Wednesday 16 February 2011

Cadair Idris and the Fairbourne Wigeon Roost


Last Week I found a Wigeon roost at the mouth of the Mawddach, There are several hundred wigeon on the estuary and around 50 - 100 roost on the bank of this particular inlet depending on the tide (I think a dropping tide from early evening). The attraction here is the juxtaposition of wigeon shapes, saltmarsh and shadows cast by Cadiar cliffs.
I returned to study the composition again today (top), but close to spring highs with a rising tide this evening the wigeon hauled out further downstream. Overcast, so didn't get the strong light on the mountains and birds that I wanted, but good for colour (cb,ru/cb,rs+az/cr) and composition (needs more foreground) experimentation.


In fading light wigeon at roost just visible against mats of the beached seaweed they seem to predominantly feed on. Colours merge so that sand and water become the same hues of grey tweaked by adding pink (rmg) yellow (ru) or blue (cb).

No comments:

Post a Comment