A Few Along the Way

With my photography I do try and concentrate on sessions aimed at a particular species. Inevitably whilst waiting around or during my wanderings a few other species tend to appear in the viewfinder. Often you may just get one of two photos of these chance encounters and therefore as the year progresses I tend to end up with a small collection of bonus images that I can use for a compilation blog post which is exactly what this one will be.

I will start of with spring and whilst walking down to a small reed bed to try and photograph reed warbler, a male Blackcap poked out of a bush and launched in to its loud blackbird like warbling song. I quite liked bird partially obscured by vegetation in this image as this a good representation of a typical view.

I live on the road which has the tidal River Mersey at the bottom and whilst walking down the hill to look for some wading birds on the beach, I cut through the park where there are some very approachable Mistle Thrush. Fortunately the maintenance people leave some areas of longer grass to allow some interesting low angle photos to be taken

During a session looking for some hares I came across a large clump of thistle which the local Goldfinches were doing their best to strip of all it seeds.

Another bird encounter during my search from hares, a Jay in the process of taking on board an acorn to go and bury somewhere for the winter.

I occasionally visit a graveyard where there is usually a relatively 'friendly' female Kestrel. On this occasion there was no sign of 'Mavis' as she is fondly known, but I did manage to get a couple of images of a male bird in some late in the day light.

Perched on a gravestone

Hovering low looking for worms and voles.

I also keep an eye on one of the local duck ponds as sometimes something more unusal the the flocks of mallard will arrive. A Shelduck unexpectedly 'crash' landing.

I try and keep my camera by my side as often as possible for unexpected moments. While driving to work one morning, I spotted a young Black-tail Godwit feeding on the fields behind the local promenade. Well it would have been a crime to drive by with out taking a few photos. It is fortunate I always tend to leave early for my trip to the office in case of such events.

Obviously these are just a few of the 'extras' I have encountered during this year but each one has been a welcome and special moment.

Too Late for Terns

Each summer I like to have at least one good session with some of the local Common Terns. I have always been attracted to the streamline elegance of these 'swallows of the sea', particularly during their twisting acrobatic flight. This year the mental alarm clock kept ringing out that it was time to pay them visit. However, due to other commitments the trip ended up being continually postponed until way past the optimal mid-summer period. For wildlife photography timing is key, particularly with birds, and so my expectations for the session ahead were not very high as I slipped out of the house before sunrise.

I arrived in the hide with numerous terns circling overhead but none were landing on the odd assortment of perches close by. If I had managed my trip a couple of months earlier they would have be queued up with plenty of flight opportunities. I would pay for my delay. While waiting for a tern to put in an appearance I had a look around to see what else was on offer.

The ducks were waking in the first rays of sun. A female mallard warming up the flight muscles.

A Tufted Duck glided slowly by while a male was stretching its wings.

Still the only terns were circling around the lake or landing on their floating nesting pontoons. Looking out the side of the hide a Lapwing was close-by and moving with characteristic stop and go walk of a plover. The rainbow hue of the shoulder feathers gently glowed in the early sun.

Still no terns. Further along the bank I waited as a hyperactive Common Sandpiper approached the hide. These birds never stop moving and this one was rapidly feeding on small flies that had gather around the muddy debris along the lake margin.

The tern perches remained vacant. A strange looking duck approached across the water. It took me a little while to decide what it was, having not seen a young Shelduck previously.

The species list was growing but the tern photography was failing. Eventually one bird landed briefly.

A second tern then arrived with what looked to be a young whiting firmly clamped in its beak.

One final bird arrived and threw a characteristic tern shape while calling to the birds flying high overhead.

I will admit it was not the most productive tern photography session which was entirely my own fault for not making the time to visit a few weeks earlier. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable morning spent with a small variety of birds in front of the camera. As I often say, there is always next year :)

Merely Waterfowl

Under a sky filled with spring sunshine I recently took a trip to the local Wildfowl and Wetland Trust Centre at Martin Mere. This is always a relaxing break from my usual wildlife photography pursuits with no early alarm and bleary eyes, no crawling through mud, lurking for long periods in the undergrowth or being a dining table for mosquitoes.

A winter or spring visit to 'The Mere' is always productive due to the large numbers of wild waterfowl that take up winter residence. I started my session with a wander around the captive bird enclosures which offers the opportunity to photograph some interesting and beautiful birds and also often offers a bonus as I will shortly reveal!

Here is a small selection of some of the captive birds and they do not come much more colourful than the Wood Duck.

I am always fascinated by the beautiful rainbows hues on their iridescent heads.

The striking black and white patterns of a captive drake Smew.

My final captive bird was the Australian Black Swan which caught my eye as it sat peacefully on calm golden water.

If you are photographing captive birds or animals then please do not try to pass them off as anything else. I have no problems with photography in zoos or waterfowl collections as they not only provide great camera practice but can also really test your skills. However, I have seen photographs of the captive Goldeneye at Martin Mere, a difficult shy species to photograph in the wild, being claimed as non-captive. This is not only misleading but really undermines the significant efforts and patience it takes to get photographs of the wild ones. A good example of the problems such mis-labelling can cause was well demonstrated in last year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.

The main reason I always check the captive enclosures, apart from simply being good fun, is that the free food handouts also attract wild birds. It became quickly obvious the large numbers of wild Shelduck were present amongst the captive birds and so busy in courtship that they were relatively oblivious to the passing human traffic. By this time the sun was high and bright and difficult exposure conditions for photographing these birds. Only mad dogs and Englishmen photograph Shelduck under the midday sun.

I moved over to the 'wild side' where a number of hides overlook the mere that attracts diverse and dense populations of wilds ducks, geese and Whooper swans during the winter months. I often find bird hides slightly frustrating, as you are often forced to shoot from a slightly elevated position whereas I prefer to be at water level when photographing waterfowl. If only they would cut some hide slots low down!
I began with the elegant shape of a drake Pintail.

My main target species for the session were the drake Wigeon which I have not photographed for a while and were in wonderful condition.

While photographing the Wigeon, a Coot came running across the water in front of me in pursuit of another bird. I managed to capture the sequence of which this was my favourite image in terms of wing and leg positions.

Overall a fun and relaxing session which recharged the batteries for the busy spring period ahead.

Supporting Cast

When I head out the front door with the camera I am usually going to target a particular species as I find it much more productive to go out with a specific plan rather to just see what comes my way. Of course while out and about I am often presented with opportunities for other species that just need to be taken. So I have gathered together a collection of birds that have been encountered on some of my wanderings this year. I have pulled together quite a number so this will be a fairly long post, at least in term of number of photos.

Earlier in the year I went out looking for dippers, on a stream local to my office, during my lunch hours. This was not wholly successful but on one trip I came across this grey wagtail unusually perched in the tree rather than hopping between boulders in the stream.

The early mornings out looking for hares produced the next three in the shape of a female Blackbird, a Song Thrush and more recently a Mistle Thrush eating some Rowan berries.

At the beginning of the year I heard about a couple of Barnacle Geese that had appeared on a local park lake. Probably 'feral' birds but a species which I had not photographed before.

During my sessions photographing avocets in the spring, one of the best looking Shelduck I have seen swam into view and so the mad antics of the avocets were quickly forgotten for a few moments.

There was some good late light illuminating the local pond on the way home one evening so I stopped briefly for this Mute Swan.

During a session looking for skylarks along the local coast I came across this male StoneChat in the dunes and a Robin along a footpath.

and to finish off a Little Egret on the local coast. I do not usually take back views of birds but thought I would make an exception for this one coming in to land.

Some of the Locals

Its entering a quiet time of year for the birds locally. There are still some to be photographed though, although the warm bright weather has not created the best light during the day for photography, with high contrats conditions.

There are still some skylarks to be found. There is something about this species that holds my facination. They may not be the most visually colourful but they make up for that in their behaviour and song.

Its not often you see them perched on plants or singing when not in flight.

Pairs of stonechats are still to be found amongst the dunes along the coast. For some reason this year I seem to be photographing many females, which are usually the more wary. I found a solitary Knot, a reminder that some of the waders will be returning from the north soon. Unusually, considering its June, it was already in full winter plumage.

This is probably the worst time of year to photograph waterfowl which are in eclipse plumage. However, this passing shelduck caught my eye.

The other birds gathering locally at the moment are Sandwich Terns that roost on some of the local beaches at high tide. However, they are difficult to photograph and it a case of hoping for a close fly-by, as they move around the beach.

Some of the birds turning into winter plumage with the black cap turning to white.

Martin Mere

Martin Mere is always an interesting place to visit and a trip during the winter will always produce plenty of shots. I took a recent visit with my friends Steve and Andy and we settled into the main Swanlink hide. Greylag geese were busy displaying and mating. It is a shame you cannot see the high res version of this shot as the 'dentition' inside that beak is impressive.

A finally display after mating

One of my favourite ducks, the pintail, were present in large numbers and the drakes in superb plumage.

With such stunning drakes in front of you it is easy to forget the female pintail..but I didn't.

Formation Shelducks frequently passed the hide but the light was not really up to giving enough shutter speed to capture flight action.
There were still a big group of Whooper swans present and I decdied leaving photographing them towards the end of the day to get some shots in softer light.

and finally some silouettes in the setting sun.

I also took a pintail silouette shot as I thought the distinctive shape might be effective.