Gannets at Bempton

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Last week I undertook what is becoming a near-annual pilgrimage to the cliffs at Bempton to visit the seabird colony there. This year the wind was blowing stiffly off the land and pushing most of the smaller birds far out to sea - so we saw a mere handful of razorbills, guillemots and puffins. But the Gannets were out in force and the light was perfect.

The following is a close crop from one of my favourite shots of the day. I was rather pleased with this one.

Spring is springing

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I can't believe that it is nearly April and I have only posted three entries this year so far! Life is good, but busy for various reasons, and leaving little time to get out with my camera. To make matters worse my local park had a pollution event last year which has killed all the fish in the river and driven away a lot of the wildlife. No kingfishers this year I fear.

But things are looking up and spring has brought return visitors, including a welcome return for the grey wagtails. Low water levels are encouraging them to feed further upstream than normal giving me a great vantage from which to watch them. Hopefully will get some better shots than this soon - but here is one to keep me going.

In other news I have a rather exciting trip planned for later in the year. Watch this space!

Stags in a row

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Another weekend without any photography. So instead here is a shot from a couple of weeks back

This shot of three stags in a row worked better in my head than it did in practice. I thought that the two out of focus stags in the background would make for an interesting effect. As it is I think they are slightly distracting. Wondering now if I should have gone for a wider depth of field. Or picked out the middle one. Thoughts anyone?

After the fox

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This morning I was in two minds as to what to do. Take advantage of the fantastic light and head for the coast? Or have a more conservative outing into my local wildlife reserve? Eventually I decided on the latter - and I'm so glad I did.

The light was stunning, and the weather bracing. Initially there was not much around. Until I turned a corner and spotted two young foxes on the reed-bed. I took a couple of record shots through the trees and then set about stealthily moving to a better position with an uncluttered view.

The nearer of the two foxes saw me and meandered off. The second fox seemed more relaxed. It spotted me as well - but allowed me to get to a better vantage, take a series of shots and then pop a tele-converter onto the lens to take a few more.

Finally it bored of being the centre of attention and it too wandered off - but not before glancing back and giving me the best shot of the series. Probably the best extended wildlife encounter in my local park!

Urban Graffiti III

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Carrying on my series of photos on Urban Graffiti (because I had yet another wildlife walk with no wildlife!) here is one from today.



Okay - the walk wasn't entirely without wildlife. I saw a sparrowhawk in the distance and various small birds. But nothing is being very cooperative at present!

Wordless Wednesday: Goldfinch

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Brent Geese at Titchwell

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The main reason for my recent Norfolk trip was to photograph Brent Geese at Titchwell. I saw a few in the distance on Monday at Snettisham, but on Tuesday there was not a single one to be seen at Titchwell. The light was not good either, so a return trip was called for. Two in fact. On Wednesday the geese were out in force - but so was the cloud (and the cold!). Thursday, however, dawned bright and clear. I spent most of the morning stood at the southern end of the west bank path with the sun behind me, as throughout the morning small groups of geese took off and flew across into the adjacent fields.

Sunshine at Titchwell

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Having had several days with fog, rain and poor visibility it was fantastic to get some early morning sunshine in Norfolk today. The weather seemed to inspire the birds too. I'd headed up to Norfolk primarily to photograph geese (of which more in a later post), but the unexpected highlight was definitely the Golden Plover at Titchwell. Present in large numbers and periodically taking to the wing to provide spectacular swirling displays. Add in a bit of sunlight and the odd lapwing and the spectacle was breath-taking. The photo really doesn't do it justice. This is just one segment of a much larger sky...

Wordless Wednesday: Heron

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The silver lining

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This weekend I was supposed to be meeting up with friends to walk in the colours of Forest of Dean, but my car had other ideas. So instead I walked my local patch, on what was a stunning autumn day. The kingfishers were out in force - but as ever too skittish for photos. I think I may have found the nest site though - so next spring with a hide, just maybe! A good day in all, with a sparrowhawk sighting, two pairs of goldcrests and loads of long-tailed tits.

Wordless Wednesday: Urban Graffiti II

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Urban Graffiti I

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On one of my routes to the River Crane, I pass close to a sunken walled area which features some of the best Urban Graffiti I have ever seen. In the absence of any new wildlife shots this weekend I thought I'd post up the first of a number of shots I took there this weekend. I've adjusted the shot for perspective and cropped the surroundings which makes it hard to get a feel of scale. The original mural was probably about thirteen feet wide.

After taking these shots I spent a happy half hour chasing three juvenile kinfishers. Sadly they were just a little too skittish to get any decent photos - but it was lovely to see them.

Wordless Wednesday: Fallow Deer

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Grey Heron (Fish Supper)

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Yesterday I took a walk through Home Park, and Bushy Park. Lots of fallow deer were in evidence, as well as the usual crowd of water-fowl. On one of the less-well trodden paths in the Woodland Gardens I came across this grey heron, struggling to down a rather sizable fish supper. I was impressed. It kept it up for a long time, finally managing to swallow the fish whole. I wonder if heron's suffer from indigestion?

Wordless Wednesday: Juvenile Stonechat

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Habour Porpoise

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A wet, windy, wild week in Pembrokeshire this year. Not a lot of great photo opportunities although I did see a lot of wildlife. Had a rather sad encounter with a deceased harbour porpoise on the beach at Abercastle, possibly after having run into trouble in the recent stormy weather. Sad to see such a lovely creature under such circumstances - but I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of it's teeth!

Wordless Wednesday: Ruddy Darter

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Migrant Hawker Dragonfly

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Is it really six weeks since my last post? A combination of a few weekends with no spare time for photography and a couple of very good walks which yielded no photographs!

Today, however, I broke the dry spell. A fantastic, sunny exploration of Chobham Common in Surrey. It's a beautiful place. At first it seemed a bit quiet on the wildlife front. Eventually, however, I found an active selection of small birds. Stone-chats, various warblers, wood-peckers, coal tits and even a red kite.

The highlight of the afternoon, however, was a happy half hour spent photographing dragonflies. I've always loved the coloration of the Migrant Hawker, but I've never seen one stay still long enough to get a photo. Today there were about three of them flying around one of the ponds, and pausing briefly to hover over the water. I wasn't 100% certain of the focus on the first few shots I got (the dragon-fly's body is longer than the depth of field of my 400mm lens at f/5.6) so I dropped the ISO and opened up to f/8 and was rewarded with this shot. Rather chuffed.

It looks much better if you click through to the larger image.

Rabbit

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It was a beautiful day today, so I headed out with my camera. The morning proved to be quite frustrating. Lots going on, but never quite in a place I could get a camera on to it. There was a very active pair of tree-creepers in one section of the woodland gardens, but every time they came out someone would walk by and scare them off again. One chap helpfully walked right up to me to tell me where to find a heron just as I was lining up one of the best opportunities of the morning.

This improved a bit after lunch, although the tree-creepers did not come back. I'm quite pleased with this young rabbit. It seemed relatively unconcerned by my presence.

Wordless Wednesday: Grey Seal

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