Black-throated Diver

Marc Read and Black-throated Diver

Spent a couple of hours lying around in swan shit in Princes Park, Eastbourne on Monday morning. The evergreen Marc Read was on hand to pick me up and drop me off at the train station, maximizing the time I had before having to hop it back to London. The reason for my visit - a juvenile Black-throated Diver - was a little more wary than I'd hoped, and never really gave frame-filling views. Nevertheless, pretty pleased with my shots - most obtained by simply running around the lake margin to get as close as possible while the bird was submerged..!

All in all a pretty fun couple of hours, with the changeable light conditions allowing for a nice variety of shots to be taken.

Bonaparte's Gull etc

Got an early train down to Eastbourne this morning with the aim of seeing the elusive Bonaparte's Gull in Princes Park. Marc Read kindly met me at the station and gave me a lift down to the park, and it didn't take long for us to pick up the bird among the local Black-heads.

Though light was initially pretty poor, there were a few sunny spells later on in which the gull showed well. That said, it was surprisingly frustrating as a photographic subject, spending most of the time floating around in the middle of the lake at relative distance and only making brief visits to the margins to pick at the several loaves of bread offered by visiting birders. It was particularly interesting to hear it calling on several occasions - a higher-pitched, harsher call than Black-headed.

Click on the below for bigger versions.

Being a newbie to SLR photography, I was pretty keen to practice on common birds too. Herring Gulls:

Black-headed Gull:

And this very smart adult Mediterranean Gull:

A very satisfying morning out that saw me back in Hammersmith for 15:00.