It's a manual, but it's easy to adjust the exposure to allow for a dark or bright sky, and to adjust the aperture size too. Usually no cropping or digital manipulation was done. Yes, I do know places such as the Farnes or Bass where you can almost touch them. But you still need lots of patience to wait for the right composition. To photograph birds flying I have to hand hold, and always prefocus, as in the case of the flying puffins or gannets.
Tripod use is totally impractical.
As with all photography a lot of waiting is required for the shot to appear. But the end result is worth it. Between 2 and 5 miles off the coast of Northumberland ,Northern England. Large colony of grey seals . A group of low lying Islands, the largest of which are Staple and Inner Farne.