Wildlife Photographic Journals

Grey and White

I had a brief session down on the local coast recently in a rare moment of summer sunshine. The jet stream slipping south this year has in the last few weeks made for some less than idea photo conditions with streams of clouds coming in from the west and only brief glimpses of sunlight coinciding with my free time.

The peninsula where I live is subject to a very large tidal range which can be up to about 10 metres. The accompanying currents carve channels through the shifting sand beds. These channels create good hunting grounds for herons and more recently Little egrets on an ebbing tide. Neither of these birds are particularly easy to approach in the absence of cover and so I decided to quietly settle in amongst the rocks of a groyne to see what came my way.

First visitor was a grey heron flying in across the sand banks.

Photographing the birds coming in across the sand has some advantages as the reflected light provides some under lighting to the subject.

Another bird coming into land. The pools can on occasions attract quite large numbers of herons.

I did have one bird coming up close stalking fish along the edge and I was waiting to move to the right of my position to get a better angle to the light but a group of kids with parents appeared putting all the birds to flight and the session to an end. However, before this one of three Little Egrets present came strolling purposely past me.

As usual on the look out for an easy fish meal

My last view of the egrets as they too where sent scattering skyward by the arrival of the paddling kids.