Inland as the sun sinks

I deliberately intended to be in the right place at the right time, to get some pictures of birds as the sun was low in the sky at the end of the day. And this I did.

I also met Mark (a man of discerning taste as a Canon user :)) and we fell into conversation. Mark had been watching the Canada Geese, Mallards etc. regularly to see when they flew up and off to roost in the evening. Time went on, Mark and I must having been waiting from some 40 minutes or so, and the witching hour came and went; we had to conclude that they weren't going to fly off whilst we waited.

However, the time was really well spent and the light was wonderful. I love this time of the year for the lighting conditions and these will get better as we go through October - so fingers crossed I'm going to get the shots that I'd like.

If you find your way here Mark - hope you got some good shots.

This is what was around in the late afternoon.
Male Red-Crested Pochard dozing in the sun

stretching his wings...

Female Tufted Duck

Male Tufted Duck

Black-headed Gull - in flight

Female Wigeon

Sun lighting a Mute Swan

Mute Swan

Male Mallard - I just wish I'd had time to compose this shot properly. Managed to decapitate the wing tips and exposure is wrong.

Bottoms up! (Mallards)

Sun bathing Canada Geese

Canada Geese