The Black-tailed Godwit

[PeterD]

This is a wader, larger than a Redshank,

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Redshank to rear of Godwit.

but smaller than a Black-headed Gull.

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Godwit to rear.

Flocks of these can be seen flying over Langstone Harbour, moving between the islands/Farlington marshes and the harbour coastline at each change in tide.

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Normally they peacefully feed, side by side, in the shallow waters.

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Photographed in Portsmouth Harbour the previous day @ ISO 1600.

With the cold weather we have been having, occasionally individual birds will protect good feeding sites.

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Such encounters can lead to real damage to the combatants.

Hope this interests you and thanks for viewing.

[Ian]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

Lovely sequence, Peter.

I can recommend posting a bit larger - 800 pixels wide is a good size.

Ian

[PeterD]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

Lovely sequence, Peter.

I can recommend posting a bit larger - 800 pixels wide is a good size.

Ian

Thank you Ian.

I shall take your advice and go for 800px in future - Thanks for that too

[Barr1e]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

Lovely sequence, Peter.


Ian

Yes, indeed it is.

Thanks for your advice Peter re the Egret. (Fill lighting.)

Regards. Barr1e

[PeterD]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

Yes, indeed it is.

Thanks for your advice Peter re the Egret. (Fill lighting.)

Regards. Barr1e

Thank you for your comment Barr1e

[Pops]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

You must have posed the 2 in the 2nd just for a comparison photograph.
The last 2 are super action shots

[PeterD]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

You must have posed the 2 in the 2nd just for a comparison photograph.
The last 2 are super action shots

Thanks Pops
I always have trouble remembering the size of birds and thought that the comparison shots would help. I was lucky though with #2. I could not have positioned the birds better if I tried.
As for the last two, I have only ever seen these birds feeding well together as a community so when this fracas broke out, I just had to record it.

[Ian]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

To see how some birds can be a bit mean to each other, see:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyST18_rEDA"]Swan attempts to have fresh duck for lunch - YouTube[/ame]

No lasting harm was done, apparently. This was taken by one of the regulars at the Olympus UK forum we run (http://e-group.uk.net).

Ian

[PeterD]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

To see how some birds can be a bit mean to each other, see:
No lasting harm was done, apparently. This was taken by one of the regulars at the Olympus UK forum we run (http://e-group.uk.net).

Ian

Hi Ian,
Thanks for posting the video.
Swans are very aggressive. I have watched a male swan grab a rival by the neck and hold its head down under water to drown it. In another case, the male swan flew over to a goose and deliberately landed on it to push it under water. In this case the goose swam out from under and exited rapidly down river - all the time submerged and only surfacing when at a safe distance.

The notion that swans are graceful creatures is NOT strictly true.

[Caz]

Re: The Black-tailed Godwit

Hi Ian,
Thanks for posting the video.
Swans are very aggressive. I have watched a male swan grab a rival by the neck and hold its head down under water to drown it. In another case, the male swan flew over to a goose and deliberately landed on it to push it under water. In this case the goose swam out from under and exited rapidly down river - all the time submerged and only surfacing when at a safe distance.

The notion that swans are graceful creatures is NOT strictly true.

Hear hear - on visiting Bibury several years ago I saw a young swan attack a family of ducks. Although the mother duck fought back, she lost several of her ducklings


I didn't post these to the galleries - I only had a compact at the time, and these are zoomed in