Saturday 7 November 2009

Late Autumn Treat




Hearing of a couple of Shore Lark on Kessingland Beach this afternoon, I drove to the end of Rider Haggard Lane and walking right at the end I took the steps down the cliff and made my way north along the beach where I could see 4 people hopefully watching the birds, Ricky F & Carl B were nearer and literally had 12 Snow Buntings flying around their feet!
They were indeed watching the excellent Shore Larks, one bird was more brightly marked than the other. They feed on a dried muddy area for a while before some walkers pushed them onto the shingle reach nearby. 
I slowly crawled closer and could see Chris M & Peter N watching from further away, I managed to edge a little closer to the edge of the watery pool area and took a few pictures. The birds fed constantly and when 5 Pied Wagtails flew in they sat and crouched low in the shingle. As I was there the Snow Buntings flew in very close and fed from the water giving close views. 
I took more shots of the Shore Larks as Paul R strolled along with his dog and as I moved away carefully the birds were still feeding on the shingle ridge.
Paul informed that he had just spoken to Andrew E and the Little Auk was still on the sea off Links Rd, Lowestoft. John H had kindly sent me a text earlier to say there was one there, thanks John.
I drove swiftly to the Links road car park and after an initial scan I couldn't see any sign of the Little Auk, but I could see a little group of people on the beach gathered together by the second groyne north of Links road. Always a good sign of a good bird nearby.
Seeing Andrew E & Roger C amongst them it was obvious that the Little Auk was still there close on the sea just slightly left of the groyne. Although the light was fading fast I ran off a few shots of this excellent Arctic wanderer, no not Roger, the Little Auk!
The film ISO sadly had to be 1600 rather than my usual 400 (so there will be a lot of noise on the film) because of the fading light but some shots are better than none at all. 
A final late afternoon treat for the day!

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