Scotland 2019 6: St Abb's Head

St Abb's Head is a promontory of volcanic rocks just north of Eyemouth, now operated as a nature reserve by the National Trust.  Being the end of August we weren't expecting to see much in the way of bird life; but, since the weather was dry (if not especially sunny), it was still a good place for a walk.

The inland areas are actively farmed, with both sheep and cattle being in evidence.

There's an inland "loch" which attracts freshwater birds, although not many on the day in question.  It's also acts as a perfect breeding ground for the local midge population!

The folding in the rocks in cliffs, north of St Abb's Head, is very dramatic.

From a distance it wasn't clear what the anomalous blue and yellow "thing" on the hillside might be; but, as we got closer, we discovered that it was a large bundle of dried gorse wrapped in several Jewson builders' bags.  Why?  Answers on a postcard, please.

The weather started to brighten up about mid-day, and the wildflower meadows were beautiful in the late summer sun.

St Abb's Head Lighthouse is in a spectacular position, right on the edge of the cliffs.  The final image is a stitched panorama of about 15 shots, showing the whole coastline from Dunbar in the north to Berwick in the south.

 

Dungeness Nature Reserve

The murky conditions continued for much of Saturday, so we decided to do a bit of bird watching at the RSPB Nature Reserve in Dungeness.  I don't often suffer from "lens envy", but bird photography is one of those occasions where bigger is definitely better - especially when one's subjects are on the opposite shore of a large gravel pit!

First, the nuclear power station which forms a truly romantic backdrop to the nature reserve.

The grebes came relatively close to the hide, but the more interesting birds - such as the great white egrets - were miles away.  The sequence below is cropped very tightly, but gives some idea of the quality of the 70-200/2.8L IS mkII with a 1.4x mkIII converter.

The only other beasties which ventured close to the hide were a couple of dragonflies.  Why is it that, whenever one manages to capture these superb insects in such a way that they're nicely sharp, the background is always rubbish?

[Later note:  I'd originally thought these were Emperors, but a Wise Man has just informed me that they are actually Migrant Hawkers.  Even having looked at some reference images, I still find it difficult to tell them apart from their profile view.]

I always marvel at the way dragonflies tuck their "undercarriage" out of the way when flying.  Amazing creatures.

Fowlmere Nature Reserve

Joy of joys: a weekend off from the normal run of family and Camera Club commitments.  The only downside is that I'm suffering from a stinking cold, but then one can't have everything!  The weather was so beautiful this afternoon that I wandered down to the RSPB reserve in Fowlmere - not so much in the hope of seeing lots of wonderful wildlife, but just to get out in the fresh air.

There was a small amount of bird life visible (a handful of greylag geese, a coot, a couple of lapwings and some rooks).  Everything else had probably been scared away by the kids running around, but it was still very pleasant sitting in the hide.

Having run out of feathered subjects, I was forced to look at the plant life (of which there wasn't much).  Luckily the Pussy Willow was in full "bloom", although it was tricky trying to find a clean and sympathetic background.  The two pictures below were shot against a reed bed and a chalk stream respectively, both in shadow.  I think I prefer the blue background, as it complements the yellow pollen beautifully.