Super Whoopers

Super Whoopers



At the end of last month I visited the Pilling and Cockerham area of Lancashire. This area is visited in the winter months by large flocks of pink footed geese and whooper swans. There are rich pickings to be had in the fields with left over remains of potato and other vegetable crops. This winter in particular has been very wet and many farmers have been unable to harvest their crops.

On my wanderings around the lanes and back roads I came across a very large number of geese and swans gathering in a roadside field prior to roosting out on Pilling Sands. The birds were coming in large groups particularly the geese and were settling in the field giving me some wonderful opportunities with the camera.

It was a bright cold and sunny afternoon and was ideal for photography and I was able to stay in the comfort of the car using it as a mobile hide. I was amazed at the numbers of birds and can only say that there were many thousands of pink footed geese and many hundreds of whooper swans. For this post I have concentrated on the whooper swans.

The pink footed geese will be the subject of my next post. I took about two and a half thousand images over two days and have spent a week or so sifting and sorting. I hope you enjoy my selection of these magnificent visitors from Iceland. It was a most memorable experience and one I will be unlikely to repeat for some time. Thanks for looking in and stay tuned for the next instalment.

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Brian Rafferty

Brian Rafferty

I am based in Preston. Lancashire. This central location enables me to travel easily to a wide variety of habitats in the North of England. I tend these days not to travel very far as I find that there is plenty to see not very far from home. On my own doorstep are a wonderful variety of habitats - natural woodlands, open fells and hill country, unspoilt river valleys and I have easy access to the delights of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. As you will see from my bird images much time is spent at the wonderful coastal sites forming part of Morecambe Bay and the Ribble Estuary e.g. Marshside and Leighton Moss. In recent years Digital Photography has taken over from Video and as time has moved on I have acquired more and more equipment - as you do!!

Brian Rafferty

Brian Rafferty

I am based in Preston. Lancashire. This central location enables me to travel easily to a wide variety of habitats in the North of England. I tend these days not to travel very far as I find that there is plenty to see not very far from home. On my own doorstep are a wonderful variety of habitats - natural woodlands, open fells and hill country, unspoilt river valleys and I have easy access to the delights of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. As you will see from my bird images much time is spent at the wonderful coastal sites forming part of Morecambe Bay and the Ribble Estuary e.g. Marshside and Leighton Moss. In recent years Digital Photography has taken over from Video and as time has moved on I have acquired more and more equipment - as you do!! I use Nikon Camera Equipment and currently use a Nikon D200 for general work and a D300 specifically for bird photography. The D300m is usually coupled to a 500mm F4 lens which has dramatically changed the quality of images that I am now able to obtain. I am enjoying being able to post images on Flickr and share the rewards of our wonderful interests with the rest of the world!!!

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