Bird Watching Going for Waders Wanna go birding? Where jeram! Of yes Waders season, why Not? Off we went on a wet wet morning when we left PJ. In no time we would be in Ah Tee's place. Low tide would only be 8.50am, plenty of time to kill. So happen that Ah Tee's youngest sister has not met me before and so off we went into the "pau factory"  for souvenir shot. Nearly an hour to kill we trod along the beach road, but nothing exciting at this hour and weather condition. We settled down at the beach and waited. Waders pix # 1 Catching up old friends -Ah Tee's wife and youngest sister Waders pix # 2 Bird watching Ah?  Wrong day la? The Birds are taking a rest. No Waders! Waders pix # 3 Empty, dull and dark day. Could you see any birds within this frame? See carefully! Actually there were two birds nearby and more out at the water edge pix # 4 Do some photography -  A sea of Bayhops or Beach Morning Glory [Ipomoea pes-caprae] Waders pix # 5 Close-up of a flower - showered with morning rain drops Waders pix # 6 Shell-fish gatherer hard at work in the mudflats Waders pix # 7 His harvest for the day - "LaLa" Waders pix # 8 A pair of Sandpipers flew in and making their scene for me. A break at last Waders pix # 8 Landed - poor lightings was not helping me to bring out the brown tinge on this Sandpiper Waders pix # 9 But in the distance far, far away where the incoming waterline where the tides were rolling - there was a party going on Waders pix # 10 The Little heron never fails to do his bit to bring cheers Waders pix # 11 Well, this guy happily enjoying his morning breakfast - ready and eaten Waders pix # 12 Actually we were really not conscious. The Kingfishers were watching us all these while and also for a very long time Waders pix # 13 The lone parent some diatnce away just off the mudflats floor - quietly sizing up the situation Waders pix # 14 To the juvenile - "Your turn to fly closer to test the water?" So faithfully one landed in a spot quite close to us Waders pix # 15 "Old men birders, both blurry would not be bothering us"  So - quite safe for us to continue the routine Waders pix # 16 Back to my perch Waders pix # 17 Good landing for you Kingfisher and I got you in  a flying shot too! Waders pix # 18 The family all together enjoying their day! Why can't we do that too? Waders pix # 18 The shoal of Waders did not show! Tired with no encouraging results, we left the beach. In another location. Time to pick up a good shot Waders pix # 19 We were making our way home for an early exit. Stephen suggested to give ourselves one more try! This time a little bit further away at the restaurant. Nothing else to shoot at too. But the same scene we saw earlier, far way under the misty sky - Blurry shots, never mind - also take pictures la! Waders pix # 20 Oh! A Tern  Never mind can record as our collection Waders pix # 21 Then another! Actually despite of the poor weather, which was routine at this tme, life went on as usual. Only not within the confine that we would have like, still that day brought out rather strong bird life Waders pix # 22 OK! The third Tern -  enough. Waders pix # 23 In contrast, a large Grey Heron flew past on the overhead Waders pix # 24 Back to my exercise of capturing flying shots of tiny birds from far away. It was quite fun, as long as we were not that choosy. Waders pix # 25 Wow! A Curlew! This time Waders pix # 26 At last we found our targetted birds!!! Here were the Waders. Hiding in the mangrove forest, Sneaking out then Waders pix # 27 Hold It! More Curlew were spotted Flying now Waders pix # 28 Nice, a bit too small and in poor resolution Waders pix # 29 Nearby, more activity were also picking up Waders pix # 30 Oh! The Stork were changing feeding spots at last. There was some sort of timing unknown to us. Everything was happening at the same moment Waders pix # 31 And away they went Waders pix # 32 Not that far away a flight. Just a stone throw, Landing but equally far out in the distance waterline Waders pix # 33 Yeah, good idea. It was Rgt50 for a ride. Could have hired a boat to bring us closer. IF we know for sure that Waders were around. Waders pix # 34 Back to our target Waders. Upon seeing us they were slowly inching back into the forest hide out once more Waders pix # 35 Shot first Talk later! This was the batch on the left side of lone tree - I counted there were 53 Waters, almost all of them are Redshanks Waders pix # 36 Then on the right side of the tree but just outside of the forest I counted another lot of 62 Waders Waders pix # 37 Nice to see them assembled in a row but it was challenging to make proper pictures Dark birds against a very white backdrop. Now I could only make out the red eyes Waders pix # 38 I tried to salvage some pictures. Try to make some sense out of the blurry shots Waders pix # 39 Most of the birds were looking away from us. Difficult to catch their faces. In the end, concluded it was not easy to enhance whatever basic shots I gathered Waders pix # 40 Another attempt, the source is weak Hard to get out what ever details which is not there Oh what a day! How the bonus were thrown in! Very satisfying day Thank You for going through.

 

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