Sunday, January 18, 2015

Firecrest : Ogmore - by - Sea

Thought I'd get out this morning and attempt to photograph the Firecrest found on Friday near the sewage works.
My plan was to find it quickly and then move on to Sker and catch up with the recently arrived Glaucous Gull, how wrong can you get it !!
I parked up at Candleston car park and begrudgingly emptied my loose change into the pay and display machine and arrived just up from the bridge where the bird had been previously seen after a 10 minute walk through the dunes.
I scanned the brambles and the trees behind for a distance of about 100m up from the bridge having been told that the bird was quite mobile and elusive and after about 15 mins two other birders turned up who just happened to be Steve Hinton and Alun Hughes.
We split up and searched for a couple of hours before Alun had to leave and Steve eventually found the bird in trees about 300m up from the bridge and about 100m up from where I was searching.
To say that the bird was difficult to photograph would be an enormous understatement, it's continuous flitting between the shade and bright light made things really tricky.
We both managed a few shots before the bird disappeared and we decided to call it a day, I had arrived at Ogmore at 9.30am and now it was 2.30pm, where had the time gone ?
We had both put in a "good shift" but it was worth it to get some images even if they weren't quite up to the standard I had hoped for.
My plan of quickly getting the Firecrest and then moving on for the Glaucous Gull had gone up in smoke, hopefully the gull may hang around for a while and provide me with another chance.
Then again I may have another go for the Firecrest, us "toggers" are never satisfied !!

1 comment:

Wayne said...

Think I'd be happy enough with those Jeff