Share your birds

[Kayak-Bloke]

A mate asked me what the local surf was looking like so I took a pic with my phone to show him and when I looked at it the picture had a visitor..

[mduncombe]

Loch na Keal Sea Eagle from a trip to Mull in April last year









and some seagulls

[Mark R]

http://southwestseakayaking.co.uk/2012/ ... glacialis/

[andreadawn]

What a lovely post on your blog Mark. This...."They (fulmars) have lifted our spirits many times whilst out on the water and tired, nervous or simply jaded".....is so true for me. I particularly like the idea of having my own personal fulmar to watch over me too.

Andrea Collins

[lg18]

I couldn't agree more. They look right into your eyes. In fact, they are my favourite British seabird. Apparently they can live well into their 40s and I love to think that the fulmar that's studying me could be older (and probably wiser) than me.

[Mark R]

http://homeseahome.com/2012/07/09/extin ... her-birds/

Genius.

[Mike Mayberry]

...when I looked at it the picture had a visitor..

I had a similar experience with this one,those pesky birds making a good picture! :p

[maryinoxford]

Okay, 2 apologies - for putting a freshwater setting in this thread, and for the poor image quality. But I'm hoping somebody can help me identify the grey bird here.

I was walking on the bank of the Thames, upstream of Oxford, about as far inland as you can get. On a field on the other side, a flock of geese were grazing, a pair of Mute Swans were preening by the bank, and near the swans was a grey bird with a black-and-white striped head. This caught my attention through binoculars, but I only had a compact camera with me, hence the photos aren't much good. The white stripe on the head continued down the side of the neck. The bill looked goose-like. And it seemed very chummy with the swan.







Any ideas?

Mary

[lg18]

HI Mary,

Nice pic, and gorgeous bird(s)! It looks like a bar-headed goose to me from those photos. Not a native, they breed in high altitude central Asia (e.g. Tibet) and winter in S Asia (e.g. India), and are reknowned for their incredible high altitude migration routes over the Himalaya. Either your bird is an incredibly exciting vagrant/rarity or one that is domesticated or escaped from captivity here in UK.

Lucy

[maryinoxford]

Thanks, Lucy. I think you're right. I've web-searched images of bar-headed geese, and they do look like the bird I saw. I had wondered if it was an escape from somewhere. I was once puzzled for ages about a pretty little duck I saw locally. Eventually identified it as a Ringed Teal, native of South America. Another time, I saw a Barnacle Goose on the Thames in summer - another out-of-place sighting.

I thought I'd ask in case it was a juvenile or colour variant of something more local. But as I doubt if it's a long-distance tourist, I'll put it down as an escapee. (Approx grid reference SP 461 099 on 15/7/2012, if dedicated twitcher wants to try and track it down.)

Mary

[fishface12]

Man, some of you blokes should be selling stock photography or doing something with your photos. I can't believe how lovely some of the shots you've shared are! What type of camera and gear do you guys use for your wildlife shots? I can tell that at least one of you has some fairly high-end gear.

[jmmoxon]

Bar-headed Geese regularly escape from collections.

Mike

[Mark R]

What type of camera and gear do you guys use for your wildlife shots? I can tell that at least one of you has some fairly high-end gear.

I am lucky enough to own a Nikon D300s - not exactly a professional level toy, but somewhat beyond what most folk would carry in their kayak. I mostly use an 18-200VR lens. My photos above are mostly taken from the boat, with the exception of the puffin close-ups, which were taken on land.

My favourite image here is Kate D's flock of oystercatchers. I have a feeling that the gear used to achieve that shot came in at several thousand pounds less than mine.

[Kevin B]

Hi
brand new to this forum and fairly new to kayaking, but have to say these photo's are incredible!
to see such wildlife in it's natural environment really demonstrates how kayaking can be among nature without having an impact on it. Wonderful.
surprised to see that some of you don't use waterproof cameras though, I'd have thought even with moisture seals (nikon D300s) that water would get in, and salt can play havoc. do you use waterproof housings or bags?

[Mark R]

Waterproof cameras...still need to be completely dried before they can take a decent pic.

With my SLR, I take it out of the Watershed drybag between my legs, click, put it back and reseal the bag. The camera is weather-sealed, but also covered by rubber 'armour' which keeps much of the salt from my hands off.

One of these days I will drop it in the sea, and weep profusely. However you can't take photos with a camera left in the car...

[Kevin B]

Mark being so close to the birds natural habitat really shows in these photo's, they are marvelous. great thread and I really hope more are added for us to enjoy

[Mike Marshall]

This years trip to Mull resulted in these photos among others.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marshallman1/7801819784/

MikeM

[jmmoxon]

That's a cracking pic of a Corncrake, they are difficult to see, let alone photograph:



Mike

[immunogirl]

Not quite a bird, but same trip & they fly:

[Mark Gawler]

No picture, just the call
http://upload.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/m ... ce0003.mp3

Can anyone guess what it is?

[jmmoxon]

Was it too dark to see them - Manx Shearwater?

Mike

[Kate D]

[lg18]

No picture, just the call
http://upload.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/m ... ce0003.mp3

Can anyone guess what it is?

Ah, that's absolutely wonderful - Reminds me of a magical night I spent inside Mousa broch, being sung to sleep by these tiny chaps!

[Mark R]

No picture, just the call
http://upload.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/m ... ce0003.mp3

Can anyone guess what it is?

Ah, that's absolutely wonderful - Reminds me of a magical night I spent inside Mousa broch, being sung to sleep by these tiny chaps!

Storm petrels? We listened to them chirping away under the nearby rocks...

[Mark Gawler]

Storm petrels? We listened to them chirping away under the nearby rocks...

Correct!

[slugwash]

A lot of egrets on the River Dart these days......

[Kate D]

[skoobi]

Heres one I took on the lovely Pembrokeshire Coast as I was paddling down from North Wales...

[Debbie]

As we were attempting to put down our groundsheet to camp for the night, this oystercatcher came towards us chirruping noisily, feigning a broken wing. As it scampered away dragging it's wing on the ground, we followed it along the beach for several metres. It looked back at us and when it was satisfied we were far enough away from it's nest, it happily flew away. (Glacier Bay, Alaska)

Debbie

[Mark R]

As we were attempting to put down our groundsheet to camp for the night, this oystercatcher came towards us chirruping noisily, feigning a broken wing. As it scampered away dragging it's wing on the ground, we followed it along the beach for several metres. It looked back at us and when it was satisfied we were far enough away from it's nest, it happily flew away. (Glacier Bay, Alaska)

Have witnessed the exact same behaviour closer to home, most memorably in the abandoned village on Mingulay.