12 November 2022 - Hollingworth Lake

« Newer   |   Older »

Dipper, 2 Goldcrests, Redwings, Oystercatcher, Stonechat (Shaw Moss)

Mainly sunny, breezy, 10°C.

The first thing I saw of any interest today was a Dipper just over the stone bridge by the gate. As I looked over, it flew under the bridge and spent a little while splashing about in the water, but my photographs turned out as just ripples, with no visible bird!  I was looking directly into the sun, so I decided to try to circle behind it, but it disappeared by the time I'd gone round. 

A couple of Goldcrests were evident, and a number of Redwings fed in the Holly trees in the wood.  As I headed over Bib Knowl towards Shaw Moss, an unseasonal Oystercatcher flew in front of me and circled round, landing briefly in the field before taking off again and landing among the gulls just off the straight wall.

Things were quiet at Shaw Moss, apart from a female Stonechat that perched up a couple of times, and quite a few Black-headed Gulls feeding in the fields.  I still hadn't sorted out my focusing issue, so in the afternoon I reset all my saved settings and did some practising in the garden, photographing gulls and Starlings flying over in the late afternoon sunshine.

Redwing, 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 6400 (view full size image)

Stonechat, 1/2500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 4000 (view full size image)

Black-headed Gull, 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 2000 (view full size image)

Starlings, 1/2500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 8000 (view full size image)