Project J Progress

Regular readers will know that I have a long running project which has involved attempting to take some photographs of Jays in flight. This has been known as 'Project J'. My success in achieving this goal has been very limited to almost non-existent from my previous attempts but I can now happily report that progress is being made.

There are quite a number of difficulties to overcome on Project J. Firstly you need to overcome the shy nature of Jays and find a method of getting close to them, then you need to get them flying in the right place in relation to the light and along 'predictable flight paths' and you also need some good light conditions to get sufficient shutter speed to freeze the motion. On top of all of these factors they are actually very erratic on their flight path, particularly at point of landing which makes it extremely difficult to lock focus with the camera. This probably accounts for why there does not seem to be many flight photographs of them. However, I am never one to shy away from a photographic challenge and finally my perseverance is starting to produce some results and the following are from two brief sessions.

Project J tends to be a bit of a waiting game and so I welcomed the appearance of this incoming Wood Pigeon for some pre-Jay flight practice.

This next photograph reveals another problem with the Jays in that all the interesting wing patterns and colours are on the top side.

The contrast in the under and top surfaces of wings can be seen quite well in this photograph taken at a moment when the sun disappeared behind a cloud.

A further problem is that the flight is not continuous wing flapping but a combination of 'flap' and 'glide with wings held tight to the body' which is probably a major contributing factor to their erratic flight. This photograph shows a bird between flaps.

This basically leaves two options available for get them looking at their best either a banking view which is very difficult to achieve or during a wing downbeat.

Finally may favourite photo to date of the banking pose which I think was a result of more luck than judgement.

I have not finished with Project J yet and just waiting for some sunshine to coincide with some free time. So expect some more updates in the future, hopefully!

King and Queen of the Sawbills

Of the sawbill species in the UK in my book the Goosander gets the top place as the Sawbill Royalty. They are such majestic and beautiful birds. I arranged with my friend to Steve to take a trip out for them and was worryingly met with a thick blanket of fog as I stepped out the front door. However, I still retained hope given that the lake where they reside over the winter is in an upland location and might be above the low lying fog. This proved to be the case as we drove down the length of the lake to find the birds with clear, sunny skies overhead and flat calm conditions. We could not find ththem at first and after a bit of searching we decided to return to where we started to find a group of 9 birds had appeared! On this visit the lake level was lower than before and had exposed a concrete boat launching pier which gave the perfect vantage point for some water levels photography.

A preening male bird

If you are ever looking for a bird to test your photographic exposure skills then look no further than a male Goosander in sunlight. The difficulty is trying to balance the extremely bright whites of the body with the black of the head while trying to capture some its metallic green iridescence. The other problem is that the females are so different in terms of exposure settings that it is difficult to quickly alter the camera settings between the two.

The males were starting to show some early signs of territorial behaviour as spring approaches and were occasional 'surfing' across the water at each other.

The low angle of our position on the landing stage gave opportunity for some intimate photos, although is a great way for getting a sore neck quickly.

My favourite male photo of the session was of this bird in mid-preen and showing those bright orange feet.

I mainly concentrated my efforts on the males but of course it was difficult to ignore the queen of the sawbills.

There must be a fish to eat down there somewhere.

Taking a rest to keep those feathers in good order.

The dark backgrounds of the photos above are a result of the reflection of the rising hills on the far side of the lake. Photographs taken in the direction along the length of the lake produced a blue background from the clear skies overhead which I think compliments the colours of the female better.

Last photograph to finish this post of a female sitting up in the water to shake her wings after a preening session.

A fun session in a wonderful location with cooperative birds, great conditions and good company. It does not get much better than that. As we left the lake and descended the hill we plunged back into the fog layer and so had the added bonus that photography would not have been possible elsewhere that day.

Fieldfare Fly-bys

A large part of being of wildlife photographer is being able to spot an opportunity. I was out photographing some Fieldfares recently. With all the recent cold weather a big flock of birds were gorging themselves on a Sea Buckthorn bush that was heavily laden with orange berries.

As I watched the acrobatics of the birds on the bushes, I noticed a steady traffic of birds along a regular circular route to and from the bushes. This movement of birds reminded me of the constant stream of puffins that come into the Farne Islands and I decided the situation might provide a good and rare opportunity for some flight shots of Fieldfare. These are not easy birds to photograph being relatively small and fast moving but I was aided by the good light conditions and clear blue skies. I stood at distance from the bush and under the flight path to give myself opportunity to track and lock focus on to the birds during their approach to my position.

The characteristic white underwing of the Fieldfare which is always a good identification feature if a flock of thrushes are passing at distance.

By this next photograph you will notice all the birds are heading in the same direction. All the birds were captured on the outbound journey from the bush and were flying in from another direction, a kind on avian one way traffic system.
This bird was taking one of the berries with it.

As everything that goes up must come down, so what goes in one end must eventually come out the other.

One last image to finish with this one taken with the 7D, a camera body that if you read enough about it on the Internet is apparently not good at focusing. Then again it pays not to believe all you read when it comes to camera kit and usually better to just get out there and use it.

The Locals

The weather has been fairly grim from a photography perspective over the last couple of weeks with a thick grey gloom overhead. The moments of brightness and sunshine have been few and fleeting but I have managed to catch a couple of them with camera in hand. This post is a compilation of those brief rays of sun.

Starting with a Shoveler which always have a slightly comical look with that extended filtering beak. Two male birds appeared on a local pond and were sharing a hole in the ice with a huge number of mallards. I always think of these species as being of similar size but direct comparison shows the Shoveler to be significantly smaller. Getting a clear photo of the birds amongst the birds crowded into the hole in the ice presented some challenges but the usual perseverance got there in the end.

This photograph shows the filtering action of the bill. Water taken in is forced out through the 'combs' at the side. Similar to a whale filtering krill but on a much smaller scale.

The next image was taken on my way home last weekend from the merganser session in the previous post. I spotted eight Curlew feeding on a field and quickly spotted a potential for a close approach to these shy birds. Anyone watching my antics would have definitely been left wondering. After parking a camo clad figure crept out, sneaked along the side of the car to provide a screen before ducking down into the long roadside vegetation and crawling away. Strange people these wildlife photographers.

January has usually been a good month to look for the scarce Mediterranean Gulls along my local coast. The main problem is actually spotting one amongst the hundreds of Black-headed Gulls that look very similar in winter plumage. The quickest method is to look at the 'tails' (actually folded wing tips) of the birds on the ground and try and find one that is white instead of black. Once you have found one it is quite obvious the differences between the two species. I have found two birds recently.
An adult bird

A second winter bird which still retains a small amount of black in the wing tips.

I managed to find this good looking Ringed Plover amongst one the local high tide waders roosts. Photographers and bird watchers should take great care when approaching such roosts to ensure the birds are not disturbed. Remember subject welfare is always the priority.

To finish this local selection, a few Dunlin photographs. These tiny fast moving waders are not easy to capture in flight.

The best opportunities are presented when they have slowed to make a landing. The moment before touch down.

Settled for a rest, while the tide is high and covering the muddy feeding grounds.

Time for a piece of birthday cake now. I have put the fire service on standby for the lighting of the all too numerous candles!