Frosty Fieldfare

Firstly I would like to wish all the readers of this blog a very Happy New Year and hope you have some memorable wildlife encounters during the coming 12 months. I am looking forward to many exciting photography projects ahead and already have a trip planned to Iceland for the end of May. I hope you will all join me on my photographic journey this year.

Apologies for the lack of blog updates over Christmas, which is always a busy time, but I have also been trying to make the most of the Christmas break to get some time out with the camera when the weather has allowed. It has actually been quite a productive time for my photography and I will start with a morning session on the 28th December after a very sharp overnight frost.

I set off early from the house to a local site that I have visited for many years now to see if I could find some more Fieldfare. After some snowfall on Boxing Day, which melted very quickly around my home by the coast, I thought there may be a chance that there may still be some on the ground further inland. On arrival it was obvious that this was not the case but the hard frost could provide some interesting photographs. The large noisy Fieldfare flock had long since stripped the Rowan trees of berries but there were still others that were conspicuously heavily laden with berry crop. These were Sea Buckthorn and Cotoneaster. These really are at the bottom of the bird berry menu and usually need several hard frosts to make them palatable to the birds. Sea Buckthorn in particular always seems to be a last resort food choice and the bright orange berries only seem to be eaten when conditions are particularly tough for the birds which the ground frozen for an extended period which stops them finding worms.

I decided to do a bit of reconnaissance to see what the birds were doing before settling on my approach for the morning. As it was still first light the majority of the main Fieldfare flock were only just waking and sat in the tops of the trees fluffed up to insulate them from the cold. They started moving and it became quickly obvious that they were targeting  Cotoneaster. Unfortunately the trees they were heading in to were in a very awkward position in terms of light direction. However, I remembered there were some other Cotoneaster further down the road which may provide a better opportunity and arrived to find a single Fieldfare actively guarding each tree.

I have seen Mistle Thrush do this before but not Fieldfare. Every bird that arrived at the tree would be quickly chased off. These trees were heavily-laden with berries and although the action was going to be slow decided to sit it out as I could see there would be some potentially good photographs to be had with a bit of patience.

While waiting for the Fieldfare to move in to good feeding positions a Robin kept me amused as did a very large brown rat that kept scuttling around under the tree.

Whilst sat there I noticed there was a small number of Fieldfare flying in to frost covered bush about 50m down the road. So I decided on a quick relocation to them before the sun pushed too far round. The low soft winter sun has a lovely quality to it and was just illuminating the birds on the dark frost covered bushes.

Occasionally a bird would drop to the frozen grass below.

I decided it was time to return to the Cotoneaster as visible steam started to rise off the bush in front of me as the sun hit the frosty leaves. This usually plays havoc with the camera focus and achieving sharp images can be very difficult. Every 30 minutes or so one of the birds in each of the trees would move to eat a few more berries. It was just a question of waiting for them to appear in the right place. The action was slow but it proved to be a very enjoyable and relaxed morning in some beautiful sparkling winter weather.

Here are some photographs from the Cotoneaster bush and from the ground below it.

I decided my my next Christmas sessions I would try and get some of my favourite waterfowl the sawbill ducks but these will have to wait until my next post.

Nuthatches and nearly Stock Doves

Disaster struck recently when my main camera body developed an electric fault and died. So while its back at Canon being having various bits of electronics replaced, fortunately still just under warranty, I have had to revert to using my Canon 7D. The 7D is really the camera I reach for when I am struggling for reach and distance, given the advantages of its 1.6 crop sensor, and usually involves having a teleconvertor attached which tends to degrade image quality a little. So I am not particularly fair to this camera which can produce good images even though they tend to have more noise and lack the 'polish' of files coming out of a Canon 1D body.

With 7D in hand I recently headed out to some local woods with a view to photographing some Nuthatch and Stock Doves. This is one of my favourite woods as the rust coloured carpet of fallen beech leaves create some wonderful colours under low winter sunlight. However, lighting is always tricky and constantly changing in the rising early sun. An area that was bathed in beautiful light one moment can be plunged into dark shade 5 minutes later.

While waiting for the Nuthatches, which I could hear calling loudly above, a few other birds appeared in front of the camera and it seemed a shame to waste the good light. These included a lone Magpie, and inquisitive Robin.

Eventually the first Nuthatch appeared. They are not the easiest birds to photograph as they tend to appear from all directions, quickly grab any available food and fly off to hide it in one of their 'larders'.

These attractive little birds are incredibly agile and always busy as the scurry around tree trunks and fallen dead trees looking for food.

Usually when photographing birds coming into feed I tend to try and take photographs without the birds carrying food. However, a Nuthatch carrying a nut somehow seems appropriate. This birds showing a very typical inverted pose.

As I was photographing the Nuthatch I heard some fluttering and cooing high in the trees above as the first Stock Dove started to gather. I carried on with the Nuthatch.

I decided it was time to move in to position for the Stock Doves as they slowly made their way towards the lower branches and the ground. They are quite nervous birds so usually you have to wait for them to come to you. A few squirrels had gathered so I filled in the waiting time with a few photos while laying in amongst the leaf litter.

No sooner had the first Stock Dove just landed in front of me, when I heard a galloping of rustling leaves and panting breath behind me and a very large drooling dog appeared. Squirrels and Doves immediately scattered, with the birds never reappearing. This was slightly frustrating as this area of woodland is fenced off as a 'No dog Area'. I obviously blame the owners (as dogs obviously cannot read), and it never ceases to amaze me how oblivious some walkers become, particularly to wildlife photographers, when exercising their four legged friend.

Simply Starlings

Starlings create one of nature's great spectacles as the swirling murmurations of birds come into roost at dusk. However, as an individual bird they tend to be a little overlooked which is a shame as they take on spectacular rainbow of metallic colours in the right light.

Seeing a large flock bathing, I recently took the opportunity to have a lie down and take some photos. Unfortunately a big bank of dark grey cloud swept in off the sea and quickly cut the session short as the light vanished. Its amazing how much fun can be had with the simple combination of a flock of starlings, a large puddle and some soft golden winter light.

Just before the light disappeared, I decided to try and photograph some birds in flight. This is not an easy task with Starlings as they are small and fast flying but I managed a couple but many headed to the trash as I clipped off bits of birds in the frame. If any one wants some partial images of flying starlings, I have plenty :)

Given that it Christmas Eve, I would like to take this moment to wish all my readers and those who have regularly supported me through this year and kindly taken the time to comment on my posts a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Wildlife filled 2012. Of course some do not celebrate Christmas and to those I send my seasonal greetings and best wishes.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

With the UK gripped in a prolonged blast from the Arctic, where I live has managed to remain fairly free of snow. That was until I tried to get home from my work Christmas party last Friday and 6 inches fell very quickly and hampered my already slightly 'wobbly' journey home. Having given over the next day to the inevitable heavy head, I was out bright and early on the following morning layered up with thermals and with the car thermometer reading -10 degrees C. While we are in this lengthy cold spell can I urge people to help out their local wildlife with some supplementary food and particularly water. Even if it is just a couple of bird feeders in the garden or some apples thrown on the lawn for the winter thrushes.

A layer of snow generates some incredible light with its glowing reflection lighting up the underside of the birds and animals. I decided to head to my local woods where some action would be guaranteed and ended up laying on the ground next to a fallen tree. However, I stopped off by the coast on route to photograph some Black-headed Gulls, a real camera exposure headache.

I also managed to locate amongst the flock, a Mediterranean Gull which was even more difficult to spot than usual with the white conditions.

On arrival at the woods, typically the first bird to come and investigate was a robin.

The other bird species were a little slow in coming forth that morning but gradually numbers increased. Magpies were the first to investigate the free food supply and bickered amongst themselves.

They were eventually joined by a small flock of Stock Dove and Wood Pigeon, although these maintained some distance from the Magpie mayhem.

With various parts of my anatomy going increasing numb in the bitter cold I decided it was time to finish off the session with a few Grey Squirrels. They seemed to be very appreciative of the free food supply.

I will finish this post with some season greetings by warmly wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy 2011.

The Colours of Autumn

At this time of year I love to pay a visit to one of my favourite woodlands. It is a small mixed wood of mainly beech and oak and the freshly fallen leaves create a wonderful carpet of autumn colours. With some of the leaves still on the trees, the low sun penetrates through the remaining canopy to produce interesting spot lighting effects on the animals and birds. However, the light is constantly changing and a mobile and flexible approach is required. An area which is bathed in sunlight can 10 minutes later be in dark shadow.

I went with a particular bird species in mind, which I will come to later, but while waiting for the flock to appear, I decided to pass the time with some of the other residents. There are large numbers of grey squirrels present which I usually ignore, but this one caught in a beam of sunlight drew my eye.

I spent the rest of the waiting time with some very busy Nuthatch.

and an inquisitive Robin that was gently singing its slightly mournful winter song.

A fluttering in the canopy above announced the arrival of my target species, the Stock Dove. This is a much overlooked and very beautiful bird in my opinion. To the casual observer they are probably easily overlooked as being a flock of feral pigeons. It was time to get down in the carpet of leaf litter and try and get some low level photographs of the birds to make the most of the autumnal colours as they fed on the ground.

Stock Doves are subtly attractive birds with their metallic green nape and soft pink hue to the breast. They present a good challenge as they are usually wary although this flock has become less shy due to the numerous visitors to the wood.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable and relaxing short session. In fact as the sun is shining today and I am off work, I think I might make a return visit to the woods to try and photograph some of the other residents.

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Birds on Ice

Snow has been a rare occurrence in recent years where I live. The cold snap that descended upon the UK over the last few weeks has made a welcome change and provide a chance to photograph some birds amongst the snow. A ground covering of snow can create some beautiful lighting conditions with the undersides of birds becoming illuminated by the reflected light. It can also create some exposure headaches and the white can easily fool the camera's exposure meter resulting in dark photographs and grey snow. This can be overcome by dialing in some positive exposure compensation.

My recent efforts of birds in the snow are a compilation of two sessions and so there will be quite a few photographs on this post. The first was in some local woods around Christmas, although snow is a generous description as it was more of a layer of frozen hail that crunched under foot. Starting of with a real exposure challenge, a fine looking magpie.

A Stock Dove foraging through the ice bound leaf litter.

A pristine male chaffinch. It seems quite hard these days to find chaffinch that have not been affected by foot disease.

With next year's Christmas e-card in mind I couldn't resist a few robin photographs.

The next session was last weekend when there was a reasonable layer of proper snow to try some for some Fieldfare and Redwing photographs. The prolonged cold weather and shortage of food has resulted in large numbers of these birds arriving in back gardens, although not mine, so I headed out to find some.

The Redwing were playing hard to get and tending to be skulking in areas below bushes where the snow had melted.

The Fieldfare were more accommodating and must have been very hungry as they were feeding on Sea Buckthorn berries which in milder winters I have seen them completely ignore.

The birds were striking some interesting poses in the low late afternoon light.

Last photograph of a bird lurking on the edge of the shadows

The snow has all melted now and I think just in time as the birds were beginning to really look as if they were struggling for food. If you have been putting food and water out for them in the cold weather please continue to do so as they will need to build up their reserves.