Naerlande in August

This is the time for the return of the waders on their autumn migration south. Along with the adults, they youngsters make up quite a significant potion of the numbers. Most numerous are probably the Dunlins and the Godwits. Among the crowd are Common Ring Plover, Ruddy Tursntone, Grey Plover, Redshanks and other smaller sandpipers.

I put to use the EF400/4.0 DO IS II USM lens. Lightweight and sharp, it proved to be the ideal tool for close up shots of the small waders from just about the right distance (2-3m) where the 300 would be just slightly too far and the 600 just a bit too close. Next up would be to see how easy or appropriate this lens is for shooting with flash at night, to capture waders feeding after dark.

The lens+7DMk2 combo is light enough for sharp handheld shots without a tripod. The f4 provided the soft background quite nicely and sufficient light to shoot at 1/1600 secs on a bright sunny dat at Iso 400.

Focusing on moving objects is still something I need to practice on. Not sure if my inability to focus on the Godwit in flight successfully was attributed to lens autofocusing IQ or my own knack for panning.

There should be enough light and warmth the next couple of weeks to make several more attempts at Naerlande with this lens. Hopefully more waders pass this way as per past years ...

Images and words by Nazeri Abghani 30th Aug 2015

Naerland nights

Another attempt at shooting the Naerland waders at night ... mostly Dunlins. It proved to be a bit cumbersome with cables hanging around everywhere. First attempt with 300/2.8 was a-okay but the images of the birds seemed a bit small due to the distance to the birds. A second attempt with the 600/4 was a complete failure ... lugging a 300 with a small tripod (for the flash) proved to be easier than lugging the monster 600 on a tripod with flash attached (including cables to the battery pack).

Perhaps the second attempt would've been a bit more successful if there was some pre-planning involved. Lessons learnt : You can't shoot the 600 impromptu and expect to get results.

World Shorebird Day 06th Sep 2014

Gyorgy Szimuly successfully lobbied wader watchers around world to set aside 3 days from 5-7th September to watch, count and enjoy everybody's favorite waders all around the globe. Thus it went, Neil Robert Jones Friestad and Nazeri Abghani, waderwatched on a gloomy and raining Saturday morning counting little grey waders and telling tall stories.

We counted approximately 2000 birds, 80 % being Dunlin, 10 % Common Ringed Plover, and another 10 % consisting of Knots, Sanderling, Little Stint, Ruddy Turnstone and Ruff.

Last year there were approximately 5000 juveniles converging on these very beach ... perhaps the crummy weather kept them away on this World Shorebirds Day 2014.

Quick impromptu dash to Naerland this morning

I missed Spring migration completely this year ... spent 3 weeks in Malaysia mid June, so days prior to that was filled up with catching up on items requiring attention prior to the holiday. I managed zero birdwatching time while back in Malaysia ... decided to not bring any birding gear for holiday.

Came back to Norway at the height of summer and the month of Ramadhan ... I should've been able to do some birding but all the lethargy practically stumped all opportunities of getting up and about to birdwatch.

This morning I thought I'd get in on some Autumn migration action before it too passes by in case I blinked. As per last year, Naerland did not dissappoint ... being Sunday morning there weren't too many people walking about. Other birders were either busy at Reve (saw several vehicles parked by the roadside), occupied ticking off rarities as a result of the big storm last night or were still at church.

There were many waders this morning although the beach was not yet at it's full potential capacity. The birds were probably just starting their journey south. Most were Dunlins (in resplendant summer colors), Common Ring Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Little Stint, Rednecked Stint, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Grey Plover, Redshank and Curlew (in the fields nearby). Dunlin were in highest number.

Other birds in the area were Common Eider, Cormorants (in flight), Greylag Goose (in flight), Ruddy Shelduck (in flight).

Note :

Going out on a whim isn't always a good idea unless you don't plan to take any pictures. I loaded the car with a large tripod, the big lens ... halfway through the journey I remembered the camera body had an almost depleted battery. Felt blessed that I was compelled to also bring a smaller 100D when I entered the car this morning. Even at only 4frames/sec I managed to come home with some pictures. Reminder to self, "Pack the night before, charge all batteries after each trip and plan ahead!"

Naerland Nord

Having seen the big numbers when the day was wet, cold and windy the week before: I couldn't wait to see what it's like on  a relatively good weather day. I rushed back to Naerland very early Saturday morning to check out my favorite birds.

Originally I thought of doing a timelapse of waders feeding and flying off, as it turned out the wader numbers weren't too significant and they were spread out, not to mention that the remote unit didn't reach as far as I thought. That idea was quickly abandoned.

I left most of the gear in the car and decided to explore Naerland Nord, a short northerly walk away. This was the upper section of the beach ... rocky and full of rotting kelp. And full of birds  ... ducks, seagulls, waders, all of them are there! Armed now with only the 400/5.6 and half of a battery life, I decided to stay. I edged closer and closer towards the shore and towards the birds.

It was exhilarating (in addition to the sweet acrid smell of decomposing kelp) to be amidst this order within chaos. Waders all over the place : Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Little Stint, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Redshank, Dunlin, Eurasian Curlew, Oystercatcher, Common Ringed Plover, as well as Grey Plover. There are ducks Common Eider and Mallards; seagulls, cormorants and starling. Every half and hour a Peregrine Falcon swooped by onto the buffet  ... and thousands of winged wonders took up to the skies, swirling and circling towards the sea and landed back onto the kelp buffet table in a few minutes.

Last year I spent many and outing searching for THE wader spots in Jaeren, looks like this year I can vouch for two ... Naerland and Reve. Wondering now how the numbers are at Madland, Obrestad, and Kvassheim these last few days! 

Finally it's a case of too little time, too many waders!

PS: Reminder to self - lug all gear all over the place!

Words and images by Nazeri Abghani/07Sep2013

Naerlande Sor

Last week was my last visit to Naerlande. It was wet, cold and raining ... and I was there with my son, Ali for our short Sunday drive before dinner. Since it was raining, I decided that there was no real need to pack up the usual gear but in the end decided to lug the 40D coupled with a 150mm in any case.

We drove for almost 40 minutes before reaching the beach, the rain did not let up. We decided to peek out on the beach. There was a mass of waders flitting about eagerly feeding amongst the kelp washed ashore. They flew up and around at every perceived danger, made a circle and came back to the very same spot. There was no once else on the beach except us. Autumn beach walking is very popular here, I guess not so when it's pouring.

Equipped with only the 150mm, options for wader photography was rather limited. And it was raining. Ali quickly ran back to the car when he decided it was enough waders for the day, while I decided to hang about and watch.

At one point I was 5-6 feet away from the birds, with the rain and abundance of food, they did not seem to bother too much and just continued feeding. I stayed low on the ground and made a few shots and only left when the wind started to pick up and rain started to get heavier.

Most of the waders were Dunlin, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Ringed Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit. The interesting thing about wader watching is that you sometimes don't know what's in the flock. Being so close to them pose great possibilities but then it was raining heavily and the wind chilling ...

Text and images by Nazeri Abghani/01Sep2013