Edinburgh Zoo

I just took a short holiday up in Edinburgh and while there decided to pop in to the zoo. The weather was unexpectedly good for Scotland but by middle of the day visit created some problems with some harsh lighting to content with together with usual problems of getting around the constraints of the enclosures.

Starting off with a few birds. The zoo has an impressive collection of penguins including the large King Penguin.

A Gentoo penguin swimming across the pool

They do not come much brighter in colour than the Scarlet Ibis

The delicate head dress of a Victoria Crowned Pigeon

The Stellar Sea Eagle is a very impressive and majestic bird.

On to the mammals which proved all together more tricky.
Another fish disappears down the throat of a Patagonian Sea Lion

The tiny and hyperactive Squirrel Monkey

and Golden Lion Tamarin

To finish off, a couple of photos of the Sumatran Tiger

Worryingly licking it lips, and probably thinking about photographer for lunch.

It is always good to get some eye contact in a photo.

Summer Sanderling

I normally spend my time in the winter photographing waders when there are large numbers around on the local beaches but it is not something that I have really bothered with much at this time of the year as there are too many other distractions in the shape of summer visiting birds. After a very unsuccessful morning the other day travelling around various places and with not a single photo for my efforts, I decided to check the local beach as the tide was on it way in. To my surprise there was a small group of Sanderling which I can only assume were migrant birds heading northward to their breeding areas, which had stopped off for a refuel. I have not photographed Sanderling in their summer colours before so it was an enjoyable first.

As a quick reminder I have posted a Sanderling in its stark white and grey winter plumage for comparison.

The summer birds are much more colourful with their mottled brown, rust and black coloured feathers.

and of course still behaviour the same with their scurrying antics along the edge of the advancing tide line.

Wading through the shallow water of a receding wave.

This brief little session is a good reminder to make me keep an eye on the local beach a bit more over the next couple of weeks to see if I can find any other summer plumage waders passing through. Certainly easier than taking a trip to Iceland or Greenland!

Within a Hare's Breath

I had a couple of brief sessions with the hares recently to make a change from the birds. A few of the females were looking big so I expect there will be some leverets running around soon. They are a real photographic challenge.

I will start off with a straight head portrait following a very close encounter.

Happily feeding on some dandelions.

Despite spending many hours with the hares there is some behaviour I have still not captured. One of them is when they roll around on the ground, another one is when they are stretching. Until this one below recently did a long stretch right in front of me. You can really see the power in these animals and it always makes me smile when someone says 'that's a nice bunny photo' as they are a completely different animal from a rabbit. Its quite easy to see how they can hit 45 mph when in full galloping sprint.

Fortunately this one was just moving at relatively low speed.

I had another very close encounter, when one hare ran straight towards me. I always knew that carrot suit would come in useful one day ;). It is always a great feeling when an animal is getting larger and larger in the camera viewfinder. However, this one just kept on advancing until it was too large for the frame and so the last few photos of the sequence have only half ears and legs.

Its always a pleasure and a privilege to be in such close proximity to these wonderful wild animals.

Woodland Warblings

I have booked two days off this month from work to go out with the camera for two particular bird species. I took the first trip out this week to one of the sessile oak woods in west Wales looking for summer visiting Wood Warbler. It is one of my favourite places to visit as this remote wood has great atmosphere with its twisted ancient trees, dripping in moss and lichens, and it is always a pleasure to enjoy some one-on-one time with the birds.

On arrival I looked in the usual favoured area but the distinctive 'electric' song was absent. After wandering through the woods for a while that familar accelerating crescendo trill could be heard from the hillside above. On climbing the slope I finalyy found a bird patrolling its territory relatively high in the tree canopy, as is typical for the species.


The energy consumption of these birds must be huge as they never stay still and constantly flutter in a strange butterfly flight between perches to burst into song.


You may be wondering by now if the bird was high in the tree canopy how did I manage to get photographs levels with the bird? The trees it was favouring to sing from were adjacent to a small cliff and climbing to the top, fortunately put me level with some of the song perches the bird was using.

The wood warbler has two distinct songs. One is a repeated slightly mournful sounding descending note.





The other song is the rapidly accelerating trill. This sound really cuts through and above the other bird song and to me is one of the most glorious sounds of a late spring oak woodland.


As you can imagine I look forward to returning for my next target species towards the end of this month.

Yellows in Peril

I had my first attempt at photographing yellow wagtails last year which was not particularly successful. Given that the time of year had come around again I thought I would try again. The male birds are really stunning and unfortunately a species that has shown huge declines across the UK, mainly as a result of changes in agricultural practices. It would be a great shame to lose them as the yellow headed variety is virtually exclusive to the UK.

Not the most camouflaged of ground nesting birds.

Their decline has been attributed to a number of factors such as draining of wet meadows, change in crop type and planting methods. It was quite interesting at this particular site to note that they were all using one particular field where the crop was slightly longer than those adjacent.

Their call is very distinctive.

They are tricky to photograph and all these were taken by using the car as a mobile hide, combined with luck and patience and use of the 1.4 teleconvertor to give the camera some extra reach

The best opportunities arose when the birds flew over on to the wire next to the track where I was parked. They always seemed to land on the wire rather than the supporting posts.

Hopefully the way some farmers have responded to the decline in skylarks through changes in their management practices will also be extended more to these wonderful birds in the future.

Park Life

Urban parks offer an oasis for wildlife amongst the concrete sprawl of the town and cities. There is a further advantage for the wildlife photographer in that many of birds and mammals are accustomed to people and can therefore be approached relatively easily. I often take a short walk in the early evening, without the camera, through my local park. Often I have watched various birds as I have wandered through but until recently have not visited with camera. To all those thinking of dashing over to the local park with the camera, please consider a couple of points. Some parks may have restrictions on photography and others may not be safe to walk around with a camera! Also when taking photos in a public space, people may take offence to a long lens appearing to point in their direction. So an approach that is sensitive to others and my subject is always the order of day. I always adopt a very early start when the park is quiet but busy with wildlife.

In my local park there are a good number of our largest song bird, the Mistle Thrush. Often difficult to approach, these park birds are relatively confiding.

It is great to watch their 'concentration' as they listen for worms...

and which rarely fails.

The must have bred very early this year as the first brood had already fledged.

Collared Doves are common in the park and no doubt some of the same birds that visit my back garden occasionally.

A bonus in the shape of Great Spotted Woodpecker nest. This is the female bringing back a beakful of aphids to feed the recently hatched young.