Turnstones

Some clips of Turnstones filmed here in Swansea Bay on September 21st. I was testing out my new Rode Videomic Pro on top of a Canon 7D with a Sigma 500mm lens:

Some more videos are on my YouTube channel HERE.

Turnstones

I spent an hour or so a few days ago chasing Turnstones around on Swansea beach. It was slightly frustrating, as most of the small group seemed to spend most of the time semi-hidden from me behind stones:

Eventually, I managed to catch a few out in the open, and obtain a few reasonable shots:

I wish I'd had my video camera to capture this one splashing around:

My favourite shot was probably the last one I took:

There was also a group of four Redshanks lurking nearby, but they cunningly remained just out of camera range.

Turnstones

A couple of shots of Turnstones from my trip to Rhossili yesterday:

High Tide II

It was quite sunny this evening, so, again, I headed down to Blackpill to see what was around at high tide. Amongst the many gulls, was this Black-headed Gull:

There was a large roosting flock of Oystercatchers, until something or someone disturbed them, and they took to the skies (the city of Swansea can be seen in the background):



There was the usual abundance of Ringed Plovers, including this juvenile:

And this adult:

Dunlins were probably the most numerous of the birds there this evening, and looked great as the evening sunshine illuminated their plumage:

There were also a small number of Sanderlings present:

As well as some Turnstones:

As the sun dipped over the horizon, I went over to where the main flock of birds were roosting:

Just as I had packed my gear away, I peered over the sand dunes and saw two Grey Plovers on the beach, one of which was attempting to eat a small crab it had caught. I got my stuff out again, and was able to get a few shots before a stray dog scared both birds away. Just as well I had taken my tripod with me today, as the exposure for this shot was 1/15th sec. at f/4.5 and ISO 400 - using mirror lock-up and the 2-second delay self-timer. Thankfully, it stayed reasonably still, and I was able to get a fairly sharp shot: