Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
These are often seen in countryside and meadowland. They feed on insects and plant material. They are ground nesting laying 3 -
Getting close enough to take detailed photographs of these fast moving birds is often difficult. The images here were taken from a car. The car acted as a hide, this way it become a ‘moving’ hide, one person drives while the other takes the photographs. Use a fast shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster, you will only have a few seconds to get the shot.
Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus)
The rock and Scandanavian Pipit are usually treated as one species with the water species being given a separate status. The rock is a mainly resident bird of rocky coasts. They often feed in one area in the winter and breed in a different one in the summer. They pick invertebrates from the debris if the strandline and rocks in winter and insects from the grassy areas of the beach in the summer. Their nest are hidden in rock crevices close to the shore or on grassy slopes. They lay 4 -
These pictures were taken on the edge of the cliffs at Marwick Head RSPB reserve on the mainland of Orkney. The camera was on a tripod with a manfrotto 393 gimbal type head. The setup was a 500mm lens with a 1.7 tc, we were mainly photographing the cliff nesting birds and reacted quickly when this little beauty arrived. It was taken in bright sunshine with a shutter speed of 1/2000 and an f stop of F10 and an iso of 800.