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 :)

On Golden Ponds


I was out by a local pond recently photographing some Coots and Tufted Duck. To get the best from waterfowl I think there are three key considerations, firstly to get down low to the water, to go in the winter when they look at their best and also to carefully select your position in terms of the water colour. You will find the water colour is dictated by reflected bank side features or the sky and so varies from grey to blue and green to gold depending on the site and conditions. On this particular pond I noticed that a yellow / orange shrub was casting a narrow shaft of golden orange water across the lake and so positioned myself accordingly. A coot appeared first and photographed here just on the edge of the golden water area.

I had my eye on a drake Tufted Duck which was preening and slowly drifting towards the target zone. Many birds after preening and bathing will give their wings a flap to shake of excess water. Fortunately this one did it in just the right position.

I was back out with the camera two days ago following reports of a Velvet Scoter on a small pond near Clitheroe. This gave a rare chance to photograph one of these marine ducks which I had not seen before. I awoke to thick fog but a quick look on a local webcam showed the weather at my destination to be clear. The low winter light combined with bank side reflection again offered some opportunities for photos on a golden pond.

The bird was continually diving and surfacing with large freshwater mussels which it would swallow whole.

During the few hours I was there the bird must have consumed about 15 large mussels which makes you wonder firstly what kind of digestive system it must have and secondly why it was still floating! In this photograph the bird is manoeuvring the mussel before swallowing.

I will take this moment to also give a quick overview of the last 12 months as we are rapidly approaching the year end. It has been a relatively productive year with 108 wild bird species photographed including a dozen new species such as Black-necked grebe, Grey phalarope, Whimbrel and Shorelark. This has been despite a good deal of background trauma with the life threatening post-operative condition my partner found herself in earlier in the year and the serious illness and departure of a family member. I have probably spent more time in hospital during these last 12 months than I really care to think about. If this is combined with an extremely heavy work schedule and I am surprised I have managed to photograph anything! It really has been a case of grabbing as many fleeting moments as possible. For 2010 I already have an overseas photographic trip booked that I am really looking forward to and will give some details of that in the New Year.

To finish off I would like to thank all my friends, particularly Steve and Andy for their support during this difficult year, and you the readers for your kind words and taking the time to read the Blog. May I wish you all a very Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year.

Return to the Wetland Centre

I was recently back down in London and ahd some free time to pay a brief return visit to the London Wetland Centre. When I arrived it was quiet on the wild bird side of things so I decided to spend a bit of time with some of the captive waterfowl collection.

Long-tailed duck

Goldeneye
Smew

and a couple of the captive birds bathing.

Having had my fill of the captive birds I decided to move on to try and find some wild birds.

Feeding coot Tufted duck

Gadwall ShovelerLittle grebe in breeding plumage

Taking another dive To finish off I decided to have another go at the Ring-necked parakeets
As I was leaving I got up really close to a parakeet on a feeder.

and so decided to take the opportunity to take a close-up head shot.

London Wetland Centre

Last weekend I was down in the south of the country and decided to go and check out the London Wetland Centre that has been developed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. The reserve is a good model of the type of habitat creation that can be achieved in urban areas and has become an important area for a diverse range of wildlife. This was my first visit to the site which I enjoyed and certainly will be returning again if I am in that area. The reserve is split in to two areas with a captive collection of waterfowl and 'the wild side'. I concentrated my efforts on the wild areas and some of its birds.

A coot chewing through some water plant

Male shoveler in a quiet backwater. These quiet backwater channels offer good photographic opportunities as you are close to the birds, the waters are still creating good reflections of the birds and also the colouring of the bankside vegetation.
and out in some open water. I have never noticed before how the head plumage can turn from green to purple depending on the light direction. Photographically they are quite a difficult bird to expose in bright sunlight due to the brightness of the breast feathers.

A first for me the Gadwall. This is the first occasion I have managed to get near these birds and a found a few in front of the hide down in the SE corner of the site.

Female gadwall

and the drake with its very intricate feather patterning which is only properly revealed on close inspection.

The bankside vegetation in some areas of the lakes where there are extensive reedbeds creates some good colour reflections.

Great crested grebeand Tufted Duck

To finish off a particular treat for the day was a feeding station area that was attracting numbers of wild Ring-necked parakeets. These birds are rapidly growing in numbers in the west end of London and are now a common bird in parklands and gardens but this was my first opportunity to get some before the lens. Unfortunately by the time I had found them the sun was disappering as their colours must really glow in good light. They are quite a difficult bird to frame in the shot due to that very long tail.

Some of the locals


Living at the end of the Wirral pennisula there is often a good variety of birds to be found locally.
This shots says a great deal about Herring Gull....

There are still a large number of curlew roosting in a field nearby over the high tide periods.

Disturbed by the flocks of starlings


and Tufted Duck on the small park lake