Yesterday I was supposed to photographing the inaugural Brentwood parkrun however a nasty RTA in Southend mean’t that I was held up so long that I didn’t get there (sorry again guys). I returned home in a bit of a foul mood and decided as I had all my warm clothes on and my gear all with me to go down to the seafront to see what I could find to photograph. I’m glad I did.
The tide was nearly high and the light was gorgeous. I started off taking some photos of some dew laden plants by the roadside and then around the new ramp that has been installed for disabled access to the beach. I then spotted some gulls fishing off the walls around the beach pool as the tide was just getting to the top of the walls.
I watched and photographed the gulls for a while before spotting an Egret a bit further down the beach. An Egret is best described as looking like a white Heron and they are quite common in the south east especially in winter although I have never seen one fishing on the beach. This fellow was a Little Egret I think (yellow feet).
He was fascinating to watch as he looked intently in the water with his head moving from side to side constantly before spearing into the water. I don’t think I actually saw him catch anything but the technique seemed to be all there. I photographed him and a neighboring gull for a while before he moved to the adjacent groyne where I could get some better full body shots.
He didn’t stop long – especially as I tried to get closer to him – and soon flew back to my left onto a concrete slab and then again back to the original groyne. This did give me a chance to snatch some in flight shots which I was quite pleased with although not as sharp as I would have like.
He posed for a while in the full sun before heading off down the the beach and was gone. I was getting pretty cold by this time so headed home – in a much improved mood than earlier.
The photos were all taken on mt Nikon D5200 mostly with my 70-300mm kit lens. I hope you have enjoyed the tale and the photos. Do leave comments if you have any.
andrew kenyon photography 