The morning rain had cleared by lunchtime, and I headed for a quiet afternoon at Rottingdean. And for a while it was quiet. The tide was out, and the boats were gliding on the calm sea as I walked west towards the marina.
I'd reached the beach area opposite Ovingdean and was scouting around to see what birds were around. There were several wagtails (pied), and pipits. Plus a lone (and distant) ringed plover. And then, in the distance, a flock took to the air.
Oystercatchers, heading my way. It's the largest flight of oystercatchers I've seen at Rottingdean and they were in a hurry. I watched and photographed.
And then I noticed that the gulls had also taken to the skies. Two flocks in flight… what else was up there?
The answer wasn't long arriving. A lone bird came into view. It was up high, but even at a distance I knew it was something special. The size of a buzzard (roughly), but not a buzzard. Not a red kite either. I've only ever seen one once before, and then fleetingly, but this was undoubtedly an osprey. Not one of the usual birds around here, so rather special.
It passed over and headed in the direction of the marina, no doubt causing more flocks to take flight as it approached. The oystercatchers took the opportunity to return… this on their way back.
Just two more shots for today, to record the other main sightings. First a kestrel, hunting over the cliffs.
And finally a great black-backed gull. There were several of these large gulls down on the shore, but I've picked this shot because of the light on the wings.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
gdare
27 Aug 2011Congrats on spotting and photographing osprey :cheers:
Words
30 Aug 2011Darko, thanks! It's always good to see something new/unusual. That's the pleasure of going to the same places again and again. They are never quite the same.
Words
30 Aug 2011Erwin, thanks!
SittingFox
1 Sep 2011Very, very nice! 😀 They're awesome birds. When I was little, I had a life-size osprey model hanging from my ceiling! :right: I've seen a few in Canada but coming across one in your local area is a real bonus :up:
Words
2 Sep 2011Adele, the osprey really caught me by surprise, but I have to thank the other birds for noticing it first. Their behaviour convinced me that something strange was up there to cause them to respond as they did. Quite a special sighting.
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Wonderful set of Photos