixed Wader Flock against the sunrise.

Waders against the early morning sun.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting.

Tetney Marshes from The Fitties.

Cleethorpes.

Evening Photography of Louth Church.

Having enjoyed night photography of the Cathedral I decided to head to Louth with son Thomas to try our luck there.  Again conditions were perfect.  We captured twilight images, popped into the Wheatsheaf for a pint (rude not to as we were just outside) and then took some full dark shots.  A very pleasant evening.

Louth church at Twilght.

Still twilight.

Dark now.

Louth Church.

Snow Buntings at Cleethorpes.

Having seen some images of snow buntings during the last few days on Face Book, I decided to pay a visit to the dunes at Cleethorpes to try my luck.  It was a perfect day; bright and sunny with excellent light although somewhat windy.  Once I had parked up in the car park above the beach I could see some photographers already in place so things looked good.  After wading across the marsh and paddling over the mud I reached the dunes on The Whaleback where the others were stationed.  My luck was in and I managed to get pictures straight away.  After my first set I wandered down to the tide line to try for sanderling but here my luck was out, although I did find a cooperative oystercatcher. This morning there were about 6 snow buntings present.  The last time I had seen these birds was in June high on the Cairngorm plateau.

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher

Snow Bunting.

Snow Bunting.