North Berwick is a good place for serious bird watching trips. The famous bass rock is just a couple of kilometres off this coast where some 80,000 Gannets nest every year. A few boat services start from here to Bass Rock, Creigleith, Fidra and Isle of May.
Rakhee and I first visited this place for one such boat trip to the Bass Rock, but our bad timing forced us to cancel our trip. We spent our time on the beach enjoying this beautiful view of the distant Bass rock in low tide.
The exposed tidal zone was inviting, and we could see many birds exploring the rocky pools filled with sea water. There were many Oystercatchers feeding on the other side of a large tide pool, which I couldn't cross. The birds were actively looking for mussels and cockles.
The next time I got the opportunity to watch these birds was, on the west coast of Scotland, when we visited Isle of Mull. I hired a Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L lens for the trip anticipating a closer look at much celebrated White-tailed eagles. We did not see any eagles, but saw plenty of other birds including this lone Oystercatcher on a boulder.
The day remained damp and overcast. My lens rested in my bag most of the time. Tide was out and I watched this pair probing beneath pebbles.
I tried closing in, but there was insufficient cover and the birds maintained a constant distance. I gave up sneaking in and settled for wide shots.
Later this year when we planned a quick trip to Rothesay, I never thought seriously about Oyestercatchers, or even any kind of bird watching at all. After getting off the ferry we went to a local restaurant and spent hours on local seafood delicacies.
On the way back I noticed this pair at far side of the harbour. I sat on a side fence for some time just to get familiarised. It was evening and I was blessed with beautiful golden light. They were feeding but never stopped watching me.
After some time they started their elaborate preening.
I watched in surprise, through my lens, as this bird suddenly started calling loudly. I was reluctant to take my eye off the viewfinder but when I did, I saw another Oystercatcher circling around. It never landed, because, I assume, this bird was defending its territory. I expected some sort of action. Nothing happened. The intruder retreated. Peace again.
This is one of my favourite photos, Oystercatcher with its orange-red bill and reddish-pink legs standing in slowly flowing clear water, all illuminated by golden light.
I left this pair behind and looked for the intruder, who has settled a few meters away. It started drizzling and the light was falling. I resisted my urge to pack my camera and waited for the “intruder” to take off.
Hand holding a 400 mm lens at shutter speeds anything below 1/400 calls for a pair of experienced hands. If I try that, I knew, I will certainly end up with a shaky images. I had my options, I could switch to Shutter priority AE or dial in some negative exposure compensation to maintain a higher shutter speed. It would be then possible to reduce the camera shake, but of-course I would have then ended up with an underexposed image. It may be possible to brighten up my image in post processing, but there’s no way I can recreate unrecorded details later.
Another option was to stay calm in Aperture priority AE and enjoy watching the bird through the lens. I thought, if I could manage to get at least a couple of frames, I would be a satisfied person with some good motion blur.
I didn't get any time to think about it, my bird was already on its wings and I missed the take off. Now it's all about bringing the bird back in to my view finder. Fortunately it flew towards me in a large arc and I was able to take few pictures.
When I reviewed it, I was happy that I haven't had much camera shake. The motion blur, nice reflections and traces of rain made my day.
