Last of the redstarts

Before heading off to the Arctic at the beginning of June, I decided on the weekend before that I needed to try and squeeze in one last session with the pair of Common Redstarts I had been photographing. Timing is critical for these summer woodland visitors as the window of opportunity for photography tends to be a narrow one. I figured the young would have fledged during the week before my trip and that it was likely to all be over by the time I returned with the birds melting away with their young in to the local woodland. Therefore this session was going to be my last opportunity for this year. Fortunately the weather was kind and both birds were very busy feeding their rapidly growing brood. Before getting started on the Redstarts I had an unexpected bonus when a Chiffchaff landed right in front of me.

From then on though, it was Redstarts all the way in what proved to be a productive session. I would not like to say how many Redstart pictures that I have in my library but I could never tire of photographing these wonderful birds. What the female may lack in colour, in comparison with the male, she certainly makes up for in character with her inquisitive ways.

Perched on some hawthorne which seems a favoured place to find insects.

A splash of colour from those constantly twitching tail feathers.

An investiagtive look at the new object (which of course would be me!) in their world.

Conditions were quite tricky for photography, as although the light was generally good, the rapidly moving clouds overhead in the moderate breeze kept me constantly busy adjusting the exposure to the ever changing light conditions. The black and brilliant white cap of the male’s head providing the usual exposure challenges.

The males are such stunning birds. If you think of a technicolour European Robin with a constantly twitching tail then you would gain a good impression of their behaviour.

So I left the birds reluctantly around lunchtime and wished them and the brood well on their long and difficult journey back to Africa. Farewell my 'friends' and good luck with your passage.

Hopefully some will return again next year to the same place to give such pleasure once again.

I realise there has been a lot of Blog posts on birds recently so my next two will be dedicated to some mammals.

Mellow Yellow

The trip to Norway has lead to a bit of a backlog in processing of raw files which is an unusual position for me as I usually keep up to date. As a results the next few posts will be photos that were taken before and since my trip. This first post is actually some images that were taken way back in April but which for some unknown reason I have never got round to sorting out.

I have been working hard on a very stressful project in work for the last two years and camera time has kept me sane. So with a view to having some mellow moments in the good company of some wonderful looking birds. I set off southward for a session with some yellowhammers which hopefully would be in their full splendor of fresh spring plumage. The particular site has become a public feeding station where the birds have received free handouts from the public for many years. It is not the most peaceful place for photography due to the continual coming and going of visitors but all my attention was focused on the birds so all the background disturbance seemed to blur away.
I will start with a close-up view to introduce the birds.

To me yellowhammer are very visually striking birds with their combination of brilliant yellow mixed with rust oranges and black streaks.

The only problem with photographing them is they are ground feeding birds and opportunities at this particular site to get one on a perch is rare.

Here's to looking at you looking at me.

This bird kept popping up from a shallow gully.

Eventually one did perch momentarily before hopping to the usual ground position.

As the spring sun started to dip and the shadows lengthened it was time for a couple of last photos before hitting the road home.

The yellowhammers had worked their magic with their bright colours easing all the stresses of everyday life away. I can think of no better form of colour therapy.

Inside the Circle Day 8 -Homeward Bound

It was with some sadness that I left the Varanger Pennisula and Norway behind as I could have quite happily spent another month there. I decided to take a different route back down in to Finland and followed the course of the mighty River Tana for a while before heading southward. My destination was the accommodation with the feeding station near Kaamanen where I was booked over night before the flight back to the UK the following day. The journey southward was fairly uneventful as the hours passed along with a millions of trees and and hundreds of lakes. I eventually stopped about an hour from the accommodation at a place I had been told might hold a few waders. A beautiful spot with a crystal clear stream where people were periodically stop to fill water containers. I managed to find another Wood Sandpiper which provided some fun but just got too close on occasions although another special moment being in such close proximity to this delicate wader.

By strange coincidence a Wood Sandpiper has appeared on a local pond during it migration south this weekend.

I carried on my journey and arrived at the accommodation. After a quick check-in I was straight around the back with the camera to the feeding station.
A rather scruffy looking Siberian Tit was occasionally appearing and it was good to have one in front of the camera. No doubt its tatty feathers a result of constant trips in and out of its nest hole.

The birds I really wanted to photograph some more were the Pine Grosbeaks. The first of these huge finches, a female, came in with the now characteristic thud on the branch.

At one point five females arrived all at once a wonderful sight.

However, it was the raspberry red male bird I really wanted to see but still no sign of one. After a short lull in activity another thud was heard to announce the arrival of a male.

and then a second one arrived.

What great looking birds they are and a memorable way to end the session at the feeders.

After some food and packing for the two flights home the following day the evening sun broke through and I could not resist going out with the camera for one last time. After a short drive I pulled in at the edge of a large lake and found a pair of Velvet Scoter. This was to be my last photo of the trip of the drake exploding out of the water and taken at 11:30pm!

I think it was at that point that I decided this would not be last trip to Finland and Norway and I am looking forward to some future trips. I guess its now time to roll some credits and give some thanks.

• To Austin Thomas for his company on the trip.
• To Jens for his hospitality at the Pikkuskitsi Guest House in Noway www.pikkuskitsi.no
• To the very accommodating people at the Neljan Tuulen Tupa Motel in Finland
• To Graham Catley, John Dempsey and Hugh Harrop for kindly providing some background info before the trip.

and finally to the Arctic birds for allowing me to share brief, intimate and wonderful moments with them.

Inside the Circle Day 7 Part 3 - Last moments in Norway

As I took the coast road back south from Vardo to Vadso I was pondering on what I should do with my few remaining hours of camera time in Norway. The brief moments of sunshine in Vardo has vanished once again in to the all familiar grey gloom and drizzle. My route would take me past 'Ruff Bay' just around the time of high tide so I thought I would give the Ruff another try in the vain hope that the sun might just appear. Well it didn't which was a shame as the group of males present on the piles of rotting red seaweed were in fine form with their eerily silent displaying and posturing.

The birds during their displays certainly pull off some strange moves that included lying almost completely flat on the pungent seaweed and 'eyeballing' each other at very close quarters.

The Ruff slowly departed with the ebbing tide and it was time to move on. I must admit I left the bay slightly disappointed that the sun never broke through to allow me to do them full justice. However, I know I will definitely return one day and put these enigmatic and beautiful birds back in front of the camera.

As I approached Vadso, a gap opened up in the clouds and some wonderful light bathed the arctic summer landscape and so I decided to take a left and back across the bridge to Vadsoya Island. It seemed fitting to end my Norwegian journey where it had began. First stop was back at the Phalarope pool where numerous birds spun in a typical feeding frenzy.

I thought I would have a last ditch attempt at trying to photograph a Bluethroat, a species that had successfully eluded me throughout the week and only given tantalising glimpses. During my search I noticed a Redpoll that kept appearing on top of a bush and after a short while it showed once more.

I moved on listening hard for then now familiar song of the Bluethroat and located a bird occasionally calling from within a small circle of low scrub. I quietly sat using the scrub for cover and waited and hoped. Eventually it suddenly appeared on some bare twigs close-by for a total of about 10 seconds almost as if coming to inspect me. It was just enough time for me to get the camera swung round, the focus locked and a couple of photos taken. A stunning little bird with its blue and red feather bib.

This was to be my last bird photograph in Norway and a great way to end what had been a very memorable week for both birds and weather! The next day I had to start the journey homeward back down through Finland but I had a couple plans for photography en route which I will put in my next and final post of the trip.

Inside the Circle Day 7 Part 2 – Time for a lie down

I managed to get over the intense moment of puffin fever and headed along the base of the cliff to see what else could be photographed. Access was restricted by a few discreet signs to rightly protect the breeding birds from unnecessary disturbance. I decided to walk to the far end of the island and work my way back but it was not the easiest of terrain with large boulders and an absence of any good footpaths. It soon became apparent that two of my target species of Brunnich’s and Black Guillemots was not going to happen as the birds were all perched precariously high up on the ledges of cliff face.

Another of my target species the Great Black Backed Gull was going to be possible. As one of the world’s largest gulls they are very impressive and I have long held a fondness for them. As I scrambled my way along the island, I was unnervingly getting occasionally dive-bombed by these huge birds. Arctic terns attacks I can put up with but having a Greater Black Back come in on a full speed dive and swerve centimetres from your head tests your resolve. I decided to take a few portrait photographs of the birds which was my intention rather than flight shots.





I reached the far end of the island hoping it might offer chance of a perched Black Guillemot but still none were located. As soon as I turned I was unexpectedly confronted by two Twite feeding on some remnant decaying seed heads.


As I wandered back along the island there was a row of loafing Shag lined up along the low cliff edge above the sea. They are very attractive birds with their iridescent bronze and green feather but certainly carry an air of the prehistoric about them.


I also decided to take a few photos of a nesting bird. Shag seem to incorporate almost anything in to their ramshackle nests which often include general flotsam such as pieces of plastic and rope.



This bird had decided to use the remnants of a dead bird. I love the green colour of those piercing eyes.



While close to the cliff edge there was also some nesting Kittiwake close to the top which offered a good angle for photography and so I naturally took the opportunity while passing.



Below birds circled over a grey arctic sea.



I continued my scramble back along the island and it was obviously time for the island to take revenge for narrowly escaping the near death experience with the previous slip on the stairs. While crossing a large boulder once again I suddenly saw my feet extending horizontally before me but this time the landing was not as fortunate as I came crashing down heavily. Most of the impact was taken by my left elbow. Whoever decided to call it the funny bone had an ironic sense of humour! I was in agony, and by the end of the day my elbow had taken on the size of a red tennis ball. Subsequent x-rays on my return to UK fortunately showed there to be no bone damage but some pain continues to this day as a reminder of my trip to Hornoya.

With my mood and elbow severely dented by the fall, I decided it was time to sit somewhere quietly to photograph some birds. By this point I was close to the floating landing pontoon and noticed big rafts of guillemots occasionally drifting in close which looked like an unusual opportunity to get some water level photos of the birds on the sea.






There were plenty of birds with the bridled eye marking which is more common on the northern populations.








On one occasion I thought two Brunnich’s Guillemots were going to come in very close but the whole flock were put to dive en mass by another photographer coming down the walkway to the pontoon. The birds subsequently surfaced out of range.

I decided to cut the time on Hornoya by two hours and take the earlier boat back so there was still plenty of the day left to go and photograph some other birds. On arrival back in Vardo harbour there were several Arctic Terns diving close to the landing stage for fry. Given the sun and blue sky but in a brief appearance I thought would try and capture some of the action. This proved quite difficult given the erratic flight pattern of the birds resulting in a large number of photos fit for the computer waste bin.












I left Vardo with throbbing elbow and headed south on the coast road once more but the birds I encountered during my last few hours of camera time in Norway will need to wait for next post.