Posing birds of prey - Black Hole Marsh

BOPs are one of my favourite subjects to photograph. Below are pics of a Sparrowhawk and also a Kestrel. The latter was being hassled by a small flock of Goldfinches; the pics weren't good due to distance but they're interesting none-the-less.

SUPERB photo opportunities around the Axe Estuary

I've got quite a lot to write on here as well as quite a few pics to post! I'll just deal with Black Hole Marsh waders first...
The Ruff gave good views from Island hide this afternoon; I had to wait for the Sun to hide behind some cloud though as the direction of the light was hideous, some of the resulting images were okay. Also a Redshank performed a flap or two which prompted me too offload a few rapid shots! Good numbers of Black Tailed Godwit around also, some of which get quite close to Island hide at times...

Apologies for this one...

Sparrowhawk over Black Hole Marsh

Just a quickie as I'm busy with various work (yes yes at 1am...).
A lovely Sparrowhak put in a brief appearance as it had a play around with the Black Tailed Godwit flock.

Photo - Another SUPERB Reflection

Again at Black Hole Marsh, the first near perfect reflection I've managed with a Black Tailed Godwit. The timing with the water droplet makes this photo all the better...

Photo series - bathing WOOD SANDPIPER

Another quick trip to Black Hole Marsh this evening yielded views of 2 Wood Sandpipers sticking close together; there'll be some pics of these in due course. Here's some shots of a Wood Sandpiper having a bath which I took a couple of evenings ago. I could tell by the body language that it was contemplating having a bath so I cranked the ISO up on the camera (allows faster shutter speeds) hoping to get some decent splash action. It wasn't great, but this is what I managed:

Stunning birds.

SUPERB summer plumage Knot

A text message informing me of a summer plumage Knot on Black Hole Marsh was a pleasant surprise this morning; I've never seen a sum plum example before. I popped down to have a look this evening and soon located it. It was pretty distant and hard to see from the hides, but I thought I'd wait out the heavy downpour in case it made the bird flighty, as I've seen previously with waders on Black Hole Marsh. It did become flighty. And it flew towards me and landed in front of Island Hide for a few brief moments...

Both taken at ISO 3200 due to the low light (heavy rain). Terrible conditions for photography, but stunning example of a Knot none-the-less; certainly the smartest looking one I've ever seen!

Wood Sandpiper giving crippling views

And I actually mean it! The term is normally used in a sarcastic manner so I thought I'd spice it up. Black Hole Marsh is gradually returning to it's status of autumnal (yeah, I said it) wader brilliance, with a long staying Wood Sandpiper showing well today. An adult Curlew Sandpiper was a pleasant addition, but pics of it are un-blog-worthy. It was distant. Very distant.
There'll be a lot of Wood Sandpiper pics on here when I get time to look through them. Here's an okay one though: