18th June.
Sometime ago Sam won another photography competition with the WWT and
his prize was a Farne Island Workshop
with Hawkshead Photography. The prize
offered two places and Sam very kindly asked me to join him on the
workshop. I love the sea, seabirds,
seabird colonies and islands, so it took me less than a second to say ‘thanks, of course I’ll come along’ and
I/we have been eagerly anticipating the experience. We hoped for half decent weather and what we
got was much more than half decent, and the lighting was perfect for a day’s
photography, especially in the evening when, as Sam suggested, it felt like we
were on the Mediterranean. With the group of eleven we had a Serenity
boat more or less to ourselves during the day and we spent time on both the
outer and inner Farnes before returning to Seahouses for a fish and chip tea
(yes, more fish and chips). After tea we
walked around the harbour and took the chance to take some close ups of the Eider Ducks and their young (what a
difference in temperature and light from the wet, misty and cold morning that
we had spent here in April during our stay at Bamburgh) before joining a
Serenity boat again for the evening cruise which was a wonderful way to spend
an evening.
Guillemot inc bridled
Unlucky chick not to see much of the world!
Shag
Puffin
The camera had precedence over the binoculars today and I
hardly had need of the latter. It was a
great day with great company. Lots of
photography undertaken by me, and a great deal more by Sam! I no longer take the line that photography
can get in the way of watching, as I simply think it enhances watching, if used
in an appropriate and wildlife friendly manner (when I watch a minority of folk
with or without cameras the term wildlife
friendly manner seems to mean little to them). I’m still a trainee photographer of course
and have room for improvement especially with in-flight images. I need some better kit but recognise that
doesn’t ensure a better quality end product by any means! I’m sure everyone always wants better
whatever they have. There was an amusing
incident today when a guy with a gigantic lens had it and his eye focused upon
a post waiting for a Rock Pipit to
carry food back to a nest whilst he assured us it would return to the same
post. As he kneeled intently watching
and waiting, we and others took a number of photographs of the Rock Pipit when it returned to another
post only feet away.
Puffin
Following the boat
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Guillemot
Sam's Tern :-)
Eider Chick Seahouses Harbour
Grey Seal
Seal Youngster
Guillemots
Great Black-back Gull with Guillemots
Got to end with Puffins.:-)
Nice photos. Yeah it looks like it was a fab day and I feel a bit sorry for the guy with the gigantic lens, lol.
ReplyDeleteCheers Mark.
ReplyDelete