Shorelark, Hayling island

Although this bird was present weeks ago I think it deserves a post just to show off some shots of this very obliging and stunning bird! Shorelark is a very good bird for Hampshire although my 3rd and 2nd on Hayling island! Norfolk has had very good numbers this year so I suppose it isn't a surprise one or two others have been dotted about! On my first visit the light was terrible and being quite a bright faced bird it was very hard to get the image right! Some were too dark and others too bright however I did manage a few usable images from the first visit!

On my 2nd visit the light was amazing but with good weather comes plenty of dog walkers and the general public! Most were understanding however some did insist on ignoring birders polite requests to walk round which led to flushing the bird on a few occasions! Also I have read some posts about photographers harassing the bird, generally most were very good! I did walk to where the bird was and positioned myself and waited until the shorelark walked on top of the shingle ridge however it seems some didn't see it that way! I'll let my photos do the talking and I can assure you that I didn't flush the bird at any time to get these! Some people just need to understand that birds have wings if they don't want you close they won't let you! The more you chase them the more likely they will properly bugger off and you won't get any shots at all so for me to get these tells me the bird wasn't fazed by my presence!!!