Saltee’s Great black backed Gull
Nikon D7000, 50mm f1.4 lens
Great black backed Gull,Saltee Islands, County Wexford
Wildlife photography : Nigel Borrington
OK, lets put a bit of wildlife colour into the day….
I took this image on a visit to the Saltee islands, county wexford. This wonderful Black backed gull was guarding her eggs very well indeed . What I cannot get across in the picture is the noise of the islands, with thousands of these birds both on the ground and in the air it is one of the best wildlife experiences you could dream of having on a spring day.
Great Black backed Gull
The photograph in my last post is of the Saltee Islands, County wexford. You can only visit the island via boat and mostly with a wildlife group or on days when the boat is booked with a good amount of people. The island is a wildlife paradise and a photographers dream, you can find almost any position on the cliff tops to setup your camera and the birds will just come to you. However moving to find the type or group of bird is advisable.
The Saltee Islands has over 220 species of birds, these included images are of the Great black backed Gull.
“GREAT BLACK BACKED GULL
Great Black backed Gulls are the lords of the seabird colonies. They choose the highest vantage points to build their nests. The adults are unmistakable because of their size, jet black wings and mantle, measuring two and a half feet with a five foot wingspan. The massive bill is yellow with an orange spot on the lower mandible. If an intruder approaches the parents call anxiously and the young birds “freeze” in the dense cover and are hard to locate. The parents also will also make low swoops at the intruders head, however they seldom strike. Great Black backed Gulls breed on the island, and are in abundance all year.”
You can only stay on the island for a day as you have to leave on the last boat, this is to protect the environment of the island as birds nest on almost a hundred percent of the ground area and no camping would be possible.
I got some three hundred usable images from this day so will keep posting images along with some information on the wildlife involved….
Spring rabbit
Nikon D7000, 70-300 vr lens
Last Year I posted this image Spring Rabbit, well they are back in the same field and looking as fruitful as ever. Although this little one looks like something almost had him for dinner. Notice the bite out of his ear….
Working Together
Nikon D90, May 2011
We work together
We work as one
Though there may be times
When we don’t ‘get on’
We may not always
See ‘eye to eye’
And sometimes we feel
Like saying ‘good-bye’
When this happens
We shouldn’t lose heart
For of ‘something greater’
We are all a part
Each one of us
Has a role to play
In making this
A brighter day
Janice Walkden
The Children of Lir
The Children of Lir Irish story – Long ago there lived a king called Lir. He lived with his wife and four children: Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn. They lived in a castle in the middle of a forest. When Lir’s wife died they were all very sad. After a few years Lir got married again. He married a jealous wife called Aoife.
Aoife thought that Lir loved his children more than he loved her. Aoife hated the children. Soon she thought of a plan to get rid of the children.
One summer’s day Aoife took the children to swim in a lake near the castle. The children were really happy to be playing in the water. Suddenly Aoife took out a magic wand. There was a flash of light and the children were nowhere to be seen. All there was to be seen was four beautiful swans, with their feathers as white as snow.
Aoife said, “I have put you under a spell. You will be swans for nine hundred years,” she cackled. “You will spend three hundred years in Lough Derravaragh, three hundred years in the Sea of Moyle and three hundred years in the waters of Inish Glora,” Aoife said. She also said, “You will remain swans for nine hundred years until you hear the ring of a Christian bell.”
She went back to the castle and told Lir that his children had drowned. Lir was so sad he started crying. He rushed down to the lake and saw no children. He saw only four beautiful swans.
One of them spoke to him. It was Fionnuala who spoke to him. She told him what Aoife had done to them. Lir got very angry and turned Aoife into an ugly moth. When Lir died the children were very sad. When the time came they moved to the Sea of Moyle.
Soon the time came for their final journey. When they reached Inish Glora they were very tired. Early one morning they heard the sound of a Christian bell. They were so happy that they were human again. The monk (some even say it was St. Patrick himself) sprinkled holy water on them and then Fionnuala put her arms around her brothers and then the four of them fell on the ground. The monk buried them in one grave. That night he dreamed he saw four swans flying up through the clouds. He knew the children of Lir were with their mother and father.
Nigel Borrington 
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