Despite the persisting gloom, I went over to Rottingdean Beach this afternoon. The tide was out, revealing extensive rock pools which provide an excellent feeding site for the sea birds.
Rottingdean Beach at low tide
As well as the usual array of gulls and passing oystercatchers and cormorants, I was delighted to find an egret feeding. I struggled to get close enough for a decent shot in what was very poor light.
Egret in the rock pools
There are several more shots in the Rottingdean album. There were two egrets on the beach, though I didn't get to see them together except briefly when they took to the wing.
Camera note: all the shots were taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. I used the Manfrotto 685B Neotec monopod with 234RC tilt head to help stabilize the camera (necessary when the shutter speed is down to around 1/125s at 400mm focal length).
21 Comments
Lovely shots – especially like the sky colouring in the first one and the colour contrast of the "in flight" one.:up:
Yes, the first one is excellent. Almost the "in flight" one too. No matter how clumsy they look on the ground, in flight they are gracious.
Very nice, i noticed how hard it was to take decent photos at Gatwick Airport last Monday (22nd) hopefully the dull weather will end soon.
Merry Christmas Words! and Mrs Words too hehe 😀
Nice set of photos of one of my favourite birds
Beautiful bird. Excellent shots, especially nice against the dark background.
Love the shot of the egret in flight :up: It really does feel like the sun has abandoned the UK but hopefully it will return soon…
Happy Christmas!
Lois, they stand out wonderfully against the dark background, but it's surprising how elsuive they are. I kept losing sight of them behind the rocks.
Neil, thanks! It's always a surprise and a pleasure to see the egrets down there.
Adele, yes just a few hours of sun would suit me fine at the moment.
Darko, egrets are so graceful on the wing. I was pleased to capture that moment.
Vulpes, thanks. The light was very odd yesterday. Just that strip of yellow in between sheets of grey.
Mark, it's horrible weather for photography at the moment. The poor light means getting anything sharp is a real struggle, and a lot of the colour gets washed out as well.
And thanks for the Christmas wishes. I wish you and all your family a joyful time!
Oh yes…nice post,
it's a very beautiful place to see birds!!!:up:
Where I live, there is a river with full of birds,
herons, aigrette, cormorants…
recently I saw a kingfish,
but with my little camera…
it's not possible!!!
The beach is a great place. Quite rugged but perfect for sea birds. There's always something worth watching. Kingfishers are beautiful, but soooo difficult to photograph!
Kingfishers are fast as the lightning!!!:D
Anonymous writes:
Lovely shot of the little Egret. Some great Camera work there. Well done!
Very nice post, Words :up: It's always a pleasure to see your bird pictures 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks Anna!
Thanks Anon!
Anonymous writes:
Nice to see someone else has spotted the Egrets as well! – They are down on the rocks between Saltdean and Rottingdean everyday……one day I saw 4 down there and on another occasion I was lucky enough to see one with a grey heron but unfortunately I didn't have my camera!:(
Lovely photos by the way!!
Anon, thanks! I've seen them several times but they are surprisingly good at hiding among the rocks and the contrasts play havoc with getting a decent photo.