Sitting on the banks of the River Avon in Northam waiting for the first light of the sun to seep into the shadows and herald the start of a new day. The birds on the sandbanks and in the trees are just beginning to stir. I was there to photograph Black-fronted Dotterels.

 

As the sun’s light filtered through the trees it created a beautiful chiaroscuro that Renaissance artists could only dream about. The Black-winged Stilts and the Yellow-billed Spoonbills were literally glowing against the dark background. Light like this is magical and you can see why it was used in so many religious paintings. The oft given advice about photographing birds and other animals is to always have the sun at your back. If you do this then you miss the opportunity to create something dramatic. You have to act fast as the light doesn’t hang around and no sooner than you are aware of it it is gone. That’s what happened on this morning. From just a faint hint  and then it floods in and the shadows disappear.

 

The Black-fronted Dotterels didn’t put in an appearance until I started walking back to the car. They obviously like a lie in. Although the light was past its best I still photographed them picking insects and small crustaceans from the mud and sand. It was after all what I gone to Northam for.