Knot

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod Canon 7D Canon 500mm f4 L IS &1.4TC Mk1 ISO 400 1/2000sec f8

I almost called this image Chaos or Mayhem, despite this appearance it is anything but. The birds note the position of the nearest seven neighbours and from this they can decide which way to go, this is why we see the colours change as they synchronise their flight patterns. In the case of starlings this is referred to as a murmuration but I am not too sure if this term is applicable to knot.I posted this image just to give you an idea of the density on the flocks of waders we have had here this last week around high tide. The vast majority are knot. I have numerous images using differing f values going all the way down to f20, I will post more a little less crowded images at a later date and some portraits will follow.



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[Miguel Palaviccini]

Wow, very neat. Thanks for the info on flight pattern and individual positions. Looking forward to seeing some more from this location.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, this is chaos, and thanks for the description how they will follow each other - sort of like how we see the large shoals of fish all change direction at the same time, and so quickly too. There is so much to look at, and I actually like this as captured. Not sure if closing down would really affect the DOF.

[Barry Ekstrand]

Fantastic capture of the dynamic nature of nature! (I couldn't resist - great shot!)

Barry

[Karl Egressy]

Very impressive flock and picture, Jonathan. I have learned a little more about bird behavior, thank to you.

[dankearl]

Very cool and chaotic.
Amazing display.

[gail bisson]

Very interesting and hard to believe they occur in such large flocks.
From a learning point of view this is a great image. From an aesthetic point of view it is a very chaotic picture.
I wish all the birds were tack sharp and would have traded ISO for more SS.
Still a very cool image that makes me think,
Gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

Gail it is not possible to get the all birds tack sharp unless you are able to get really close and use a much shorter lens i.e. 28mm or so, I have images at 1/4000 sec - no sharper, this was part of my problem I wanted a reasonable mag to show some detail but I wanted DOF and that is not possible from the viewpoint, when I was there. Apparently the previous day when it was raining and really dull the flocks came to within 10 feet of where I had been standing, amazing really becasue that day the tide was slightly lower than previous day according to the tide tables, I can only conclude there was less air pressure and there was a following breeze pushing the tide up further.

[gail bisson]

Yes, that makes sense re:SS and DOF. I hadn't thought about that!
gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

Well that is certainly a frame-filler...please don't tell me this is all the same individual bird??:t3 I like the image alot, I love these controlled chaos type flock images. The bits of blue sky peeking through add some colour interest.

[PhilCook]

I love these kind of shots, an amazing spectacle to see and capture Johnathon......it'd look brilliant on a large canvas on my wall.

[Tom Rambaut]

Where?

[Jonathan Ashton]

Where?

Here, where it says North Parade:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=hoylake+wirral&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x487b28fcc44ab779:0x39c15c111a8f0cd2,Hoylak e,+Merseyside&gl=uk&ei=MsX3UJPbBumg0QXZzIGwCA&ved=0CLkBELYD

[Tom Rambaut]

Here, where it says North Parade:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=hoylake+wirral&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x487b28fcc44ab779:0x39c15c111a8f0cd2,Hoylak e,+Merseyside&gl=uk&ei=MsX3UJPbBumg0QXZzIGwCA&ved=0CLkBELYD

Thanks - I like the shear number of birds here.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Wow! That must have been quite the site!!! VG exposure and looking forward to seeing the others!!!