Quantum Tiger Wildlife Photography

Urban Graffiti III

2012-01-27T23:03:00.002Z

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

2011-11-30T00:30:00.002Z

Brent Geese at Titchwell

2011-11-27T22:13:00.000Z

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

2011-11-24T23:31:00.000Z

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

2011-11-02T00:30:00.002Z

The silver lining

2011-10-28T23:31:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-28T00:30:00.001+01:00

Urban Graffiti I

2011-09-24T14:50:00.002+01:00

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

2011-09-21T00:30:00.000+01:00

Grey Heron (Fish Supper)

2011-09-17T20:42:00.001+01:00

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

2011-09-14T00:30:00.001+01:00

Habour Porpoise

2011-09-12T21:31:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-07T00:30:00.005+01:00

Migrant Hawker Dragonfly

2011-09-02T17:09:00.004+01:00

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

2011-07-15T23:15:00.003+01:00

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

2011-07-13T08:10:00.000+01:00

Wordless Wednesday: Little Tern

2011-07-06T00:30:00.004+01:00

Kingfisher

2011-07-03T22:48:00.000+01:00

The crane park kingfishers seem to have been much shyer this year. There is at least one pair still on the river, but I've hardly seen them since February. So on Friday I headed up to Rye Meads RSPB reserve outside Hoddesdon to see if I could get closer to one of the pairs nesting there. It was a good day with lots of sightings, although due to the position of the hide I was not able to get as close as I have been in Crane Park. I took a fair few photos - but I think I must have been a bit to impatient because hardly any of them were really sharp. This was probably the best of the bunch. Looks like I need to go back again!

Male Mandarin Duck

2011-07-01T07:45:00.001+01:00

After Mary's comment about Mandarins looking similar to Carolina Wood Ducks I remembered this picture of a male Mandarin which I took back in April and had intended to use as a wordless Wednesday image - but somehow forgot about in the excitement of all the photos from the Farne Islands. It was one of those still, clear spring days where the sun is low and golden, and the ponds were mirror smooth. So thanks, Mary, and I hope you like the Mandarin!

Wordless Wednesday: Wheatear

2011-06-29T08:17:00.002+01:00

Mandarin Duckling

2011-06-27T23:53:00.000+01:00

After several weekends of rain, we finally had some sunshine this weekend. The local park was rather quiet - just a few blackcap and a family of herons that have taken up residence above the reed bed. No sign of my kingfisher this year - which is a shame.

Over the last few weeks there has been a female Mandarin with a small group of ducklings. I think as many as five originally. Last time I saw them she had only two. This weekend only one was in evidence.

Wordless Wednesday: Guillemot

2011-06-15T20:07:00.003+01:00

Wordless Wednesday: Shag

2011-06-01T18:43:00.002+01:00

Wordless Wednesday: Farne Island Puffin II

2011-05-25T20:46:00.000+01:00

Farne Island Terns

2011-05-22T08:47:00.000+01:00

The week before last I spent a couple of afternoons on Inner Farne being entertained by puffins, terns, guillemots, shags and eider. It was the first time I'd made it across to the Farnes - previous attempts having been stymied by bad weather. But what a fantastic place to be.

The main target of my day was to get shots of the sandwich terns. These graceful birds nest in some numbers on the Farnes and can be seen fishing off the Northumberland coast. Inner Farne is a good place to get up close and personal

Another highlight of the trip were the Arctic terns. Strong winds, good light and the need for the terns to run the gauntlet of scavenging black-headed gulls eager to relieve them of the fish all make for excellent photographic opportunities to capture these lovely birds in flight.