Recently I took a boat trip in Northumberland to photograph some of Britain's coastal bird life. I had a great time watching and photographing Puffins, Shags, Razorbills, and Turns. My top tips for anyone looking to take photos of nesting wild birds are.
1. Watch where your stepping, fragile nests, eggs, and chicks can be hard to spot, and are often in unexpected places. So be careful and respectful of your surroundings.
2. Wear a thick hat, birds can be extremely protective parents, and wont think twice about pecking the top of your head if you stray too close to their nests.
3. Take a wide lens as well as the obligatory telephoto. You'll be surprised how close you can get.
4. Take sunscreen, drinking water, and a waterproof. Obvious but easy to forget.
5. Pack all of your gear in a good bag, the boat trip out could be choppy so a water proof one would be a good idea, but you could always wrap your coat around your gear in a pinch.
6. A cliche it may be but the old adage of 'leave nothing but foot prints, take nothing but photos' stands true. Be careful not to accidentally drop any rubbish. it's easily done when going through bags and pockets for camera stuff, and there's are a lot of hungry birds around who will try and eat almost anything, harmful or not.
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