Over the past few years, one of my favourite things to photograph in the Autumn and Winter has become birds. But not the typical wildlife photographer close-up: all sharp feathers, beady eyes and bokeh. What I like is to capture groups of birds in flight. High key against a blank sky; silhouetted against a dramatic one. I love the shapes and the movement.
Last year I pulled a collection of these images together into a photobook, and while doing so I noted the collective noun for each species. The result was rather charming, even if I do say so myself:
A murmuration of starlings.
A canteen of Spoonbills
A parcel of linnets.
A charm of Goldfinches.
A tangle of Red Knots.
A congregation of Golden Plovers.
A company of Gannets.
Another tangle of Red Knots.
A skein of geese.
A desert of Lapwings.
A chatter of Choughs.
A coil of Widgeon.
A wedge of swans.
Next year I am hoping for an omniscience of Godwits!
Thank you so much for teaching me all these exciting collective nouns. Now I just need to be able to see the birds too and I am sorted!
Every image here is mesmerising but those Spoonbills, with the light behind the clouds, just WOW!
What a delightful post! I knew there were different names for different birds, but only knew a couple of them. The names are so poetic and your images so beautiful.
I am mesmerized by these images! and learning the different names for the groups of birds. I am so glad you put together a photo book as I could envision the images that way, also printed and hung up on a gallery wall. So beautiful and with the negative space, too!
Wow – incredible! SO many of these would be perfect enlarged and on my wall! 🙂 Gorgeous set!