I refuse to be defeated by the weather. Grey, overcast and damp. But there's always light by the coast 😉 And I was keen to give the new lens a more rigorous workout. To begin, a long distance shot of fulmars at sea (to prove that they are indeed sea birds). They seem just as prone to squabbling on the water as they are in their cliff nests. The shot is a fairly hefty crop.

fulmarFulmars out at sea

To make up for that being taken from an absurd distance (they were barely visible from the shore), here's a rather different view of one as it flew in overhead.

fulmarFulmar with close up view of its 'tube nose'.

But for once it was the gulls that kept my attention.

They were posing.

gullsThe Three Muses

gullsHerring gull (semi mature juvenile)

And they were flocking.

gulls in flightA flock of gulls

The 'spotting' highlight was a fly past by a group of oystercatchers as they skimmed the shoreline looking for a quiet spot to come in to feed (the tide was just going out). They seem to have designated one of their number as 'food carrier' 😉

oystercatchersOystercatchers skimming the coast

There are several more shots from today in the April Birds album.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

This Post Has 20 Comments

  1. You got some excellent shots there :up:
    I particularly like: Fulmar with close up view, Herring gull (semi mature juvenile) and the Oystercatchers. The bottom left Oystercatcher appears to have a clam.

  2. Very nice pictures of the birds!Exelent!:yes:

  3. It seems you made a photo of a same family of fulmars, they are yelling at each other again :whistle:
    😆

  4. Lovelly photos. 😀 I think you definatly beat the weather there! :yes:

  5. Lovely shots! :up:

  6. Thanks Andy!

  7. Thanks Erwin!

  8. Thanks Agneta!

  9. Mark, thanks. I think the weather may win this week though 🙁

  10. Darko, they do seem to argue a lot 😉

  11. Thanks Vulpes!

  12. The trio of gulls made me laugh. They look like they're seizing someone up to see if their possession are worth stealing :bandit:

  13. great set of photos – especially the fumar close up and oystercatchers 🙂

  14. Neil, thanks. I'm still working on some from today but think I have several that knock that oystercatcher shot out of sight. They're still downloading at the moment, so I haven't had more than a quick initial look.

  15. Adele, I loved those three. They stood out from the (large) crowd.

  16. Wonderful, just wonderful series!!! I like all the pictures but the "three muses" just captured my heart :heart: ! Great shot!

  17. Thanks! It was a good day 🙂

  18. Excellent shots! You've captured the wings in every different stage of flight in the last one.

  19. Thanks Lois! The oystercatchers are such great birds to watch.

  20. Nice shots

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