Tuesday, February 18, 2014

In the pink

Achieved V2...and rotate!
I've been driving past the hides at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary for about ten years, always meaning to stop but never actually getting around to it. Then a couple of weeks go, Nanny Goat asked if she could go and see the flamingoes.

So we went, and took a couple of pictures with Nanny Goat's pocket camera. I discovered that it was possible to get a semi-reasonable shot by taking a photo through a telescope. The other five attempts at this stunt were significantly less successful.

Formation flying.
Anyway, I resolved to return with a bigger camera and a long lens. Yesterday, I stopped at Bird Hide 1 on Ras Al Khor Road, but there were no birds anywhere near the hide. My visit to Bird Hide 2 on Oud Metha Road was much more successful, if being able to photograph large numbers of pink-legged wading birds counts as success.

Touchdown!
It's not only flamingoes. One ornithologist in Bird Hide 2 told me that he'd counted 38 different species that very morning, from marsh harriers to cormorants.

I took over 300 photographs. Thank heavens for digital! Here is a selection of the highlights.

They really do have disproportionately
long legs, don't they?
This is what flamingoes do,
when they're not playing croquet.














]}:-{>
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