It was a beautiful January afternoon as I headed to Landguard Point with Limpy on Wednesday. Both the Port of Felixstowe Viewing Point and the neighbouring reserve are lovely places to see a variety of birdlife from. My best photos, however, all showed the bigger stuff:
Who needs security when you have a species of bird which misses nothing?
Very few birds are as joyful to watch in flight as a gull on a bright, windy day.
Heading on to the reserve I spied a bird heading for a watering hole:
OK, a puddle. It seemed adequate for him, though.
Mmmm, that's better.
I'm trying to remember if I've seen a ringed crow before - this handsome individual might actually be the first one!
After wandering for a little longer I saw a bird land on a crane near the Viewing Point. I headed back there as quickly as I could, briefly stopping on the way to snap this attractive bird:
My suspicions were correct - a most interesting bird had landed in one of its favourite spots:
This was one of those moments I wished I had had a bigger lens. Even Limpy's lens wasn't big enough to capture it properly. I rarely snap a peregrine so I thought I should at least post this one - you can see what it is even though the snap isn't great.
I hope everyone has enjoyed this thread.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Great to see you had fine weather on Wednesday for getting out to Landguard Point; can't say I've seen a Crow which has been ringed; wouldn't like to be on the wrong end of that bill though ! Often wonder how they deal with feisty birds and get the ring on without having fingers nipped but then again, that's what all the training is for and they are experts. Congrats on capturing the Peregrine on camera, must be lovely to see one in your area.
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Regards, Hazel
Great stuff again Clare, especially the Peregrine ... good to get a home-grown one! You are getting really good at Gull flight shots, was trying same thing outside school yesterday ... rubbish!!
Love the Crow's Nest!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
The local peregrines are, I think, the only reason that crane is still standing - there have been a few nesting attempts on it. A second peregrine landed near the first in time for Limpy to get some shots of them both - it was certainly the first time I'd seen two of them posing up there.
I think I'd much rather ring a crow than a gull - or a peregrine, for that matter!
WendyBartter said:You are getting really good at Gull flight shots, was trying same thing outside school yesterday ... rubbish!!
Look forward to seeing Limpy's pics!
I'll try to prod him.