CAMERA TALK 3

much easier than was possible even just a decade ago. We cannot but admire

pioneers like Erik Hosking and the trouble that they went through to get

excellent bird photographs fifty years ago. Now the camera’s light meter

takes care of exposure problems; high speed flashes can freeze action;

and autofocus lenses ensure that each picture will be in focus. Well, it

doesn’t work quite that easily, but it certainly gives tremendous advantages

hasn’t changed with time and that is the problem of getting close enough

to one’s subject to obtain an acceptable size of image on the film. Many

techniques are used to approach birds such as stalking (slowly walking

up to the bird), using a car as a hide and slowly driving closer and using

hides by which birds may be approached from the sea. Some of these techniques

use a stationary hide. The problem here is that the hide must be placed

in a location where birds are known to visit regularly. This could be waders

flocking together at a high-tide roost, birds coming up to a permanent

water hole in the desert, or birds visiting a bird table with food being

served at the same time every day. Perhaps the most common place for a

hide is near a nest. The following brief account covers one such occasion

superciliosus) along the Batinah coast in northern Oman we noticed a pair

of anxious red-wattled lapwings (Vanellus indicus) in the area. Waiting

quietly at a distance we quickly found the nest as one of the birds returned

to continue the incubation. In the car with us we had a home-made wooden

hide that folds into a manageable size. Holes had been cut for the camera

lens in all sides of the hide and the holes, as well as the roof, were

covered with shading cloth obtained at a local gardening centre. The hide

was placed by a small bush near the nest and one of us went inside. It

is very important that two people work together so that the birds see one

person leaving the hide. Birds can’t count! If only one person approaches

a hide and disappears inside, the birds know that there is someone in there,

but if they see one person leaving they think that everything is safe for

them to return to the area. Even so, one has to be very careful, especially

in Arabia. We erected our hide near the lapwing nest at 7 am. Later in

to the nest without paying the slightest attention to the hide. One of

the accompanying photographs shows the hide in place with one of us inside

and lapwing sitting on the nest. Many excellent photographs were obtained

from the hide showing the parent returning to its nest, turning over its

eggs and finally settling down on them. On this occasion we had a strike

of real luck. At 8-20am the first egg hatched! The incubation time is 26

days so to witness the hatching after just one hour is unbelievably fortunate.

The camera clicked away. The second picture shows the first chick only

a few minutes old and the parent removing part of the egg-shell from the

nest. Needless to say we felt extremely privileged to have witnessed this