A Trip to the Seaside
Birds and Rhubarb Cake
It is summer and the city is uncomfortably hot and sticky. What better than a weekend on the Isle of Wight. We are lucky enough to have friends there who invite us every summer for a bit of boating, swimming and good food, and the world’s best rhubarb cake!
Isle of Wight is a large island off the south coast of England. It has plenty of bird life with its forests, fields, marshland and tidal flats. So, it was tempting to add a bit of photography to the trip … and I did.
Good morning Red Squirrel - in the copse on the path to the hide
The thinking was to sneak out at 5am on a couple of mornings and return in time for a late breakfast around 10-11am. I packed the Nikon Z9 with the 500mm PF f5.6 lens and a 1.4 teleconverter. Nothing more … all I wanted was a lightweight 700mm kit for birds. Having done a bit of research on Google, I landed on the Newtown Nature Reserve. A reserve of woods but mainly marsh land and tidal mudflats along a creek. Importantly, it had two hides.
Seals enjoying the warm sun on the mudflats
The East Hide seemed the most promising. It was surrounded by tidal flats with 270-degree views of the river and mud flats. It is set up more for bird spotters with binoculars, rather than for photography. Ideally, it would be lower down so you can shoot at the eye level of wading birds, but then the incoming tide would wash you away.
The East Hide. Picture from the Slow Travel Guide to the Isle of Wight (slowwighttravelguide.co.uk) - well worth a look!
Late July is not the optimal time for this type of photography. Too early for the migrating birds to pass through. Winter would likely be better with many over-wintering waders and the like from Scandinavia.
A distant Curlew …
The first dawn was beautiful, with a few clouds and the sun rapidly rising. I settled into the hide and had the place to myself. The wind was kind and the light was good. The birds on the other hand were irritatingly too far away the whole morning. I saw Buzzard, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Little Egret, Swan, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, and also Seals and a Red Squirrel. But even the 700mm focal length was not enough reach and the bird I was mostly after – the Curlew – decided to pick food 200m away. There they were – many of them – all resident Curlews, but none came close. All I heard was their haunting and beautiful song :-(
Thank you for coming close to the Hide
The second day was different. A few birds came a bit closer, but the weather was a bit miserable. The morning clouds were heavy and low, and there was a stiff westerly breeze, which prevented me from opening the west facing viewing slats. I did get some shots closer in, but with f8 as max aperture the ISO was pretty high, and the light was dull as dishwater. Even with 700mm focal length I needed a fair bit of cropping in post. This type of photography is ideal for the new light-weight Nikon 800mm when it eventually becomes available. It is not much heavier than the 500mm PF lens plus the teleconverter and adapter. It promises to be a great birding lens. I’m on the (very long) waiting list.
An Oystercatcher sniffing out a crab for breakfast kept me busy for a while. The poor crab put up a valiant fight clawing the bird’s beak but to no avail. Its innards were soon in the Oystercatcher’s belly.
None of these pictures will win any prizes, and I was a bit unlucky with the conditions (day 1 – good light, few birds, day 2 - poor light, more birds). Then again, I didn’t expect much, as it was late July – hardly the best season for coastal birds.
But, it was still two wonderfully peaceful mornings. Just me and the slowly incoming tide and the sound of the Curlews and Oystercatchers. There is nothing like it … and then I could return and join the others for a slice of that fantastic rhubarb cake!