Yet another Sora... Having already seen two Soras in Britain (the popular Notts bird in late 2004 and the Scilly bird of Autumn 2005) the news of one at Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire was initially uninteresting. However, a combination of events lead to a change in my attitude - 1) the photos indicated that the bird could be good for photos, 2) Marc Read was going so I didn't particularly fancy being gripped off by his photos and 3) there was a strike among the lecturers at uni. On the minus side it meant that I had to get up at 3am, a full 9 or 10 hours before I would do so usually on a free day with the likelihood of bad weather. After meeting Marc and collecting Josh Jones, we battled through the traffic on the abysmal Lincs roads, eventually arriving at Gibraltar Point just after 8am. Cheerful birders in the car park informed us that the bird was still present and showing very well. On arrival at the birds' favoured ditch, it became clear that viewing the bird wouldn't be completely straightforward. There were a few birders crammed onto a bridge and a few on a bank, but otherwise it would be virtually impossible to see down the ditch. A few birders had got down to the other end of the ditch, providing several advantages such as more space, better angle for photos and any of the feeble amount of light available would be behind us. Having checked that it was ok with the birders on the bridge and seeing that the bird was taking absolutely no notice of the people already over there, we went to join them. (Apparently this was frowned upon, so apologies!) The Sora performed superbly on and off for the next few hours, coming as close as 6 metres at times, and was pretty well nailed (despite the poor light) as I hope the low resolution versions below show.
Some may say that seeing three Soras in the UK in the space of 16 months is somewhat excessive, but they're quality, confiding and showy birds and my photos have improved with each individual!
Images taken with Canon EOS 20D, 500mm f4 IS lens, some with 1.4x TC, Gitzo 1348 and Wimberley Sidekick.
Prints of this bird are for sale |
