2013 Revisited

I do not usually produce a retrospective end of year blog post but thought I would do one for a change. So I have picked a photograph or two from each month, each of which stirs particularly strong memories for me in terms of wildlife encounters.

January - saw me sat of a freezing North Wales beach photographing a flock of around a dozen Snow Bunting.

February - I headed up to the Highlands to try and photograph a Capercaillie. Such a magnificent bird which has left life long memories.

March - A prolonged cold spring and instead of photographing hares amongst the daffodils, they were boxing in deep snow.

April - Calling in to the Forest of Dean to break up a long long drive home from a work meeting found me with a long awaited Garganey in front of the camera for the first time.

May - I tried to restict myself to photograph from each month but failed in May which is always one of the busiest months for a wildlife photographer. A first light start saw a reeling Grasshopper Warbler in front of me. I have many photographs of these birds now but find myself drawn back to them each spring.

A chance encounter with a beautiful vixen.

June - I headed off on my annual overseas trip in June to Romania and the Danube Delta. A beautiful place filled with many wonderful birds. Here is one of the images from the trip of a Squacco heron feeding on a frog.

July - On my return from Romania I had a concerted effort with trying to photograph the extremely wary Green Woodpecker with a moderate degree of success. In this photograph the young bird on the left is watching the adult male excavate yet another ants' nest.

August- I returned to Scotland once again but this time to photograph the Ospreys at Rothiemurchus. An amazing experience just to watch, let alone photograph.

September - Throughout the summer I had been undertaking various sessions with water voles on a Cheshire canal. This was part of a long term project and some very enjoyable and relaxing morning were had by the waterside.

October - A fairly quiet month although I did head out to North Wales to try and photograph a Grey Phalarope. After several hours waiting the bird came close only to be scared away by the sudden appearance of a large dog, resulting in only a couple of photographs being taken.

November - An unexpected encounter with some Redwing feeding on rowan trees against a back cloth of autumn hues

December - Another chance encounter, this time with a beautiful male bullfinch whilst trying to photograph Fieldfare.

Of course December is not over yet and tomorrow will see me heading out to try and capture my first images of Mountain Hare. Hopefully this will produce some more special memories to add to what has been another interesting year in my journey in wildlife photography.

This will be my  last blog post for this year so I will take the moment to wish you all a Happy, Healthy and wildlife filled 2014.

Fieldfare and Festive Greetings

I have never been able to decide if I prefer Fieldfare or Redwing out of the two winter visiting thrushes. The arrival of Fieldfare, when you see the large loose flocks overhead with their distinctive chattering flight calls,  is always a sign to me that winter is fast approaching,  The birds typically arrive from Scandinavia around October and quickly descend upon trees with berries with rowan  being a particular favourite.

They are a large smart looking thrush with their combination of brown back, grey head and black-spotted amber breast. When you spend quite a bit of time with these birds you notice there is quite a bit of variation in patterning with the darker coloured birds tending to be the most striking in photographs.

The unusual weather this year of a  prolonged cold spring and a warm summer seemed to provide very good conditions for berry growth and by the early autumn the trees were heavily laden and ready for the winter thrush invasion. Given the glut of berries available it took a while for the birds to arrive at the site which I usually visit to photograph them. However, when they did arrive it was en mass with a big flock of around 500 birds.

Fieldfare are quite a wary species and  the site I visit is made slight  frustrating as there is a long row of Rowan trees which the birds favour although this can only be accessed from one side. The trees never really get the low winter sun on them properly, and the majority of the day they are back lit with a bit of side lighting in the late afternoon. If only the landscape architect who designed the planting scheme had put them the other side of the road, it would have made the task for the photographer so much easier. However, the trees do attract good numbers of birds and it is just a question of looking for other nearby opportunities for  for photographing them.

Eating berries makes the birds thirsty and by positioning myself next to a puddle  provided some opportunities to capture some images of the birds drinking.

 I must have moved the lens a little too quickly as both birds stopped drinking and look straight towards me.

I found one puddle which had some reflected autumn hues on the water from the fallen leaves on the bank behind and where one particular bird decided it would bathe.

Of course as with any bird photography you often get a bonus or two along with your target species. During this session it was a striking male Bullfinch which was also taking advantage of the free berry feast.

As this is Christmas eve, I was also take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, successful and wildlife-filled New Year.

Last Session of 2008

I spent the day out and about with the camera yesterday to fit in one last session for the year. Despite some poor light conditions and some freezing temperatures a good number of species found there way in front of the lens and a most enjoyable way to finish an interesting year.

A bullfinch appearing very plump with its fluffed up feathers to try and keep the cold at bay.

Goldfinch feeding on teasel
The tiny and hyeractive Goldcrest which proved very tricky with the lack light
It is always good to see the rapidly declining Tree sparrow

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker hammering into a silver birch

A Fieldfare feeding on some apples

There were two main highlights to the day. Firstly a bird that is difficult to approach and photograph and also sadly disappearing rapidly the Grey PartridgeThe other highlight is a bird that I have not photographed for two years since one landed in my back garden back in January 2006, the Brambling.

Overall it has been a good year with 7 mammal species photographed, including a large library of brown hares, and 139 bird species ranging from the common to very rare such as the Ross's Gull that appeared back in the spring. I would like to thank all of you that have taken the time to read , support and comment on my Blog during this year and wish you all a wonderful and wildlife filled 2009.

Private Viewing

I recently took a trip to a private site that has a number of small hides and feeding stations set up. I have previously visited before although the numbers of birds seemed to be lower than usual which probably was related to a very mild spell of weather. However a enjoyable session was still to be had. At this site the birds are at really close range which allows the use of the 300mm F4 lens. Here are a selection of shots from the day.

The sadly rapidly declining tree sparrow

A male bullfinch in some winter sunLong-tailed tit

A jay dropped in for a very brief and close visist

I have a fondness for Reed bunting and I was pleased with this visit from a female

Not a bird often associated with feeding stations a goldcrest was making regular visits to a fat filled log.

To finish this post with a splash of 'imported' colour a pheasant and a red-legged partridge.

300mm Lens Test

I recently purchased the 300mm F4 lens as I was finding occasions when a shorter focal length lens would be useful. The main use of the lens will be for flight shots of larger birds at relatively close range and also for smaller birds at close quarters.

I went to a private site in Cheshire where I knew I would be getting some close range shots for a variety of species to give it a test run. The weather was not great on the day but I was pleased with how the lens performed. It was a busy day!!!

Bullfinches

Blue tit Chaffinch

GreenfinchNuthatch Pheasant Robin and Tree sparrow