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.

Rothiemurchus Ospreys - Day 2 and a Bit

This is the second and final part describing my trip to Scotland earlier in the summer to photograph the Ospreys at Rothiemurchus. Before I get on to those magnificent birds of prey, I will spend a couple of moments to show a few images of other birds that appeared in front of and around the hide. These birds provided a good distraction while waiting during the occasionally prolonged quiet periods between Osprey dives. As with many types of wildlife photography involves periods of quiet tranquillity interspersed with moments of intense action by both wildlife and photographer.

A Grey heron was present on and off throughout the two days. During the whole time it was present over the two days, I never saw it catch any fish although to be fair it did only made a couple of half hearted fishing attempts.

The big bird gracefully coming in to land

Standing around preening in some typical Scottish summer weather.

The other bird to grab my attention was a hyperactive Common Sandpiper which spent a good deal of time in front of the hide and at times was too close to focus on. It was very good to see this small wader up so close for a change and with the benefit of the sunken hide putting the bird at eye level. However, it proved quite tricky to get photographs due to the length of the grass but after quite a bit of effort I managed to get a few images I was happy with.

Time to move on to the Ospreys. The second day saw another early forced departure from bed with it still being dark outside. A quick look out of the hotel window unfortunately showed the previous evenings forecast to be correct with a leaden blanket of grey above. Light was going to be limited.

For this morning session we opted to chose the second of the two new hides at the far end of the pool. We had about three dives in total that morning  from an un-ringed bird, one of which again very close to the hide. Not the most productive of mornings particularly with a challenging lack of light to play with but still a memorable session in its own right to watch this specialist predator once again in action.

After returning to the hotel around mid-morning for breakfast and a by now much needed sleep we returned to the hides in late afternoon for the final evening session. However, the evening followed a very similar pattern to the previous one, with the rogue 'Red 8T' bird patrolling above and keeping all the other Ospreys away from the pool.

The next day saw Andy's workshop starting and I was due to have breakfast and then start the long journey southward. However, there was still a hide available which allowed myself, Rob and Dave a final morning session.. A spectacular morning of action it turned out to be with around 17 dives during the session. The wind was not in the ideal direction for the hide we were in but it still provided a good variety of photo numerous opportunities. Included amongst the plunging Ospreys was the un-ringed bird together with  'Blue DF' and of course the notorious 'Red 8T'.

A selection of images from this final busy session can be found below.

At first glance it looks like this may be a miss and the fish may of had a lucky escape but somewhere at the back there will be a talon firmly locked on.

 An osprey dive is not without a lot of flying spray.

We even managed to get some welcome sunlight.

 Some sunlight shining through those broad powerful wings








Full stretch with and without fish

The restrictions on visibility and speed of the dive prevented actually capturing ospreys at the point of hitting the water. I just managed to catch this one which will give you an impression of the power of an osprey dive.

 Water quickly falls off the bird once they have made it back into the air leaving a trail of spray in their wake.

So there you have it. Two and bit days with the wonderful ospreys that visit Rothiemurchus, spent with some great company and with the bonus of some rare Scottish sunlight. You cannot ask for much more than that and I am left with memories of my mini adventure in Scotland that will stay with me for a very long time to come.

Rothiemurchus Ospreys - Day 1

Earlier in the year my good friend Andy asked if I fancied spending a couple of days,  before he held a week of workshops, photographing diving ospreys up in Scotland. I had slight reservations about this initially as many photographers have visited the hides and come away with similar looking photographs but in hindsight now I am now very glad that I went for the experience of watching these master fishers in action. To see an osprey plunging into a pool at close range, the ensuring brief battle between fish and bird as the talons find purchase below the surface, and the sheer effort required for the saturated bird to escape the water clutching its prey is truly a memory for life experience. One part that will always stay with me is the sound of an osprey hitting the water, the speed and power of the plunge dive is nothing short remarkable. The sounds is similar to someone throwing a medium sized boulder in the water.

 So at the very end of July I took the long drive northwards to Aviemore and met up with Andy and my other companions for the next two days Rob and Dave. I can't remember what time the alarm went off the following morning, probably around 4:30 am but it was far too early and still dark. We made the short-drive, with anticipation running high, to the Rothiemurchus Fishery. Before I tell you about the first day there, a huge deal of appreciation and thanks must go to all the people at Rothiemurchus who have been involved with the establishment of what can only be described as a world-class osprey photography facility. Both the thought and effort that has gone into this should not be understated. I also wish to particularly thank Julian and Neil Mc for their superb running commentary on approaching birds throughout our time there. Without all their efforts these photos would not be here, so thank you.

To set the scene I will describe the setup. A small shallow raised lake has been created close to the trout fishing lakes and is separated from the main fishery by a row of trees. Three spacious and partially sunken hides have been constructed around one side of the pool. Each hide can very comfortably accommodate four photographers. The low position of the hides combined with the elevated pool effectively puts the photographers very close to water level, a very good perspective from where to catch the action. The hides are entered during semi-darkness and left once the birds have finished feeding. The hides are positioned for the rising dawn sun from behind. Wind direction on the day is critical as this dictates the direction the birds take off in (i.e they always fly off into the wind). As visibility from the hide of approaching birds is very limited a watcher is provided who relates the activity overhead via radio. This raises the level of anticipation in the hide for the waiting photographers and the single word they are listening out for, and causes the shutter fingers to tense, on the low volume radio is 'diving'. After which there is a very brief silent pause and then the eruption of water as a bird hits the surface.

We entered the hide, settled down and started to wait for the first bird. I wouldn't like to calculate the total value of camera kit in that hide but on the four tripods there were four Canon 1dx bodies, three of the new 200-400mm lens and a 300mm F2.8 (which I was using both with and without a teleconvertor). Given the large size of the subject and the relatively small size of the pool a focal length of 300 - 400 mm seemed optimal.   After about 75 minutes, the radio announced the first approaching and circling bird followed quickly by the first dive of the day by a bird known as 'Blue XD' (the birds are generally identified by their unique coloured legs bands). The light at this point was still fairly low and the excellent high ISO performance of the 1DX really came in to its own.

During the course of the morning session through until about 9:30 we had a total of 5 dives from 'Blue XD' and 'Blue DF' taking lake rainbow trout from the pool. We were even blessed with some very nice soft early sunlight.

The battle between bird and fish

Four happy photographers left the hide in the morning to head off for breakfast. The photographs in this post are a selection from the morning session.

One of the dives was right in front of the hide so that all could be fitted in to frame was the birds head and shoulders. An amazing experience to see such a beautiful bird up so close.

In the evening we returned to try some back-lit photographs but over the 4 or so hours we were there, not a single bird dived in the pool.  The main reason for the lack of action was a single 'rogue' bird known as 'Red 8T'. This appeared from its behaviour to be very territorial about other birds coming in to use the pool and spent the whole evening chasing other birds away. It had been a memorable day despite the lack of evening action and we looked forward to what the next day might bring although from the look of the weather forecast it seemed to the weather would be changing to a more typical Scottish rain.

While I am here I want to tell you about a wonderful new book my friend Andy, who arranged the Osprey sessions, has recently written on Little Owls.

It is a beautifully produced book filled with stunning images that really capture the lives and endearing 'character' of these tiny owls.With a forward by Chris Packham, the book is the culmination of 10 years hard work to photograph and capture the lives of these fascinating birds. For those who love wildlife and birds or just like some amazing photography then this is a book that will bring a great deal of pleasure. Andy's love for the subject and skill behind the camera real shine through in the words and images.

This book is currently only available through Andy's website (click HERE to go Andy's store) and he will provide a signed and dedicated copy on request which I always think is very nice personal touch if purchased as a gift for a friend or loved one.