Isle of May, Firth of Forth (1 Viewer)

I have just returned from a week staying on the Isle of May. It's not nearly as well known for it's sea bird colonies as the Farnes but in my opinion it's actually better although it's that bit further to travel if you live in the south of the UK.
There are daily sailings during the season ( except Wednesdays) that give you 2-3 hours on the island which also has far more space for wandering than the Farnes. There must be around 250,000 breeding birds there, the 46,000 Puffins being the big attraction for most.
If anyone wants to look at my report I have a blog in progress. Detail on this page!

Dave Williams said:

I have just returned from a week staying on the Isle of May. It's not nearly as well known for it's sea bird colonies as the Farnes but in my opinion it's actually better although it's that bit further to travel if you live in the south of the UK.
There are daily sailings during the season ( except Wednesdays) that give you 2-3 hours on the island which also has far more space for wandering than the Farnes. There must be around 250,000 breeding birds there, the 46,000 Puffins being the big attraction for most.
If anyone wants to look at my report I have a blog in progress. Detail on this page!

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I see you have a picture of the West Landing on your blog. A group of us had to leave by this route in a Force 8-9 easterly gale in the 70s. This involved clambering down the iron ladder, waiting till the boat came up again to the foot of the ladder amd jumping, placing one's foot on the side of the boat and being grabbed by the crew to stop oneself being crushed between the boat and the wall. Not an experience I would wish to repeat. By the time we got back to Anstruther we were completely white all over with salt sea-spray.

Plus we were hit by the current half way across, with a loud thump, which made the boat jump approximately 20 feet sideways, nearly sending someone over.

Good birdwatching day though (Icterine warbler etc).

Cheers

Sorry to bring back bad memories!!!!
You have a story to tell the grandkids though as I was told when we hit a force 12 gale in our cruise ship a couple of years ago. Not something you want to do again though.

Dave Williams said:

Sorry to bring back bad memories!!!!
You have a story to tell the grandkids though as I was told when we hit a force 12 gale in our cruise ship a couple of years ago. Not something you want to do again though.

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Too true. I remember us watching the boat coming to rescue us (no food) and seeing it disappear for long periods before coming up again. The people who took us out there for the day trip had realised that the sudden change of weather had risked stranding us, and had, rather bravely I thought, decided to come and get us. They could have easily said no for their own safety.

The Isle of May, besides being good for seabirds, sometimes throws up interesting land migrants as well. I always enjoyed reading the reports in the old days. My strongest memory is of nearly stepping on a Jack Snipe, which then proceeded to tum itself into the semblance of a dead stick.

Cheers

That's another blog finished!

Great blog Dave and superb pictures, thanks for sharing

willimac said:

Great blog Dave and superb pictures, thanks for sharing

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Thanks, my pleasure.

I used several lenses, 600mm, 500mm,100-400 and 70-200.
When the subject was standing still most shots were taken with a telephoto lens, flights shots with the zooms as it's easier to hand hold one of them. Given patience and time you can get within a few feet of all of the seabirds,ducks and gulls when both flying and standing still. I use a telephoto so as not to invade their space as much as possible. Puffins will be within a few feet but you have to be aware that they have made a long flight, up to 80 miles out to sea, to bring back fish to the burrow. They are attacked by the waiting gulls who try to get them to drop their load.Some try and fly directly in to the burrow entrance, others land nearby and wait for an opportune moment to dash to the entrance hole when they sense the coast is clear. A photographer, worse still a group of photographers/ observers ( as happens when the tour boats arrive) may well block the path to the burrow. The Puffin will wait for ages but it increases the chance of a gull attack which if successfully avoided still means the Puffin has to fly off again making a wide circular flight, sometimes several times, before returning and starting all over again.It's hard work being a Puffin !

Thanks, Dave,
I think it is hard work being a bird, period!
I figured you must have been also using something longer than 400mm, so I deleted my (stupid ;-) ) question.
You know the saying, for birds you can never have enough reach. I have been using an Olympus E-M1 (mFT) with a Canon 400/5.6 on it. That's 800mm in FF terms, and still about half the time I have a 1.4x Extender III stuck in between. Good light weight rig. At my age, (72) the desire to haul around a Big White Monster is rather small.
Hats off, mate. Great blog and really fine shots!

DanC.Licks said:

Thanks, Dave,
I think it is hard work being a bird, period!
I figured you must have been also using something longer than 400mm, so I deleted my (stupid ;-) ) question.
You know the saying, for birds you can never have enough reach. I have been using an Olympus E-M1 (mFT) with a Canon 400/5.6 on it. That's 800mm in FF terms, and still about half the time I have a 1.4x Extender III stuck in between. Good light weight rig. At my age, (72) the desire to haul around a Big White Monster is rather small.
Hats off, mate. Great blog and really fine shots!

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Certainly wasn't a stupid question, in fact your guess was pretty near the mark.
I do use a 1DX too.
At 65 I'm all too aware that time is running out on the heavy weight lenses for me as well although I have to say the MK2 versions, especially the 600 are far more user friendly. I can even hand hold the 500 now!
cheers Dave.

Thanks,
The MK2s really look good, I have to admit... if not a tad pricey...
I have done a lot with 600mm astro-telescopes on a LensMaster gimbal. Samples here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/42162009@N04/albums/72157635228747166
https://www.flickr.com/photos/42162009@N04/albums/72157635228747166

No way I could hand hold that beast, especially when it is all manual focus. Sharp though, if air permits. I always say air is our worst enemy! I HATE warm weather!