Common Gull in Flight

I took myself over to Norfolk at the weekend and it seems I was not the only one, I arrived at Salthouse at first light with no one else around, but within an hour there must have been 15 other photographers as well as an increasing number of birders arriving mainly to see/photograph the Lapland and Snow buntings that have been there for a few weeks now.
I must be turning into a grumpy old man as I really didn't enjoy this experience as much as I have previously when there have been only one or two others, maybe it's the thought that everyone else will have the same shots as me. So trying to be different I thought I would have a go at some flight shots using my D2X's High Speed Crop mode, something I hadn't tried before. Let me know what you think.

Techs:
Nikon D2X in HSC mode
300 f4 AF-S
1/1000sec at f4.5 and ISO 100

PP in Lightroom, resizing for web and smart sharpen in CS2.

Mark

There would be loads of folks there last weekend Mark. There was a White Capped Sparrow in a garden at Cley. Only the third record in the UK. That's why there were so few at Roydon looking for the Shrike and there were spaces in the car park at Tichwell.

Nice sharp, well composed image.

Hi Paul,

I was there on Salthouse on Saturday, the Sparrow wasn't found until the Sunday in Cley. I had originally planned to go on the Sunday but changed my mind at the last minute

Mark

Hi Mark,

Very nice flight shot , good exposure , nice detail in the whites , maybe a little tight at the top but still a good capture.


ps Shame about missing the spuggie

Regards

Andy...

Hi Mark,

A little tight in the frame for me, but nice and sharp.

Crisp, sharp and very well exposed

Nice shot Mark - as Andy said maybe a little tight on the right hand side and top. And a touch more depth of field needed. Eye is pin sharp but tip of beak is out. I tend to shoot a minimum of f6.3 (ideally f8 when light allows) for flight shots, unless I am going for something arty. Great exposure - flying, white birds in sunlight are a nightmare.

The D2x crop mode is something I have only used once or twice in three years. I'm always worried I will take a stunning photo at half the resolution. It does however have its uses for record shots of distant subjects.

Mark I doubt the number of people had anything to do with the sparrow. News of the bird wasn't released until mid morning Sunday so it would have taken a while for birders to start arriving. I expect what you saw is a normal Sunday day at Salthouse.

Salthouse has always been popular with birders but is fast becoming THE place to photograph a number of tricky species and waders. So there are now twice as many 'users'. It's one of the few places that isn't on a reserve or private land so access is free - making all sorts of shots possible. With superb images from this site being posted by numerous photographers every week on various websites its popualrity is likely to increase. Let's just hope the currently tame birds hang around!

Regarding the White-crowned Sparrow - it's still present and showing well. A cracking male bird and the fourth record for Britain. I imagine it will stay for a while as it is happily feeding on seed laid down for it. One thing that might push it away is over enthusiastic birders and photographers.

However it only shows in a narrow drive way, briefly every 30 minutes or so and there are always plenty of people wanting a view. The scene when this happens has been described as something between " Glastonbury and Saving Private Ryan" . . . .

All the best

Paul

Nice flight shot Mark
John
Aberdeen

Nice sharp and well exposed shot. A bit more room at the top would have been nice though.



Paul