Saved by the wagtail

Black-headed gulls, one coming into adult summer (breeding) plumage.

Two days ago the forecast was for sunny spells, so my plan was to head to a couple of coastal locations and see what I could find. But it was thickly overcast all day, so I cancelled. The following day turned out better than expected - a break in the cloud over the Fylde was large enough to give two or three hours of genuinely warm sunshine. But I popped to the park instead - originally I would have gone up to Fleetwood, or maybe down to Starr Gate (either end of the tram line), but I took so long, I ended up just walking down to the central section of the beach at sunset. More on that shortly...

When I started getting into bird photography a couple of years ago, tufted ducks (this is a male) were one of the most frustrating - but enticing - subjects. Common but wary, I got longer lenses and teleconverters just to improve my shots. But ultimately, you can't beat a bird that's happy to come close.

Why the park? Well it's that pesky Mediterranean gull again. Seen on and off, but never when I (or David M) looked. It's so close though, I can go regularly, so I set off in hope. But on arrival I realised, it was half term - and the quiet hour I was hoping to spend was not to materialise. Actually it wasn't too busy, but I still had to field questions from curious passers by, and people were feeding the birds, so they didn't stay in one place.

 Surely the finest native duck - a male shoveler. Again, an unusually confiding bird allowed great shots - this is only slightly cropped.

And there were a lot of gulls. Perhaps three hundred or more. People would feed them in different locations, so they flew back and forth, making close examination difficult. However, I spent long enough looking to be sure they were all the common species - actually 90%+ were black-headed. I had remembered to take bird food for the first time, so I walked over to the stump ring, where nuthatches are often seen, but was waylaid by the highlight of the day - a grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea). Only the second time I've seen on in the park, and my closest and longest encounter ever. It was harassed by a commoner pied wagtail, which is the only reason I noticed it - they are small, and although ceaselessly active, can be easily overlooked feeding at the edge of the water.

Most of the shots were out of focus, because it was so fast, but some worked out well (getting me my second Flickr Explore of the year). There was also a very tame and photogenic male shoveler - these are common, but rarely come close enough for good shots.

Sadly the nuthatches never showed. Even when a second photographer put different food out. Just the tamest great tits I've ever seen, and bluetits and various pigeons. I checked the gulls again on my return journey, but then four fire engines turned up (nobody was sure why) and they all flew away. Perhaps next time.

Great tits are so common, and often semi-tame, so these are hardly groundbreaking shots. But they are still lovely birds to spend time with - and these ones had especially vibrant plumage.

A song(?) thrush was feeding nearby. I don't see these all that often.

I got even closer to the wagtail on the way back, but most shots were obscured or out of focus.

A frenzy of gulls - but not the one I wanted.

So after returning home and recharging my camera battery, I popped down to the beach around sunset. A bit late, really - although the clouds had partially broken again, it was rather too dark to be using a long lens. I checked out the gulls - nothing special; the oystercatchers were numerous and returning noisily from inland (high tide having been earlier in the afternoon). Out to sea there were birds - possibly even a few scoters in some shots, but far too indistinct to be sure. One thing that has frustrated me most in the last couple of years is how many great birds are seen out there every day, but almost all are inaccessible for photography - a lens can't reach as far as a telescope, or even good binoculars.

Here are some common beach birds nonetheless - ISO 3200 due to low light, and I was pretty far from them all, so this is for illustration only:

An adult lesser black-backed gull - note the yellow legs and mid-grey back.

A third winter herring gull (?) - pink legs and a paler grey back - the mottling is a sign of its immaturity (they only get adult plumage in their fourth year).

Another black and white bird that spurred on my early photography - an oystercatcher. There are hundreds on the beach at this time of year, but they don't usually allow close approach.