Avocets - part 1
 

By far the majority of the photos I took at Titchwell were of Avocets. I love these magnificent birds, once really quite rare, but now a common sight on the reserve and many other locations too. There were a few pairs of birds in front of both of the main hides, but they were particularly close to the Island Hide. Whilst I again benefitted from the 600mm end of my lens bringing some birds into range, I also had to zoom out on quite a few occasions and take images at 400mm and even 300mm at times ( you can't do that with a prime lens!).
 

I love the way Avocets feed by swishing their curved beaks from side to side, although it can make photographing them quite tricky - step up the 65 focussing points and ultra fast focussing of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. The other tricky thing is the fact they are predominantly white birds, but with a black eye in a black head - a test for any exposure system.
 

The light was quite dull when I first arrived but soon brightened up, and became really quite beautiful as the sun went down. The variety of lighting conditions allowed a variety of images.
 

At first the light was quite dull. This helped with contrast and gave a softer feel to the images.
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

Later in the day the sun came out, giving brighter images, including some nice reflections.
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK
 

AvocetTitchwell, Norfolk, UK It was great being so close to these spectacular birds. But it wasn't just feeding behaviour I was able to photograph.
 

Continued in part 2......