Patience Pays
5 Aug 26
A few years ago I visited the beautiful and unspoilt Erme estuary in Devon, England. I was trekking along the shore and the tidal flats with my camera looking for birds to photograph. I spent some time by a quiet pond observing the birdlife. The usual suspects were there: Mallards, Egrets, Moorhen, Coots and a Heron. Not too interesting … but over on the far side was a small diver, popping up and frequently disappearing just to reappear somewhere else. It was skittish and shy, enjoying the inaccessible far side of the pond. It was a mere speck in my camera viewfinder. Even with an 800mm lens it was just too small and too distant.
Shot at 1120mm @ f/9, 1/250s, ISO 4500
It was a Little Grebe. A lovely bird. UK’s smallest diver at a mere 125 grams in weight. It only really comes on land to breed. It thrives in reeds and thick vegetation on lakes, ponds and estuaries, and feeds on fish and aquatic invertebrates. It is an elusive and shy bird, diving for long durations to avoid danger, and popping up a fair distance from where it disappeared. As such it can be difficult to spot and photograph.
Shot at 1120mm @ f/9, 1/250s, ISO 5000
I did manage to get a shot of the Grebe, but only something that would be useful for identification purposes and nothing exciting image-wise. I made a note to come back and spend more time at this pond next time I was in the area, in pursuit of a better image of this little waterbird.
I have been back three time since with a similar result: A long distant not-so-interesting image of the Little Grebe. It just stayed too far away. This large pond is quite inaccessible with steep overhanging sides, with only a narrow track through the bushes to a limited waterside viewpoint. Patience is required, sitting very still and partly hidden, waiting for the birds to come close enough to capture a decent image.
Shot at 1120mm @ f/10, 1/250s, ISO 3600
In late June this year I was back for a fourth time. Up at 4:30am to get to the pond for 6am. I made myself comfortable (among the swarming insects :-o ) with my camera on a monopod. I had attached a 1.4 teleconverter to my 800mm lens giving me a 1120mm focal length for maximum reach. The drawback was the small max aperture of f/9, and with little light in the morning the shooting conditions were tricky. Hours passed by with little activity apart from the ubiquitous Mallard Ducks and the odd Heron flying about. All in all, I sat there for almost 4 hours.
Shot at 1120mm @ f/10, 1/200s, ISO 4000
After almost two hours the light improved a little and I spotted the Litte Grebe on the distant side of the pond … of course. Even with the reach of my long lens, it was too far away for any meaningful photography. But at least it was there. I waited another hour. And slowly it moved closer … and for an added bonus … it had two chicks. For a few minutes the mother and the chicks came within adequate shooting range. She was diving for food and feeding the chicks who clearly were recent fledglings.
Shot at 1120mm @ f/10, 1/250s, ISO 2500
For those few minutes I was busy behind the lens, observing and capturing images. The patience, long waits and repeat visits had paid off. I got some decent shots of the Little Grebe. The shooting conditions were tricky until the sun appeared briefly late on. I kept the shutter speed as slow as I safely could with such a long focal length to keep the ISO (noise) under control. The resulting images required a bit of careful post-processing, but turned out pretty well in my view. Even so, I’ve made a mental note to head back next June to see if I can improve on these results. And, also for the pleasure of spending time on a quiet summer morning observing the interaction between the mother and chicks … despite all the mozzie bites!
Eventually the sun broke through and lit up pockets of the pond: Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/3200s, ISO 1600