Monday 24 September 2007

Bockhill, Back to birding and views.

The Red-backed Shrike was still around this afternoon. It had moved a short way from where I saw it on Friday and now was using the sheltered side of the hedge on the north side of the Paddock. Unfortunately this meant either looking into the sun or trying to get a picture of it in deep shade.
Occasionally I thought that I was going to be able to get close enough to do some justice to this beautiful subject, But...

... it is amazing the lengths it would go to in order to avoid getting it its photo taken properly.


While it was watching the Shrike I noticed that looking towards the football pitch I could see the top of the ash tree that was lopped in our garden. I don't think that I'd be able to see the Shrike from the attic window though, so it want get on the "house list".

Turning round and taking in the view in the opposite direction I realised that there were a lot of significant points of interest in the picture. The former Richborough Power Station dominates the skyline at I believe the 300 acre site is one of the "strategic sites" in Kent and has planning granted for a "waste to energy" facility, what ever this form of words means. Near by as wind-turbine stands. It never has been see working and I've been told this is because it has never had the correct planning consent. It is worth noting that it is very small in comparison to those proposed to ruin our environment at West Langdon. I can also see a number of the building on the Pfizer site at Sandwich. This company has been in the news recently because of the proposed loss of jobs in their manufacturing facility there. Lastly you can see the much more soothing site of the Windmill at Ripple, industrialisation from a previous era that we all find far more acceptable the its modern equivalent.
Turning round again, now towards the sea I noticed the wave breaking over the distant Goodwin Sands.

I couldn't resist including this picture I took on Friday evening at Kingsdown beach. A large number of Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gull were on feeding off shore and coming in to rest on the shingle. I took some pictures of them on the ground, but this was the one that appealed to me most.

3 comments:

Kingsdowner said...

Great photo of the gulls & terns - it's today's screensaver (no copyright I hope?)

I'll try to twitch the shrike this evening, so that pretty much guarantees its departure.

me ann my camera said...

Such wonderful energy in the Tern and Gull photo. Great pic.
Also to let you know I have now opened my wildflower blog for public viewing.
F. Ann

Tony Morris said...

Thank you, Steve and Ann. One of the fascinations of photography is that, for some photos a great deal of thought goes in to the angles, composition, exposure etc, others you just point and shot and hope the subject does it for you, as in this case.