Homemakers

 

These Black legged Kittiwakes were so busy flying back and forth from the creek where they were collecting nest building materials. What was amazing was the way they landed with precision on the narrow ledges and how they then constructed and secured their nests on the smallest of rocky shelves where very soon they will be raising their families of little Kittiwake chicks.

From the Harbour Wall

This view of Staithes was taken from a jetty just inside the harbour walls the other side of which the cold North Sea was battering with huge waves. Safe within the walls there was only a gentle swell so it was clear that the wall was performing a really important function.

I have tried something different with this image reducing the saturation of the foreground and background to highlight the colours of the houses in the village. I have slightly raised the saturation in the sky to add a little bit of colour.  I think it works quite well but if you have any comments please leave them below.
 

Lobster Pots at Staithes

 I had a lovely post lockdown day out recently with my mum, we visited Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast. it is a quaint little village famous as the place that James Cook started his career working for a local merchant before becoming a famous explorer.

I really like the lobster pots piled up along the jetty, i think they are very photogenic.

Seabirds and Waders

There's quite a lot to see in today's post with a variety of birds spotted on my walk along the beaches at Runswick Bay and Staithes.

The first shot is of a pair of loved up Fulmar. While I was watching them they engaged in a bit of courtship behaviour unfortunately the shots I got of that were not very clear, given the light and the distance and the fact that I was shooting against a dark background it was quite tricky getting a sharp image. These birds are not gulls but a species of Petrel and they have a distinctive channel on top of their beak. I tried to get some shots of them in flight and they are really skilled fliers, they move so fast so I didn't get the shots I had hoped. I was amazed how they could fly directly at the cliff face at speed and then at the very last moment brake and land safely on the smallest of ledges.

The next three pictures are of Oyster Catchers, three in flight and then others wading in the shallow pools and silt. These seem really gentle birds and they allowed me to get quite close.

The next picture is of a Herring Gull, I think these are quite beautiful birds although they have a bit of a reputation as thugs and thieves.  They're quite fearless around people and are known to steal food from peoples' hands.  This particular bird was patrolling the car park at Staithes looking for handouts, he didn't get anything from me.

The final pictures are my favourite from today, not necessarily because they are great photos but more because they are of a bird I had never seen before, a Turnstone.  These lovely little birds were scavenging among the debris along the shoreline in the harbour at Staithes.  They were quite gregarious and seemed quite at ease with my presence taking pictures. The first of these shots shows the bird living up to its' name.

On The Quayside

The first of today's pictures is a view of Runswick Bay, I took this shot because I liked the way the village is reflected in the wet sand in the foreground. I had originally intended to get down onto the beach a little further along the coast at Kettleness. I was looking for a path down the cliffs and was told by a local fisherman that the path was very poor and quite dangerous in places and that the final 100 feet was via a rope. I did not fancy that loaded up with my camera gear so I was directed to Runswick Bay which fortunately has easy access to the beach and the shoreline beneath the cliffs.

Further north from this spot is Staithes a quaint little fishing village and location for (Captain) James Cook's first job in a merchants office. In the summer season the place is a hive of activity with lots of tourists but on a cold February day it was anything but. Most of the shops were closed and the few people brave enough to face the steep streets down to the harbour and then the arduous climb back up didn't stay very long.

The second shot is of a few of the small fishing boats at anchor in the small harbour taking shelter from the incoming tide and heavy seas. All of the boats were very colourful but look quite sad.

The last two shots are by far my favourite. I think they are really evocative and full of character. The lobster pots were, like the boats, quite colourful with brightly coloured tags and floats but having taken both colour and black and white shots I think the black and white are the stronger images.

While taking these pictures I spotted a local lobsterman, checking on his pots and making sure everything was in order. He took some time to answer my questions too which was really nice.  He explained that these pots/traps are for both lobsters and crabs depending on the time of year and that they set them up to three miles offshore and would go out everyday in order to make a living. He was frustrated because the weather and sea conditions had not allowed him to get out to sea and so he was not making any money for that day.