RSPB Bempton Exploratory Visit

My last visit to Bempton was 13 years ago in 2013 so there are quite a lot of changes in terms of Visitor centre, car parking and the provision of railed viewing areas. It was very busy yesterday but it did not seem crowded and I chatted to bird watchers from many different countries as we tried to spot the Puffins!!. Here just a set of introductory shots to help me plan photography for the subsequent visits though, from experience, the joy of capturing such graceful Gannets and Kittiwakes in flight will still override any other plans.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth and Painted Lady

Arrived out of nowhere and gone in a minute or two but great to have Hummingbird Hawkmoth visit the garden along with a couple of Painted Ladies. Initial shutterspeed 1/250th increased to 1/4000th - probably somewhere in between would give enough movement to give a feel of hovering. Painted Ladieswere very confiding.

Lackford Gulls

The light was great for bird watching at Lackford on Tuesday and I enjoyed photographing trying to make images using the contrasty light and shadows - generally not recommended for nature photography. Shooting at 1/3200th second with a 420mm lens on a micro 4/3rd body on high burst revealed a cycle of 4 wing positions as the gulls hovered looking down in the water for food.  I do like the patterns on the gull's breast in the 2nd and 3rd images.

Life and Death on Heronry Lake

This Little Egret was clearly hunting something among the vegetation and the camera reveals they were Red-eyed Damselflies which I hadn't recorded before on Heronry South. The Heron has caught a good-sized fish though can't ID it from the photo! Several Great White Egrets present plus a very large number of Gadwall - wonderful ducks in flight. I suspect these Migrant Hawkers will end up on somebody's menu but getting on with displaying, mating etc at the moment

Attempts at Capturing Hoverfly Flight

A couple of very 'friendly' Eristalis pertinax hoverflies in the garden today, hovering right in front of me looking me straight in the eye so thought I would try photographing them. These are taken 1/8000th sec F6.3 giving ISO 5000 using manual focus. 

Bees on the Japonica

The Japonica on our fence attracted a lot of bees (here the Common Carder plus Early Bumblebee (last shot)) early this morning in the warm sun. Flight shots were 1/1600 at F10 - obviously need faster to stop the wing movement but I like the movement in the wings.