Lapwing at Sheepcote Valley

By Paul Cecil | Published January 4, 2012

A day of two halves. The first part consisted of driving rain and wind which continued for several hours. It finally cleared early afternoon to reveal a beautiful sunny afternoon. I headed to Sheepcote Valley on the edge of the South Downs, hoping to see some kestrels. I didn't; but I did spot one very unusual visitor, presumably blown slightly off course by the ferocious winds earlier in the day. A lapwing. I managed to follow it (from a distance) and though the shots aren't perfect they are easily my best shots of this elegant bird.


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Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF and 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.

This entry was posted in Birds and tagged .

7 Comments

  1. derWandersmann January 4, 2012 at 4:01 am #

    Remarkable! I see there was still some wind.

  2. serola January 4, 2012 at 7:01 am #

    :yes: Elegant bird it is and elegant pictures 🙂 Fifth (second last) is my favorite because of the hazy touch :wizard:

  3. Words January 4, 2012 at 10:01 pm #

    Sami, in the fifth shot it had just flown behind some of the undergrowth but the camera is set up to hold the focus on the subject I'm tracking even if something briefly comes in between us.

  4. Words January 4, 2012 at 10:01 pm #

    Erwin, thanks!

  5. Words January 4, 2012 at 10:01 pm #

    dW, yes there was a lot of wind. It was tricky keeping the camera steady so I missed quite a few shots and ended up manually focusing for some of them.

  6. serola January 8, 2012 at 6:01 am #

    Originally posted by Words:

    the camera is set up to hold the focus on the subject I'm tracking even if something briefly comes in between us

    You have excellent camera :up:

  7. Wulpen October 19, 2012 at 8:10 pm #

    Very nice shots of this Lapwing