TomKal foto

I admit that when I was getting up at 5 am in August in Swinoujście to go to the seaside with the camera I was quite skeptical about what I could photograph. The holiday season in a place like that means people on the beach practically around the clock. But without trying I will have no pictures for sure. When coming to the beach I could confess my fears proved correct, even so early you could count a dozen people. A novelty for me was that when I slowly approached closer to the plants thrown out of sea during the night I could see a cluster of tiny birds feed on the leftovers. It was surprising that they accept people walking by the sea (within few meters). Annoying thing, however, was that If I had not been there other people, particularly some older women would pass without noticing feeding birds. But if they are interesting for someone to photograph them, then they are worth taking a look at, very carefully indeed. Women passed treating me as if I were invisible and came up closer and closer, so that scared off everything that could pick up the flight. Despite my respect for the elderly, I cannot understand why they behaved like that and I do not know if it was an ordinary carelessness or malice. Anyway it wasn’t nice of them. Fortunately, the birds returned, but because of the growing number of people on the beach there were fewer and fewer birds. After 9 o’clock it was hardly anything to photograph. But never mind, the outdoors session was successful. Birds let me approach close enough to take some good photos that I could publish in the gallery. The lighting conditions at the rising sun were perfect. I was fully satisfied because of the fact that I was able to photograph the new species -dunlin, red knot, turnstone and ringed plover. Not only the new species but also of a satisfactory quantity and quality. Too bad that the ringed plovers soon abandoned this place because of the walkers. It is a long time I have not not managed to take pictures of the representative of the genre, and they aren’t satisfactory either in quality or shots. This comment will be common for photos added to the gallery in August, during that session. There are several reasons. The most important fact is that the whole session lasted several hours when birds were continuously disturbed, and as a result I was waiting and waiting for them returning. In such conditions, it is difficult to tell stories about the natural behavior of the species. Just like with the sounds of birds. Although the microphone was turned on all the time but after listening you could only wring your hands, or better ears. There was recorded everything, apart from the sounds of birds. The sounds of the port, the ships, walkers’ conversations, dog barking ... It is a pity, even far from perfection sound but recorded on my own is better to listen in correlation with pictures of the species than downloaded from another source of sounds. Short description, sound, photos, it's almost a movie, complete report of communing with nature. My diary. But it is not a market. What and how we can capture is always a lottery. This time the effect of several hours’ activity, without camouflaging, couching was stunning. Welcome to my galleries: Dunlin, Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone and Common Ringed Plover. At the end of my comments I have included data describing the bird of each species to have an idea of its size. As for a turnstone I know that I was able to photograph the bird that in Poland can be seen only in passing. Northern parts of Europe and Asia are its breeding grounds. Wintering in North Africa and the western coast of Europe. Turnstones weigh 100-180 grams, with a wingspan of about 50 cm.
Last minute news 08/2015
During the expedition to the Atlantic Ocean to see the procellariiformes I had an opportunity to photograph the ruddy turnstone. The birds were feeding quietly on a small beach by the hotel I stayed in and I could take interesting pictures at sunrise. They were still in breeding colours, so the photos I took introduced diversity to the existing gallery, which was reconstructed.
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