Greenshank and Redshank
nikon d3s,500vr 1×4, 1/1250@f16, iso800
My trip to Portugal started on the 9th of October and ended on the 15th. It was an amazing time full of great birding with some nice photography, not to mention the light. The whole time was based around two pelagic trips out of Fuzeta with the intention to photograph some seabirds. More on the pelagics trips later. My first morning out in the Rio de Formosa gave me a good selection of waders and herons with a few warblers thrown in. I flushed a Common Snipe and Kingfisher as soon as I stepped out of the car in the half light of the dawn. A Water Rail moved along a small channel flushed by a high tide. Moving out onto the marsh the Egrets were moving from their roost sites out into the surrounding water channels to feed. I tried some slow shutter type images but the birds were too far away to make any good images. I managed to find a small pool where a Greenshank and Redshank were feeding. A slow approach resulted in some comparison images. The birds flushed when a cyclist passed. I had a feeling they might return and I wasn’t wrong. By sitting still and not moving about the Greenshank returned and I photographed with the bird at ease with me. I was using the silent mode on the d3s which proved very useful.
Greenshank
nikon d3s,500vr 1×4, 1/1600@f11,iso800.
Further along the marsh I encountered a family of Black-winged Stilts. Alarm calls exploded in the only way Stilts do. They soon returned to the small brackish pool they had been feeding in. I lowered my profile from the path by sitting in some vegetation by the pool. The birds didn’t seem bothered by my presence so I could fill my cards with many images of Silts feeding. Stonechats and Sardinian Warblers were feeding on the far side of the pool, too far to photograph.
Black-winged Stilts
Nikon d3s, 500vr 1×4, 1/1250@f11,iso800.
The heat of the day and harsh light stopped photography by about 10am, although a passing flock of Flamingo added a nice sighting as I returned back to the car. Time to relax by the pool and wait for the light to get better. I generally made use of this time making notes and birding from the poolside. One thing I did learn was how the light changed so quickly in the afternoon, going from harsh light to the light being no good for photographing birds in a very short time. Morning light was the best and every day I was up before sunrise. The first of the pelagics now dawned and I was on the quayside early in Fuzeta waiting for our birding guide to arrive. Sandwich Terns in winter plumage were fishing in the channel and a Common Kingfisher darted along. Four people assembled in the small boat eager to head out to sea. Pelagics are just amazing as you just never know what you are going to see or what conditions you are going to encounter. The first problem was breaking the large waves out of the channel. It didn’t take long for all the passengers to get completely soaked. My camera was well protected in its bag and a good job as the sea conditions were quite rough which made for an interesting pelagic. Large numbers of juvenile Gannets were fishing around small fishing boats with a couple of Great Skuas in company which made for some exciting birding. However taking pictures with a handheld 500mm vr proved to be tough. That was a mistake. I didn’t take many images as I was really after shearwater species and the conditions made it almost impossible to keep on the birds in such rough seas. Cory’s, Great and Balearic all passed by the boat or were found around the fishing vessels. I only mananged a few images of a Great Shearwater during this trip but the birding was superb with a European Storm Petrel being spotted in the swell but I failed to get on the bird in time. The return journey through the calmer waters of the Rio de Formosa was very welcome and the Rohan gear dried quickly enough. A tough pelagic for images but great birding and I had another go later in the week which had the promise of calmer seas. I learned a lot about how I would approach the next pelagic in terms of equipment and exposure etc, valuable lessons were learned and I wasn’t sea sick! It had been an amazing few days of birding and photography and I was looking forward to even more….
Northern Gannet (juvenile)
Nikon d3s,500vr, 1/3200@f8,iso800.
Great Skua
Nikon d3s,500vr
Lots more to come in part 2….
