Wildlife Photographic Journals

Roaming in Romania - Day 3: Dawn on the Danube

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:46:00 +0000

The alarm went off at 4:45 a.m, I rolled out of bed and the first thing I did was to look out of the window. We had arrived in the dark the evening before and I just want to get a view of the surroundings. As I peered out into the approaching dawn it looked like the weather would be good for the long awaited morning photography session ahead. A small group of Pygmy Cormorants passed, as I gazed out with bleary eyes, and flew rapidly upstream. 15 minutes later I had joined the rest of the group for our 5 a.m breakfast of bread, hams,cheese and tomatoes. Now bearing in mind that Romania is 2 hours ahead of the UK I must confess it was a struggle to eat when my body clock was still tuned in to it being 3 a.m! However, the hot freshly brewed coffee was very welcome.

At this point you should note for this series of blog posts on Romania, some days will be contained in a single post, whilst others that were particularly productive, like this one will be spread over two. Typically our days in Romania were split into two daily sessions with the camera, 5 - 11am and then 3pm to about 8pm. We would have a break in the hot middle of the day when the light was to harsh and the air wobbled with haze neither of which are conducive to good photography. The midday break took in lunch and also allowed time for both camera and people 'batteries' to recharge after the early start.

After boarding the hide boat we headed off upstream and quickly swung off the main river in to a small reed lined side channel that was chocked with various water plants. Progress was relatively slow as we would periodically have to stop and the boat reverse to clear the accumulated vegetation from the propeller. After about 30 minutes travel along the narrow winding channel it suddenly opened out into a small lake. The edges of the lake were again reed fringed and crystal clear water was covered in large patches of yellow and white flowering water lilies and beds of Water Soldier. A beautiful and tranquil setting in the rapidly rising sun made all the more attractive by good variety of birds going around their early morning business and the rising chorus of frogs singing. Here is a photograph of a typical view on this lake from the boat to give you an idea.

My first thoughts were that the boatman had a difficult task ahead of him to try and navigate us through the dense vegetation into the right position in terms of the light and distance for photography. The first bird we encountered was a Squacco Heron which had been one of my favourite birds from a trip to Hungary last year.

These small herons were dotted all around the lake and were gently glowing in the soft dawn light. The first of many more encounters with this species over the next couple of days as they proved to be the bird we most frequently encountered on a travels around the Delta. The bird was busy looking for prey which included the larvae of what would have been a very large water beetle.

Our first bird encounter taught me a quick lesson that when the boat had got into position the movement of four photographers slightly adjusting their positions to get the best angle on the bird from would cause some rocking of the boat. After a while I actually found it was much easier for me during these moments to dispense with the tripod.

The next birds we encountered were two White Pelicans which are a new species for me. They are visually such appealing birds with their large colourful beaks and some lovely textures in their feathers. Our time with these birds was brief but it gave chance to get the first few portraits of these huge birds.

Next stop on our journey around this small lake was close to a colony of Whiskered Tern. This was a bird I had seen last year on my journey into Eastern Europe but of which I had failed to get any photographs. Failure was not going to be an option this time though as numerous birds flew past in close proximity to the boat as they gathered nesting material and searched for food to get their day started or perched on nearby lilies.

The end of another water beetle larvae

Time to move on once more and this time the boat slowly a colony of noisy Blacked-headed gulls that had built a nesting colony on a large patch of lilies in the middle of the lake.

I was quite glad that we were not here to photograph the gulls but another species that often associates with them and apparently uses the gull colony as an early warning system of approaching predators, the Black-necked Grebe. It has been a few years since I have photographed this small but beautiful bird and I was only thinking earlier this year it would be good to find some more in the UK where they are fairly thin on the ground. Those thoughts all seemed a bit irrelevant now with the dozen birds drifting around close to the boat and going through an early morning bathing and stretching routine.

These proved to be the main photography subject for the morning and we stayed with the birds for quite a long time having been put in to a very good location with the boat that was carefully manoeuvred and positioned to steer a wide berth of any nest sites.

A Great-crested grebe drifted through its smaller relatives as we sat their soaking up the atmosphere of the wonderful birds in front us whilst being serenaded by a constant chorus of frogs.

The sun was rising rapidly now and the light growing increasingly harsh. We spent a short-while with some Common Terns but then started to make the voyage back to the hotel at Mila 23.

En route we had our first encounter with a Night Heron, in one of the narrower channels that would return us to the main river stem together with some more of the ubiquitous Squacco Heron.

Overall it had been a memorable first morning in the Delta and as you can see a very busy one for the four photographers on the boat. The beauty of this type of roving photography is that you never know what is waiting round the corner in the channel or on the next lake you enter. They way I have described this first session you may think the photography is easy due to the abundance of bird life but you do have to work for your images, think about composition and position and backgrounds. It was this aspect of the trip that was going to make this adventure all the more rewarding than just waiting for birds to appear on pre-arranged perches in front of a permanent hide.

Roaming in Romania - Days 1 and 2: Long Journey to the Delta

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:01:00 +0000

Following my trip to Hungary last year, I was so impressed with the abundance and diversity of bird life, that I decided to make a return visit to Eastern Europe for my main overseas trip this year. This year I decided I would head a bit further east into Romania with the main attraction being the Danube Delta, known as the last true wilderness of Europe and noted for its amazing diversity and abundance of bird life.

There will not be many bird photographs for this post which mainly recounts my long journey to Delta but I did manage to get a couple of photographs en route including a new species.

The trip had been booked for many months so it was with excitement that I departed from the house on Friday lunch time for the 50 minute drive across to Manchester Airport. For this trip I decided to fly with British Airways which proved to be a much more enjoyable experience and removed any worries in terms of heavy camera hand luggage due to their allowance. All my kit was safely packed in to the Gura Gear Bataflae bag and for those interested the basic camera kit for the trip was a Canon 1DX and 1Dmk4 combined with a 300mm F2.8 and 600mm F4 lens and the two teleconvertors.

My first flight was a short 'hop' down to Heathrow and then the hassle of having to swap from Terminal 5 to 3. By the time I had reached Terminal 3, dragging my heavy hand luggage, I had felt like I had walked half-way to Romania! In Terminal 3 I met up with Rene who was one of the other three photographers on the trip that had been organised by Saker Tours.

My trip last year to Hungary was also booked through Saker Tours. However, this trip was to be quite different. The Hungary visit was based around a number of established fixed hides and you could also predict what images you would home with, even down to the settings. The Romania trip was based on a much more mobile approach and birds encountered which would result in different images on each tour. This really appealed to me together with the fact the most of the photography would not be through glass as it was in Hungary.

We boarded the 3.5 hour flight to Budapest and lost a further 2 hours to time difference and so arrived around 11:15pm. We were not due to be collected until the following afternoon and so had booked a night in the accommodation in the Mogosoaia Palace. We managed to get ripped off by the taxi from the airport and getting into the Palace at midnight seemed a bit like trying to gain entry to a secure facility as we had to negotiate our way around several sets of security. We had chosen this accommodation as it is surrounded by parkland that may offer some opportunities for photography the following morning while we were waiting for collection. It was a nice looking hotel but I was starting to have doubts!

I did not sleep well mainly due to the fact that huge spotlights, lighting the historic building, lit up the room as if it was daylight and this was accompanied by a constant howling and barking or packs of feral dogs that seemed to be roaming the grounds. After a couple of hours restless sleep I woke around 5:30am to an unfamilar dawn chorus of nightingales and cuckoos. Further sleep seemed pointless so I thought I would head out with the camera for a couple of hours as the sun was rising to see what could be found.

I wandered down the edge of a large reed fringed lake and immediately heard the loud song of the Greater Reed Warbler. This is a bird I have always wanted to photograph and after a short wait this giant warbler was in front of me singing. A good start.

Bursting into its very loud song in the early morning light.

I spent the rest of the time trying to photograph some cuckoos that were constantly flying around calling and managed to get a couple of photos before the light became to harsh and it was time to retreat back to the hotel for breakfast.

At breakfast I met another of the members of the trip Hans from Holland. There was nothing left to do now except wait for our collection in the afternoon to start our journey into the Delta. We slowly basted in the sun sitting outside the hotel which seemed to be in chaos. We watched the comings and goings of a couple of weddings, a christening and a large meeting of Masons. After some difficulty and much confusion I eventually managed to pay for my room.

Zoltan, our host for the week, eventually arrived around 3:30pm with the fourth photographer, Michael from Austria. We loaded all the luggage and camera bags into the minibus and set out on a 4 hour drive across Romania to Tulcea, the gateway to the Danube Delta. It was interesting to note on this journey that the was a marked absence of bird life compared to Hungary which no doubt was partially a result of different farming practices. Huge swathes of the country are covered in enormous prairie like mono-cultures of wheat and sunflowers which are no doubt a remnant of the large state farms from the communist era. A very different situation compared to Hungary. Our journey to Tulcea did not pass without incident as we had a rear wheel blow-out which fortunately occurred about 100m from a tyre repair garage and so did not delay our journey much.

At Tulcea we transferred on to the boat for a 2 hour journey to our final destination, Mila 23, in the heart of the Danube Delta.

Mila 23 means 'Mile 23' and refers to the distance of the location within the Delta from the Black Sea into which the Danube finally discharges. At this point I will quickly mention the boat which has been specially constructed by Saker Tours for photography and was to be our 'home' for the next few days. The boat comfortably accommodates 4 photographers and has been well thought out as a floating hide and allows birds to be photographed at near water level.

As we headed in to the Delta, darkness began to quickly descend and as we approached our destination of the Paradise Delta House Hotel we were sailing at speed through reed lined channels in the pitch dark. Our boat driver obviously knew the waters very well and must have very good night vision!

It must have been around 10 pm when we eventually arrived at the hotel which was very good and on an island opposite Mila 23. After a quick meal of fried carp, which I can't really recommend, we all headed to bed for the 5am start. I drifted off to sleep quickly while outside was the sound of thousands of 'singing' frogs under a million stars in a clear sky above. After a long journey it felt we had finally arrived. Anticipation was high for our first day out photographing birds in the Delta which will be the topic for my next post.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sat, 25 May 2013 08:04:00 +0000

An Extraordinary Lark

I must admit having risen from the bed at some unearthly hour, the morning had not been very productive, with only a couple of Chiffchaff photos for my efforts, and so my thoughts were turning to a return home for some breakfast.

En route I decided to try one last place as a last ditch attempt to put some photos on the memory card and diverted off to a site close to home to look that beautiful songster, the skylark. It proved to be a sensible decision. It is strange how small timing decisions can often make the difference between success and failure in wildlife photography. I am sure many of you, who pursue wildlife with the camera, have witnessed your subject appear where you have been sat as you have decided to walked away due to inactivity.

As I walked up the small grass slope I spotted a skylark and the next 90 minutes turned into an incredible encounter with an unusual bird. I crept into position and the bird seemed completely oblivious to me.

In fact as I approached, the bird decided to walkover towards me until it was standing about 30cms away and far too close to photograph. Strange. I was then left with a dilemma should I try backing slowly away so I could take some photos, with the risk of the bird departing, or wait for it to move.

The bird was going nowhere and after a while I backed off, only for it to come trotting through the long grass to stand right next to me once. This was repeated several times before the lark headed skywards in vertical song flight. Up and up it went in full song, only to descend once more and land right next me.

Two dog walkers were coming along the path which I was convinced would see the departure of the bird but as they got closer it just casually walked around and hid behind me, to re-emerged next me once more after they passed. This was all very odd the bird just seemed to like being next to me. It was obviously on its own and still looking for a mate and seemed to content to spend some time with me.

Many people associate skylarks with their song flight when they almost disappear from sight in the blue yonder above, before slowly descending with their liquid song and finishing off with sudden plunge back to earth. However, they also have a ground display when they go up on extended legs, raise their tail and appear to 'dance' and bob on the spot while in song. This is what the bird was now doing right next to me. To have a skylark stood singing and displaying literally right next to you, I can only describe as a sublime experience.

I decided to do some ground level photo given this unique opportunity. Photographing a small bird on the ground can be tricky when the grass is even a moderate length as there often stray blades which insist on appearing in the wrong place. It proved even more difficult on this occasion as the bird insisted on coming too close.

Having taken plenty of photos it was definitely time for breakfast. Even when I stood up to leave the bird was still standing right next me. As I walked back to the car, the bird took flight, flew straight down towards me and landed in front of me once more. It continued to do this for the next 400m before finally deciding to go off and find itself some breakfast. A very strange bird but a superb encounter with an extraordinary lark.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:54:00 +0000

A Weakness for Grasshopper Warbler

Wildlife photography requires a certain amount of self-discipline, such as getting up at an unearthly hour to an alarm call when your head and body would rather stay in the comfort of your bed beneath the duvet. You need to set yourself goals and concentrate on particular species to which you dedicate your time and not become distracted. I nearly always set out from the house with a definite plan, on those days when you become distracted and decide to head elsewhere are usually when you come back with few or any photos at all.

At the start of this spring I told myself categorically that I was going to ignore Grasshopper Warbler (locally known as 'Groppers') given that I already have so many images of them. So I set out a couple of weeks back looking for some Blackcap not realising with this year's 'broken spring', which has played havoc with my mental calender, that the main influx of this migrant Sylvia warbler was yet to occur. As I looked around looking and listening for Blackcap I heard that all to familiar rapid ticking song of a Grasshopper warbler from a bramble patch. The warbler was keeping low out of the gusty wind and I just got a momentary glimpse of a very yellow looking bird. Many of you may not actually realise that Groppers come in two colour morphs with both brown and yellow variants. This was certainly the most yellow coloured one I had ever seen.

That brief sighting and sound of that reeling song was all it took for my weakness for Grasshopper warblers to kick in. When I got home I found myself suddenly checking the forecast looking for good Gropper weather! There was no turning back now, as I became fully consumed by the G-fever. The forecast showed that the relentless stiff cold wind was easing off in three days time, the temperature rising and some dawn sun was even predicted. It looked ideal.

Still conditions are important for Grasshopper warbler photography as the birds will only show themselves at the top of their bramble patches in light winds. Stronger winds see them content to sing from deep cover. The other important factor is time of day as you need to be in position as the sun is just emerging or disappearing over the horizon. I have often seen photographer arriving as I am leaving who enquire if I have seen any Groppers, by which time the early morning performance is over. The window to photograph them is also very brief usually only a week or two, after they arrive while the birds establish territories and pair up for breeding. If you combine all these factors then they are relatively easy to see or photograph.

So the alarm was set for early o'clock to allow me to get ready and drive to be at the site just as the red glow of a new day started to tint the sky. Before the sun broke the horizon I could hear a few short bursts of the insect like warble from the brambles, the bird was warming up for its morning performance. As the first rays appeared up came the same very yellow bird, in the same place I had seen it a few days early, to broadcast its song.

This is the bird on its first appearance before the sunlight flooded across the bramble patch.

I thought for a change I would post a head crop of the above photo. I would like to point out that any image you see of a small bird's head in close up is always a large crop of the original unless the photographer as gone to extreme lengths with extenders and extension tubes attached to the lens. The reasons for showing this is are two fold. Firstly you lose a lot of detail when you reduce an image in size and to low res to post on the Internet. I always wished you could see the images that I do where you can count individual feather filaments, assuming you wanted to. Secondly I want you to look in to the eye where you can see the sun just emerging above the horizon.

The first light of a sunny day is always a photographer;s best friend and bathes your subject in beautiful soft warm light. The performance by this Grasshopper Warbler from a photography point of view was outstanding as the bird would often pick the highest bramble arch in the low clump to perform. This allowed, with a bit of slow manoeuvring from me to achieve clean backgrounds to the photos which is always welcome for a bird that shows such an affinity for deep cover. It is always interesting when you obtain a series of images of the same bird over the period of the sun rising how much the changing colour of light affects the look of the bird.

So yes I am weak willed when it comes to these enigmatic little birds and managed to completely ignored my own advice to give them a wide berth this year, although in many ways I am glad I did :). Maybe next year I will be able to ignore them.....maybe.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:45:00 +0000

In Print

In this electronic age we are all accustomed to viewing images on the screens of phones, tablets or monitors. The majority of us view photographs that are low resolution versions which have been uploaded to websites or various social media where their quality is often further reduced by compression. We are missing a lot. When I am preparing the low resolution versions of the images to post on this blog it is a shame you are unable to see the version before me where every feather filament or strand of hare can be seen along with a whole range of other subtle details lost during downsizing. When you are able to see this detail it draws you into an image and makes you look deeper and marvel at the beauty of nature rather than just glancing quickly at it and thinking 'nice photo'.

To see a photograph in its full glory it needs to be printed. A photograph often takes on a whole new life when it has been printed by a commerical labortatory, mounted, placed in a complimentary frame and hung on a well lit wall. So I urge you to free some of your photographs from the confines of the screen and release them into the world and on to the walls of your home as printed versions.

It is always good to see a printed version of your images. Mine have appeared in numerous books, posters, pamphlets and magazines over the years. However, up until this point I have never produced a full magazine article with both text and images. I recently approached Bird Watching Magazine with an idea for an article on Western Oakwoods and summer migrant birds which I am happy to say they accepted and fills 8 pages of this month's issue (May). A sample of a couple of pages (taken with my ipod to make the text unreadable!) is shown below:

I will also use this little update post to tell you of an exciting photography trip that I have had booked for a long time and now is just over a month away. Following on from my trip to the wonderful birds of Hungary last year, I decided for this year's trip I would head a little further east and into Romania. This will include a few days on the Danube Delta (a wetland wildnerness that I have always wanted to visit), a couple of days in the mountains and some time on some coastal lagoons by the Black Sea. Of course I will give you a full account of the trip and hopefully have some interesting encounters and photographs to share with you.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:06:00 +0000

Garganey...at last

Most bird photographers have a list of species they would love to put in front of the camera. This can either be achieved through a determined effort or occasionally by a lucky chance encounter. One specie that I have always admired from the books on European birds is the Garganey. This is a scarce and shy migrant duck that visits the UK during the summer having sensibly spent the winter in warmer climates to the south. This species tends to be found more frequentlyin the south of the UK, although occasionally one does appear locally. I have only ever 'seen' one of these birds which appeared as a tiny dark speck on the far side of a large lake.

A couple of weeks back I had to attend a meeting down south in Bristol and so decided to see if there was anywhere I could stop off with the camera on the way home to break up the boredom of the long drive. Whilst trawling around the various bird reports on the Internet, I notice there was a small lake, that was only a short detour from my route, where there were four Garganey reported. More importantly there were some photographs of the birds. These were not just long range sightings of the birds through spotting scopes.

The weather was not good but appeared to be improving slightly as I pulled up into the car park next to the pond. First job was to try and find the birds. There were some wild mandarin duck cruising around at the southern end of the lake which had a strange water colour of bluish-grey no doubt caused by the local clay. Normally I would have been happy spending some time photographing the Mandarins, which are such an attractive bird, but I was not to swayed from my hope of finding the Garganey in my limited available time. I scanned the pond and noticed a couple of small dark ducks at the far end and could just make out the characteristic white eye stripe. Moving to the north end of the lake there were four birds in the corner which unusually for such a retiring bird seemed fairly oblivious to my presence. A Garganey at close range....at last.

I decided to concentrate all my efforts on the drakes as the single female was not what you would describe as visually exciting or distinctive in its mottled brown plumage that was fairly similar to a mallard. The male Garganey on the other hand are subtly beautiful birds with their intricately patterned plumage of various shades of brown and rust, distinctive head stripe with the long draping bluish-grey feather across the back. The birds spent most of the time feeding in a large weed bed which means their heads were under the water.

As with any wildlife photography a much better perspective is achieved by getting at the same level as your subject. In the case of ducks this means getting as close to water level as possible and getting dirty but that is all part of the fun.

I manage to catch one of the drakes very briefly on one area with a nicely coloured setting just as the skies brighten a touch.

The last moments of a mosquito.

My favourite photograph from this brief encounter is shown below and I like the serenity of the capture scene.

I had about an hour with the birds before the darkening skies emptied its 'monsoon' which brought the session to an abrupt end and my home bound journey northwards was eased by finally encountering this long sort after duck.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:23:00 +0000

Hoping for Owls

Not far from my home is a expansive area of salt marsh that forms the outer estuary of the River Dee. This relatively short vegetation, small creeks and ponds provides good habitat for birds but also for a range of small mammals which in turn attracts a variety of birds of prey. This is particularly the case during the winter months when birds like hen harrier and short-eared owls take up temporary home on the marsh to join the residents such as kestrel, barn owl and merlin.

The photography here is really a question of luck. Walking out on the marsh is discouraged to prevent disturbance of the birds and also presents some real dangers in terms of disappearing into the soft muds. So it is a question of finding a location along the footpath the runs along the eastern side where you have a chance of the birds flying close. The only way to get some results is to put in some time on the basis that the longer you are there the greater the chance of a bird flying into photography range. A game of persistence and chance.

Since the start of the year I have been making some occasional visits to try and photograph some of the owls. Barn owls have been doing well locally in recent years due to a lot of effort put in to provide them with nest boxes. These enigmatic birds show wide variability in the timing of the daily hunting. Some individuals will appear in daylight at either end of the day but many are strictly nocturnal so to achieve any success requires the right bird to be found. The patterns of the bird behaviour do change through the year with the birds forced to hunt in daylight during the demanding periods of rearing of their young.

During the last couple of months the Barn Owl I have been trying to photograph has shown nearly nocturnal behaviour with very brief appearances at first and last light when often too little light for photography which has obviously limited success. Several sessions have seen me heading back home with no or only a few photographs that have headed straight to trash. In fact I only really managed to get a few photographs, that I was happy to keep, from one recent session when we had the heavy snowfall. The cold weather probably forced the owls to stay out a little longer than usual. It was nice to get a couple of photographs of the ghostly form of the owl gliding through the light snow that was falling.

I was surprised when the owl appeared behind me, hunting along the verge of the the car park, and landed close by briefly having missed a vole.

The Short-eared owls are an easier prospect for photography as they are one of the few owls that regularly hunt in daylight so the chance of success is much greater. My efforts for these have been hampered to an extent by the dreadful weather we have had at the start of this year. How I have yearned to just have a few moments with the owls driftingclose-by through some beginning or end of the day sunlight. Oh well you can't have it all.

It has been pleasure just watching these beautiful owls as they hunt in low buoyant flight across the marshes, looking for voles, with the occasional close fly-by allowing a few images to be captured.

I will probably keep putting some time in for the owls in the near future assuming I do not become distracted by other species. Photographing these birds is quite addictive. As always so much to do and such limited time.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:16:00 +0000

Frozen Spring

Usually at this time of year I tend to write a blog post on brown hares. This is an animal that is often associated with spring with their 'mad March' boxing antics. The posts from previous years have shown the animals running around or sat in the rapidly growing grass or passing blooming daffodils. In fact during March last year the UK was unusually warm with temperatures in the low twenties Celsius. This year though is very different.

A shift in the jet stream and high pressure over the north of the UK has resulted in a constant icy wind blowing in from the east which brought with it a couple of weeks back some very heavy snow. Living on a penninsula any snowfall is usually a bit thin on the ground (literally) due to the warming influence of the surrounding sea. This was still the case in the recent weather but a short distance down the road where I photograph the hares, a decent layer of around 30cms had accumulated and had been pushed into low drifts by a harsh east wind.

I have not got many photographs of hares on snow so thought I would take the opportunity to try and get some before it melted away. My first attempted failed as the snow was too deep to gain access, especially for my very much less than 4 wheel drive car. After a couple of days of slow thaw, access was possible and I had a very productive couple of sessions. It was certainly good to get some of these wonderful animals on snow to had some variety to the library.

Given that I rarely encounter snow I always find it quite a challenge to photograph and getting the exposure right. Its is a fine balance between trying to keep the snow looking white and not over exposing the image.

There must be some vegetation down there somewhere to eat.

I have had my concerns for doing any hare photography this year. During last year I noticed that numbers seemed to be much reduced and then I found out why. I was told in the autumn that someone decided it would be 'fun' to go around shooting them. For some reason it is not illegal to shoot this rapidly declining mammal but it is to do it in the public open space where they live. The police took to occasional patrols but whether they caught anyone I do not know. The population is quite small so it would not take much to wipe them out and that was my fears for both the hares and any future photography. I would have certainly missed spend time in their company. Numbers certainly do not seem to be at the level they use to be but there appears to hopefully be sufficient to keep the population going given they are quite prolific breeders. I was certainly very happy to see a heavily pregnant female, shown below, fighting off the advances of several males.

My next mammal project, which I am thinking of checking out tomorrow given an improving forecast, is a return to some Water Voles which I am really looking forward to. This will be a reconnaissance mission for some plans I have to photograph them for when it warms up a little.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:16:00 +0000

Famous Grouse on the 'Rocks'

Winter does not seem the want to release its icy grip on the UK and let the warmth of spring push through just yet. As I write this post there is snow lying in the garden outside. The spring migrant birds that are starting to arrive must think they took a wrong turn somewhere en route.

Last week I decided to take a day heading northwards to see if I could find some golden plover on some grouse moors.

As I travelled northwards the amount of snow lying on the ground increased and I had not yet even headed uphill to the plateau where I was hoping to find the plover. The small track up to the hill top rapidly deteriorated for driving with increasing depths of snow until I came to drift which looked sort of passable but looked like it could quite easily trap the car. I sat for a while looking at it wondering if it was worth carrying on down the track, to where I hoped to find the plover, but settled on the side of caution in the end and decided to park up and head out on foot. The thought of the car being stuck on an isolated snow covered moorland did not hold much appeal. I am glad I took this approach as the first car that passed me skidded off the track into the moorland and the second, a transit van, got stuck for a long period.

I could hear the occasional piping call of the plovers, a beautifully bleak and pure sound penetrating across the expanse of the moorland, but the chance of getting close to them on foot seemed fairly remote especially as the snow either side of the track was often up to my knees. Not easy conditions to creep up on a bird, especially a very wary plover. Time for an alternative plan and photograph some Red Grouse. These were again not going to be an easy proposition given the conditions and the fact that they are not surprisingly wary of people in this area as they are usually pointing a gun at them. By the way for those of you wondering the title of this blog post refers to a well known Scottish Whisky, that uses the Red Grouse as its trademark, served on ice.

Anyway my efforts of crawling, creeping, sliding and falling through snow and heather did produce some photos in some very bitter conditions. I have not photographed grouse on snow before so it provided some new images to add to the library. I must admit I always really enjoy photographing grouse. Not only are they superb looking birds with their finely patterned plumage and red eye combs but they always raise a smile with their gurgling calls and always appear slightly comical in their behaviour to me.

My session was cut short at lunchtime by the weather closing in fast. When on these hill tops you can always see what weather is coming and the dark grey swooping across at ground level on the far side of the valley did not look good. Sure enough 30 minutes later and it arrived and with it both the light and I departed. A relatively brief but enjoyable session and I will now have to return to try for the plover once again in a couple of weeks when hopefully the weather has improved.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:10:00 +0000

Caledonian Caper - Part 2

Following on from my previous post......we had decided to spend the afternoon heading upwards in search of that hardy white grouse of the mountain tops, the Ptarmigan. There was plenty of snow around and the warm daytime temperatures had melted the upper layers only for it to freeze in to a walking unfriendly ice sheet. Off into the wilderness we headed, trudging uphill with our heavy camera kit on our backs, and ice grips on our boots. Wearing numerous layers of clothing on a warm afternoon, after a short while I decided to take off my jacket and clip it in to my rucksack. Onwards and upwards. We had covered quite a distance when we came across a walker descending who said he had seen some birds about a further 30 minute walk up the trail.

15 minutes walking later and I decided to take a brief break to gather my energies before the final push for the ptarmigan that were now hopefully only a short distance ahead. It was when I took my rucksack off that I noticed my jacket had disappeared. However, what was of greater concern in the pocket were my car keys! Usually I put my keys in my trouser pocket, as you are not generally likely to lose them :). I looked back down the expansive landscape below in disbelieve thinking that the chance of finding a jacket with very effective camouflage to be slim.

So I started heading downwards looking for car keys and Andy headed onwards to try and find the birds. I walked for a long time with hope diminishing with increasingly weary steps and thoughts turning to locksmiths. Fortunately the coat had fallen on a large patch of snow rather than in the heather and a it was such a relief when I finally spotted it while trying to retrace the route of my earlier ascent. By this time it was getting late in the afternoon and it seemed pointless to re-head back uphill. So I called Andy and told him I was going to descend back to where the car was parked and a cafe sold the very comforting prospect of a hot chocolate. It seemed quite a long time before Andy arrived back in the car park with the light disappearing rapidly. He did find the birds but it had been a struggle to get any images particularly with light having dipped behind a nearby mountain.

Back at our accommodation, the first task was to download and backup the photos from the day. Over dinner we debated the plan for the next day. Return to the 'Caper' or go back in search of ptarmigan. A tough call as we had such a productive morning with the Caper and a good number of photos. In the end we decided to return to the Caper the following morning on the basis that is was such a rare opportunity and it was afterall the main purpose of the visit.

Another clear and frosty morning found us once more heading back into the woods to the Capercaillie location. It was another brilliant session with the bird. You will have to excuse me for posting so many images in this post but it will probably be a very long time before I do another one on Capercaillie. Once again the bird drifted back into roosting mode around lunchtime, signalling time for our departure.

Once again we debated whether we should try to look for something to photograph on the way back south but I was conscious that Andy also had another long drive straight after an already epic journey back to the Wirral.

As for as I was concerned it was mission accomplished for our Caledonian Caper. Such an enjoyable couple of days spent with a truly amazing bird. I sincerely hope that the efforts to conserve it from a second extinction in the UK are successful. This will not be my last trip with the camera to Scotland this year as I am scheduled to return in the mid-summer but will tell you more about that adventure nearer the time.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:17:00 +0000

Caledonian Caper - Part 1

Firstly a big apology for the lack of recent posts. I have been having a 'blog holiday' to recharge the batteries. I figured I deserved a short break after 6.5 years.. Mind you I have been struggling with the photography over the last few weeks due to the continuously dire weather coinciding with my free time. I have been getting the odd photo here and there but nothing really constructive. Anyway, hopefully the weather should start to pick up soon , although certainly not for next week having just seen the forecast, and the first of the spring migrant birds are starting to come in to the south of the UK.

About 3 weeks ago I went on a bit of a road trip to the Highlands of Scotland. In fact it was a round trip of around 800 miles to go and photograph a single bird. Sounds slightly crazy but it was a very special bird and I will describe the trip over this and the next blog post. I was told of the location of this special bird and given that it is very Territorial, was confident it could be found. Mind you when your travelling so far for a single bird, doubts inevitably creep in to the mind 'would it still be there?' being the most important.

So late on the Sunday afternoon my very good friend Andy and I set off on the long journey northwards under the promise of a forecast of unusually fine Scottish weather for the next two days. It probably took about 6 hours to get to our destination and we arrived in darkness under crisp, clear star-filled skies. Having checked into our accommodation, it was time for an early night for an early start in the morning to go and find the special bird.

The next morning I pulled back the garden to see clear skies and a heavy overnight frost and after a hearty, if slightly unhealthy, full cooked breakfast we set out to find the bird. After a twenty minute drive we parked up along side a beautiful old pine forest with well spaced trees dripping in lichen and mosses. A short walk into the forest and we arrived at the 'spot'. Please do not email asking where this 'spot' is, as I will not be divulging to protect a species that is really struggling to survive in the UK! It took about 5 minutes to find the bird or more correctly for the bird to find us. The bird we had made this epic voyage for was a solitary rogue male Capercaillie.

For those of you not familiar with this bird I will you a bit of background. The Capercaillie (which is a corruption of the Gaelic meaning 'Horse of the Woods') is the world's largest grouse which is about the size of a small turkey. It was brought to extinction in Scotland in 1785 and was reintroduced in the 19th century. The population flourished to an estimated 10000 pairs in the 1960s but had plummeted to less than 1000 birds in 1999. It has been named rather depressingly as the bird most likely to become extinct in the UK by 2015. A range of factors have caused the decline including habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, predation and the use of deer fencing which the birds unwittingly fly in to. A great deal of effort is being made to prevent the sad potential loss of this magnificent bird. Given its perilous status, and quite rightly, the bird is afforded legal protection under schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act meaning that a licence is required to photograph the bird at breeding and lek sites. Fortunately our visit was outside the breeding season and the bird was solitary and so the need for a licence was removed.

A rogue bird is one that has not found a mate, and is completely overloaded with hormones and will quite happily attack anything within the vicinity regardless of size. They are a large powerful bird, with a very sharp beak and can cause damage. My friend Andy had a prolonged encounter with one in Scandinavia, as he was stuck in deep snow, which broke his finger. As with all wildlife photography the most important aspect is to show respect for your subject, unfortunately a testosterone filled 'Caper' shows a complete disrespect for photographers!

Light was fairly limited in the forest despite the clear skies as the low winter sun was shielded by the hillside behind. The first sight of this bird almost takes your breath away as it is very beautiful and just seems so fitting in these atmospheric forests as is stands their majestically surveying its domain. The call of the Capercaillie is slightly odd and sounds a bit like a series of pops, a bit like porridge going down a plug hole, although apparently a lot of the sound is beyond human hearing and carries long distances.

The morning of photography went very well with the bird strutting around and displaying, between bouts of feeding on heather and bark, before taking off vertically (which is impressive for a bird of that size) to roost at the top of a pine tree. It had been an amazing wildlife encounter and one that will stay with me until I am returned to the great global carbon sink. A special bird in a wonderful setting with amazing weather and very good company. It doesn't come much better than that.

Two happy photographers headed back to the car, leaving the snoozing 'Caper'. We decided we would try for another specialist in the afternoon, the ptarmigan. For me the afternoon did not go well as you will see in my next post.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:59:00 +0000

Return of the Reds

The native Red Squirrel of the UK has had a tough time. Not only has it been pushed northwards and in to isolated pockets since the introduction in 1876 of its more aggressive grey relative from the USA, but these invaders have also helped spread the deadly Squirrel Pox Virus with tragic results. The introduction of the grey squirrel in to the UK was not one of the smartest moves by our predecessors. As with many introductions of 'alien' species the effects on the native fauna and flora can be devastating. There are many such examples of such harmful animal and plant introductions from different countries around the planet.

Close to where I live there is a small colony of Red Squirrels that inhabit the pine woods at the back of the sand dunes on the coast at Formby. This is a well known site where it has always been easy for the visitor to have a close encounter with the squirrels. I believe the red squirrels were actually introduced there many years ago where they flourished until 2008 when the dreaded Squirrel Pox Virus struck and virtually wiped out the population. The National Trust that manages the site have been working tirelessly ever since the outbreak and their efforts have been rewarded with eradication of the virus and the numbers of red squirrels bouncing back.

The crash in the population is one of the reasons why I have not visited the site in such a long time. However, with numbers of squirrels returning I thought I was due a revisit, especially as looking through my library I don't appear to have that many photographs of them. I think on my previous visits, which will be back around 2006 when I first started photography, I tended to be sidetracked by a fox that commonly visited or various woodland birds.

The site has changed a little since my last visit with noticeably lower numbers of slightly more wary squirrels and the construction of a number of feeding platforms on a number of trees around the woodland.

I had to wait quite a long time for some squirrels to appear in front of me and my patient waiting, whilst sat leaning against a tree trunk, was eventually rewarded. One thing I particularly noticed was the high number of squirrels that were quite dark in colouration which is more typical of the red squirrels that you see in continental Europe. Given that this population was, I believe, originally introduced from squirrels brought in from Europe it may be some of these dark fur genes are now being expressed as the population recovers from a limited number of breeding adults.

It was great to the red squirrels doing so well after their numbers were so severely impacted by the pox. Red squirrels are very endearing animals and it always good to watching scampering across branches and around tree trunks and basically going about their daily 'squirrely' business.

I enjoyed my brief session there in late November last year, as they are great fun to photograph and intend to hopefully return in the near future so that I can add to my collection of images.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:24:00 +0000

Simply Flying Magpies

As the rain and hail swirl round outside in strong freezing gusts of wind it has been time to sit in front of the computer and work through my backlog of images left from last year. This seems even more sensible given that I am just getting over a nasty cold.

The weather is getting rather frustrating now as any time there is any glimmer of light it seems to be accompanied by gale force winds. I hope it will settle down soon as I am aching to get out and do some photography. This is particularly the case as after some selling of old kit and saving I managed to get my new long lens and am looking forward to giving it a really good testing.

So this post is just dedicated to flying Magpies, which have been taken as part of my long running work on capturing various corvids in flight. Magpies are not a greatly loved species, blamed for also kinds of avian atrocities. However, they are opportunistic birds and nature is about survival so if available they are going to exploit an easy meal by raiding a smaller bird's nest of its eggs or young. You often hear people say 'oh I had a lovely woodpecker in the garden' but never are such words spared for a magpie. However, woodpeckers can also be surprisingly predatory as is evidenced by the number of nest boxes that suddenly become empty and the entry whole 'mysteriously' enlarged.

To me the old counting magpie rhyme does not start by painting them in a good light. 'One for sorrow' in my mind should really be 'One for Pleasure' because they make a superb bird to photograph. This is particularly the case when in flight when their striking plumage is displayed in its full glory.

They are not the easiest of birds to photograph in flight as they tend to be quite erratic and difficult to track with the camera. Of course the black and white feathers also require careful exposure control of the camera and vigilance of subtle changes in light conditions. My photography of these birds has required quite a concerted effort with continual feeding of a particular site over a number of years. This has resulted in it being now quite easy to get the birds where I want them which is half the battle won.

Now if I were to ask most people about the colour of a magpie they would say that it was a black and white bird. Looking at the first five photographs on this post it is easy to see why they would think that. However, it is the back of the bird where the colour are. The blue of the wings and a tail that is green turning to purple at its tip that glows like a rainbow in the right light.

Now in my head I have an image of a magpie in flight that I am hoping to capture one day. I already know that it is a difficult photograph to capture and only persistence and a bit of luck will see me rewarded. The best colours of a magpie are displayed from a rear view when the tail takes on it spectrum of hues.

However, on these occasions, as above, the bird's head is facing away from the camera and I want something that gives the viewer of the photograph a bit more of an intimate contact with the bird. I know I will never take this rear view image with the magpie looking back towards the camera as it would be a foolish bird that flies without looking where it's going! The only hope is to get the bird banking in front of me with a full dorsal view and its feathers splayed. A difficult proposition but one day it will happen and that's what keep me going back to photograph these wonderful birds.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:20:00 +0000

Swirling Masses

It has been a very good year for waders along my local coast. The birds overwinter here having bred in more northerly latitudes in the spring and early summer. They spend these cold months probing the rich muds that accumulate around the peninsula from the two large rivers that border its sides and discharge into the Irish sea. Huge flocks, mainly of Knot, mixed with less numbers of Dunlin and Sanderling, have been present and have attracted bird watchers, photographers and the general public to watch the spectacle. Count estimates have been up to 40000 birds gathering together. The best times to watch this are on the big spring tides where beach space is limited by the high water levels for the birds to roost over the high tide period.

The birds gather in tight groups on the shore and are constantly on the move as they jostle up the shore to escape the advancing sea. Periodically they will take flight, sometimes due to a marauding bird of prey looking for an easy meal. The spectacle and sound of these enormous flocks as they lift-off is a memorable experience. The birds will often then go a short distance out of the sea and swirl in tight formations, flashing dark and light as they twist and catch the light. To capture this amazing sight with still photographs can barely do such a wonder of nature justice.

In the photograph below the island behind is Hilbre Island that sits in the mouth of the Dee Estuary.

The flocks became a popular attraction over the last couple of months and always put on a superb display for onlookers the look on in awe.

The roosting periods are important for the birds as they operate on tight energy budgets during the winter months. Unfortunately they do not have exclusive use of the beach and are frequently subject to disturbance by walkers and dogs. There has been a concerted effort by the local the bird watching community and photographers, combined with a warden scheme to educate the public on the importance of allowing the birds some space and peace. However, there are still people who pay no attention and happily let there dog run in to the flocks or bird watchers or photographers from outside the local area who seem to think walking up to birds will somehow not disturb them. If you visit on the large tides there actually is no need to step on to the beach at all as the birds are brought right up to you by the incoming tide allowing plenty of photo opportunities.

The photograph below is part of the flock, tightly gathered, and waiting for the advancing tide. As the beach is so flat the tide advances with dangerous speed on these large tides and a few minutes after this was taken the sand was covered.

I do not often bother photographing flocks as I prefer to target individuals or small groups. I find flocks quite difficult although that may be down to lack of practice. With flocks of this size it is more like landscape photography that includes a large flock of birds. I suppose you could call them 'birdscapes'. The photographs in this post are a selection from two visits that I made, one in December and one earlier this month. The weather conditions during the January visit were beautiful with the rare winter treat of clear skies and light winds.

On the beach the birds gather into extremely tight flocks and occasionally there will be a wave of movement through it with all the birds lined up and facing the same directions. This creates waves of patterns through the gathered birds which is a delight to watch.

Places to land are always at a premium. When the flock lifts off at close range there often seems to be more wings than air in which to flap them. These are photographs that are asking to be made in to a very difficult and frustrating jigsaw puzzle.

I know these photographs really have not done the dynamic nature of these a flocks justice but hopefully will give you a small impression of this amazing gathering of nature. A real treasure to have on your doorstep.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:38:00 +0000

Starting with Snow Bunting

It has been a relatively slow start to 2013 due to generally poor weather and lack of light. My original intention when I headed out, a couple weeks back, was to go and photograph some woodland birds. As I approached the site and looked upwards it was plainly evident it was not going to get much light. Conditions were looking clearer over towards North Wales so I switched plans and decided to go and find some winter thrushes. However, they obviously had other ideas with no sign of them at one of the sites I regularly visit. My first session of 2013 was going down hill fast. What to do now, where to go? I wanted something that was going to be reliable as really did not want to start the year badly and return home with empty memory cards in the cameras. Having decided I was already probably half way there my final plan was to head further in to North Wales to a well known beach where Snow Bunting can be found.

It is slightly ironic that I sit here now writing about Snow Bunting and there is a thin blanket of snow, the first of the winter, outside the window. Needless to say unfortunately there was none during my visit to the buntings.

The Snow Buntings have used this beach reliably for several years and forage around the tide line amongst the pebbles and sand patches for washed up seed. It is common for this species to head down to the coast and spend the winters along beaches. As they are quite well known at this site, they also receive seed handouts from the numerous bird watchers and photographers that visit. My friend and his wife were there when I arrived so I went to join them. The wait was fairly short before a flock of around fifteen birds landed a short way down the beach on top of the crest of accumulated ridge of pebbles on the upper shore.

The only way to really describe the movement of a snow bunting on the ground is a low shuffle. They appeared a bit like a group of large mice as they made there way along the beach towards us. Very quickly the birds were in front of us and behind us, sometimes down to only a metre away as they searched for their seed breakfast.

The light from above was soft and combined with that reflected off the bright pebbles provided some good illumination.

Two points to note of this male bird shown in mid-scratch in the photograph above. Firstly the characteristic bunting shaped beak with the small upper bill that site down within the rolled groove of the lower. Perfectly adapted for rapidly de-husking and handling seeds. The second is the feet and as is common with many species that spend time on the ground, the extended hind claw. One thing I noticed on this occasion with the feet is they appear to have a good 'tread' which I suppose is prudent when you spend a good deal of time on ice and snow. Not that they would have far to fall if they slipped.

It turned in to a productive couple of hours with plenty of photo opportunities, with the birds posing well and with time to try different angles and capture different settings. The memory card would not be going home empty after all. An enjoyable start to my year, spent in good company with a group of stunning little birds.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:20:00 +0000

Equipment Sale

I currently have a couple of Canon lenses that are available for sale. Both of these lenses produce superb results and the 500mm lens is responsible for the majority of the images I post on this blog. My main reason for selling is that I am looking to purchase a 600mm lens as I have moved across to a full frame camera.

I am only prepared to sell these lenses within the UK and would be happy for people to inspect by arrangement prior to purchase. I am prepared to courier the 500mm but would ideally prefer the buyer to collect from my home on the Wirral.

If you are interested in purchasing either lens or require further information then please do not hesitate to contact me through the contact form on the sidebar.

The lenses for sale are:

Canon EF500mm F4 IS USM

This lens is in excellent condition and has been lovingly looked after. The lens produces very sharp images and works well with the 1.4 teleconvertor when extra reach is needed. There are just a couple of very minor marks on the lens hood. The lens comes complete with the original carry case, tripod collar and lens hood. I would also provide a replacement Kirk lens foot with the lens which allows directed connection to a tripod head or gimbel without the need for a lens plate. I will be sorry to see this trusty lens go as it was the one that really opened up wildlife photography to me and has been faultless in its performance, but it is time to move on :)

I am selling this lens for £4500. THIS LENS IS NOW SOLD

Canon EF300mm F4 IS USM

This lens is in excellent condition and has been lovingly looked after. The lens produces very sharp images and works well with the 1.4 teleconvertor when extra reach is needed. This is useful as a travel lens due to its small size and weight. Also due to its close focusing distance is very good for zoo photography and a friend uses it very successfully for insects. I have used this lens successfully both for mammals and birds at very close range. There is just one very minor marks on the lens hood. The lens comes complete with the original box, carry case, tripod collar and lens caps.

I am selling this lens for £725 inclusive of postage. THIS LENS IS NOW SOLD

As you know I don't like to make a blog post without an image, so here is a red squirrel recently photographed at Formby. It is good to see that the squirrels there are making a good recovery after their numbers were severly affected by squirrel pox.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:47:00 +0000

100 Shades of Grey

Firstly may I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope 2013 is filled with many memorable wildlife encounters for you. Apologies for the lack of updates over the last couple of weeks but the end of the year is always busy with final archiving and backing up images from the previous 12 months. I have also been busy with writing a magazine article.

I will turn the clock back just a couple of weeks to the end of 2012. I was really looking forward to my extended Christmas break and hoping that I would get plenty of opportunities to spend a few hours with the camera. However, for nearly the entire festive holiday the weather conditions were bad with persistent rain and a grey gloom overhead and more importantly a distinct lack of light. So each day I would keep my eyes glued to the weather forecast hoping for a moment of light to break through the stubborn blanket of grey above.

The first of these chinks of light was on Boxing Day morning and it was felt very good to escape the 'cabin fever' and step out at first light into the fresh morning air after the house bound easting excesses of the previous day. The period of sunlight looked as if it would be brief so I decided to stay local. I did not really have a plan on where I was heading to as I pulled away from the house. This is not usually a good idea as you can often spend most of the time driving around undecided and have very few photographs by the end of the session. As I was heading out towards the motorway a decision had been made and I would try and photograph some Red-breasted Merganser that appear each winter on the local marine lake. It has been a couple of years since I had last photographed this species so I was pleased to see about eight birds present as I arrived.

Two females on early morning feeding patrol

This is not an easy site as the birds are generally wary and it is a large lake making it easy for the birds to drift out of photography range. I have often found in the early mornings the birds will feed along the lake edge before the visitors and dogwalkers arrive, which tend to push them out beyond reach into the centre. My normal approach for these and other diving birds is to move to my position when they are foraging underwater. So I went straight from car to lake edge during the first dive. Lying still when they surfaced. On the next dive I moved to a position along the lake where I thought they would surface and so on. Sometimes you get into the right position and the bird surface right in front of you, other times not. To an onlooker I am sure my behaviour must have looked a little strange as repeatedly I jumped up quickly, walked a little away along the lake edge and lied down again.

The session was quite brief as what I had not figured into my calculation was how many people would be out in the early sunlight for a Boxing Day constitutional. Therefore the birds presence at the lake edge was brief.

Just left with a head as a male bird disappears into a trough between waves.

The next glimmer of sunlight took place on the morning before New Years Eve but this time was accompanied by a very stiff wind. When photographing birds on water I have two preferred conditions either flat calm that gives potential for reflective images with a sense of tranquility or very rough water which gives more energy and dynamics to the image. Again half a dozen birds were present but this was rapidly reduced to a solitary male as two windsurfers came speeding up the lake. However, I managed to stay with the male at close range for quite a long period.

A male bird in mid-dive. This is a photograph I have been trying to get for a while. It happens very quickly with the only hint the bird is about to dive being a slight flattening of the feathers and posture. I was happy to get one though which still showed the birds eye just before it disappeared. This was my cue to move position once more.

Male Red-Breasted Merganser are difficult to photograph from an exposure point of view given the black and white plumage. The head is particularly tricky as it turns from black to green depending on the light angle as you can see in some of the images.

It was a good way to finish off my year which had been a little odd due to being seriously ill at one point. Looking forward to 2013 I already have many photography plans forming which includes a trip to Romania and the Danube Delta in June which I am really looking forward to. I hope you will enjoy and join me regularly on my wildlife photographic journey through 2013.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Seasons Greetings

This will be a fairly short blog post as I still have an ever increasing list of things to get done before Christmas day tomorrow. The main reason of this post is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and New Year filled with memorable wildlife encounters. I would also like to send you all a big thank you for taking the time to view the blog, for your comments which are always appreciated and for your support.

I was trying to think of what to produce for my e-card this year and really a Christmas card would not be right without some. Looking through my library I have relatively few photos of birds on snow so the choice was a bit limited. So I selected a Fieldfare one of the UK winter migrant thrushes. These birds love to eat berries so I thought the inclusion of the king of berries, a chilled strawberry, would make an appropriate present for the bird. Obviously I would like to point out, but I suspect you will have already guessed :), that the card below is a Photoshop creation. You don't tend to find too many Fieldfare wearing Santa hats.

I thought I would also take this moment just to add a couple of images from recent brief encounters. We had a recent cold snap and often such weather tends to displace birds from their normal locations. This is a Snipe that I found on a frosty road side verge taking in some weak winter sun.

A Barn Owl hunting over some farmland in some rare late afternoon winter sun. I hope to photograph more of these enigmatic birds at the start of New Year if the weather is kind.

To finish this post, one of several Short-eared Owls that have taken up winter residence on the local salt marsh.

Have a great day tomorrow and wish you all have a relaxing and happy holiday.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:18:00 +0000

The Invasion

Apologies for the slight lack of blog updates but it has been a busy time as Christmas descends upon us once more.

This winter has seen a huge invasion of Waxwings into the UK due to failure of the berry crop in more northerly latitudes. Literally thousands of birds have descended into the country and currently eating their way southward. I have quite a few waxwing photographs in my library already but they are such photogenic birds they are difficult to resist. The couple of sessions I have had with the birds to date have been brief and local.

Generally the are relatively easy birds to photograph as they are unwary and once they have targeted a particular berry tree will keep returning until every last berry has been consumed. I cannot imagine how many waxwings photographs have found their way on to photographers' memory cards in the UK over the last couple of months but it must run into literally hundreds of thousands. So here is my small contribution.

Typically a flock of Waxwings will find a tall tree to perch in, where they sit filling the air with their wonderful trilling calls, before descending as a group to their target berry tree. They will frenetically feed for a couple of minutes before flying back to the perching tree. The photography sessions therefore tend to have prolonged periods of quiet followed by intense bursts of activity as the birds descend to feed.

One small flock I found were feeding on to some very low Cotonester bushes, having stripped all the nearby rowan trees. It made a nice change to capture the birds with some nicely coloured backgrounds from the foliage behind, rather than against the sky.

As Waxwings really love eating Rowan berries they can often be found in urban areas and retail parks. Urban landscape architects seem to frequently include these trees in the designs to the benefit of both the birds and photographers. A group of photographers surrounding a tree in these areas always draws in the curiosity of the general public. These urban areas can also produce some interesting and rather strange coloured backgrounds to some of the photographs due to buildings in the background.

The purple of a Premier Inn sign.

or the red from a drive through KFC.

One of my friends has some interesting photographs of the birds against the orange background of the signs a B&Q DIY store.

The birds should stay around until the spring before they make their way back northwards. So if you are out shopping over the Christmas break or visiting a retail park it is worth looking in the trees for these winter invaders. To me time spent with these birds in a car park is certainly much more interesting and rewarding than trying to grab a bargain in the post-Christmas sales.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:36:00 +0000

Lost in Rhyl

Reports recently appeared on the Internet of a very late Wheatear on a beach at Rhyl in North Wales. Further investigation by birdwatcher revealed this to be a female Desert Wheatear which was at least a couple of thousand miles away from where it should have been in North Africa. I was in two minds whether to visit the bird for a couple of reasons. Firstly I tend to avoid rare birds as I don't like all the commotion from the masses descending upon them. Secondly this was a female bird which from the initial photographs being posted on the Internet did not appear to be very much different in appearance from a female Northern Wheatear. It was easy to see how the person who first found it was confused by its identity.

In the end I decided I would pay it a visit but would time my arrival for first light in an attempt to avoid the crowds that would no doubt arrive later in the day to glimpse this small vagrant bird. Information was very good as to its location and I knew I was in the right place by seeing two people with tripods already present when I arrived and where I expected the bird to be. Finding rare birds is generally quite easy as you just look for the crowds or gathering of tripods.

The bird was perched on the edge of the sea defences wall when I arrived being beautifully lit by the golden glow of the early morning winter sun. These first few images turned out to be my favourites from my short session and to keep you in suspense :) I will show these at the end of this post. My first impressions of the bird were that it appeared slightly smaller and more 'dumpy' than a Northern Wheatear. However, it its rotund appearance may have due to it being fluffed up and not surprisingly given the stiff icy northerly wind blowing in off the sea. It must have felt a long way from its home in the warm sunny climate of North Africa.

A cyclist came through and the bird flew over the wall and landed on the beach below where it stayed for the rest of my visit. Unfortunately due to the height of the wall and low angle of the sun there was no chance of getting any further sunlight on the bird to illuminates its pale sandy orange hues.

I brought a small box of mealworms with me, figuring the bird would probably welcome a free hand out which would hopefully also help build up its energy reserves that would be needed for it to return to where it should be. They appeared to be gratefully received as the bird almost instantly started feeding on them. However, I expect many of these lost birds sadly perish and never make their way back to where they should be. The cold north Wales beach certainly struck me as a relatively inhospitable place for the bird which spent part of the time using a large boulder as a wind break.

The crowds began to appear and I decided I had enough photographs of the bird and it was time to depart. A scattered some more mealworms before I left. A couple of days later the bird also disappeared and I would like to optimistically think was making its way southward after its brief stopover and being lost in Rhyl.

As promised my favourite photograph from the session was the bird glowing on top of the sea wall when I first arrived.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:04:00 +0000

Lyme Park Reds

Back at the beginning of last month, I felt the need to go and photograph some Red Deer as it has been a while since I have done them in the autumn. The majority of previous deer photography efforts have been done in the large expanses of the London Parks with Bushy Park being a particular favourite. However, herds of deer can be found closer to home so instead of taking the long drive south, I headed just over an hour eastward to visit Lyme Park for the first time.

Lyme Park has large herds of both fallow and red deer but it was the latter that I felt this sudden seasonal need to photograph. So I headed over there for an afternoon and early evening session to see gauge the lie of the land and photography prospects. Lyme Park is a big place and covers around 1500 acres but has the advantage in that it has quite a few hills within its landscape, being on the edge of the Peak District, which I hoped would provide some attractive settings.

On arrival I discovered that a large area of around probably 100 - 150 acres is set aside as a 'deer sanctuary'. This part of the park is not fenced off but has notices around the perimeter asking visitors not to enter. On the day of my visit, although it might often be like that, I would say around 99% of the deer were within the 'sanctuary' and as far away from any areas of public access as possible. So on a pleasant sunny autumn afternoon I sat in the long grass on the sanctuary perimeter and waited and waited, and waited some more, in the hope that some deer may venture closer. Every so often the peace was shattered by the primeval bellowing of a stag in this pre-rut period. A sound once heard and never forgotten. After a very long time some deer started to drift close and I managed to get a few photographs as the deer backs and heads just appeared above the very long golden grasses. Sometimes it felt like I was suffering from double vision as the females were often appearing in pairs.

It was a short-lived experience though as a passing walker with roaming dogs saw the nervous deer scatter back deep into their 'sanctuary'. So I sat and waited once again.

High above and behind me I could hear the occasional roar of a distant stag. It sounded like it was coming from the top of the steep and long hill that rose up behind me.

Certainly from where I was sitting there was no sign of any deer but they had to be up there somewhere and more importantly outside of the restrictions of the 'sanctuary'. I decided it was worth investigating as the action in front of me was non-existent.

Climbing a boggy path, up a steep long climb with full wildlife photo kit and too many clothes on during a warm sunny autumn afternoon is not the most comfortable of pastimes. As I climbed I could see a dry stone wall cutting across the summit in front of me. I hoped the occasional stag roar was coming from my side of this high wall and not beyond, otherwise my efforts were likely to prove fruitless. As I got higher I stopped to watch and just saw what looked like in the distance a couple of female deer moving across the front of the wall. Seeing how nervous these deer were I decided to take a very slow and cautious approach and used a perpendicular wall as cover until I reached the summit wall, which I then very slowly and quietly eased myself along towards the deer. This was a small group of females, the harem of a large solitary stag. The stags at this time of year really are magnificent animals. My efforts were rewarded with some photographs of the group.

The light was starting to drop and soften so I decided to descend back down to the 'sanctuary' area in the hope that the animals may start to move out later in the day as the park visitors reduced. This proved to be the case but with only females coming within camera range.

The light was now fading very fast and I decided it was probably time to set off on a fairly long walk back to the car. As I started on the long drive that exits the park a couple of stags could be seen. They were obviously wandering far and wide within the park now the light was fading. So I pulled over for a few minutes to photograph the distinctive silhouette of a stag moving along a ridge with the darkening skies behind.

I came away feeling the session had not gone particularly well but then reminded myself this was the first visit. When going through the photographs last weekend, I was actually pleasantly surprised that it seemed to have gone better than I recalled. It certainly will not be my last visit and I actually enjoy the fact you have to work fairly hard to get the photographs of the deer unlike the ease with which they can be taken in the Royal London Parks.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Mis-timed Grouse

Back in the late summer, my friend Steve and I, took the 2.5 hour drive north-eastward on an afternoon out to photograph some Red Grouse. With wildlife photography timing is so important when you trying to obtain particular images and the purpose of our trip was to try and capture some images of the grouse amongst a purple sea of flowering heather. As we took the winding road northwards I had visions of images of grouse emerging from an out of focus purple mist.

As we took the familar track up on to the upland moor, a brief pause was required to photograph a small group of Red legged Partidge purposely moving along the top of a scree embankment.

We continued upwards and when we eventually emerged on to the heather blanketed hilltops it soon became obvious that the images that had been swirling around my head were not going to be fulfilled. Some of the heather was in partial flower but it was certainly a way off being in full bloom.

No doubt the plants had been delayed by the unseasonally cold and wet proceeding weeks. We also hoped that the family groups would have dispersed and there would be quite a bit of terratorial behaviour shown by male birds jostling to establish their territories. However, this was also not to be as before us were small family groups of birds moving through the abundant heather while a male took on sentry duty nearby.

So far our plan was not going very well and it looked our critical timing was out by a week or two too early.

On the brighter side it was good weather with clear skies and there were plenty of grouse about despite being after the official start of the shooting season on the 12th. Given the time of year the birds, as expected, were fairly wary so we used the 'mobile Nissan hide' for most of the photography that day.

Cars are so useful for wildlife photography as many animals do not associate them with people and where the roads allow a close approach can be made without disturbance. You do need to keep an eye open for other road users but fotunately traffic was infrequent at this site. Another thing I often look for as we travelled the tracks is for places where the road dips down below surrounding ground level as it allows for an improved low camera angle.

So we spent the afternoon photographing different groups of Grouse and were looking forward to some wonderful, warm soft end of the day light to illuminate the grouse amongst the heather. The weather looked promising to produce the necessary light as the sky had cleared of some earlier cloud. Well nearly cleared except for one cloud and I am sure you can guess where that, yup right across the line of the setting sun and so the best of the light was lost. This was the last photo before the sun descend by the cloud.

Despite the slight failure in our quest it was an enjoyable session spent in good company, within a magnificcent landscape with plenty of beautiful grouse. So I can't really complain and we even came home with a few photographs.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Tranquil Grebes

I finally got round to going through some Great Crested Grebe images that have been sat on my hard drive since earlier in the year. The photographs are from a brief early morning session on a local pond. As I recall it was a beautiful and peaceful morning with very little wind creating calm conditions allowing the water to pick up the colours of the bank side vegetation. The light was also gloriously soft and warm. The scene before me was very serene and a wonderful vista.

The pair of Grebes were doing very little except slowly drifting around on the still surface and so there was no chance of any action photography. However, the combination of light, colours and a low shooting angle combined to produce some pleasing portraits. One of the images has just appeared on the front cover of the local Wildlife Trust's quarterly magazine which is appropriately called 'The Grebe'.

The photography session was fairly short and only totalled about 30-40 minutes. This was mainly due to the quality of the light changing rapidly as the sun headed skyward creating light that was too harsh. However, there was little else I could achieve with the photography given the birds were so inactive. The height of activity was when one bird stopped to preen a feather or two on its neck, but then continued to slowly cruise around the pond.

Overall it was a very relaxed session, except for the inevitable neck strain from lying flat on the ground to get a low angle to the water. As you can see from the selection of photos even by lying in one position a wide variety of background and water colours can be achieved by waiting for the bird to move into a certain area of the pond. I never returned to the Grebes, as I was distracted by other species. Maybe I will try once more next spring when they are very active and hopefully capture some action photographs to add to the library.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Simply Rooks

During the autumn and winters of the last three years I have been feeding the Rooks and Jackdaws that can be found on sheep grazed fields that surround my work office car park. This has allowed me to undertake plenty of lunch hour photography sessions when the weather has allowed. It has also been a good source of images for my long running and intermittent 'corvid in flight' project and has been very enjoyable getting to know the ways of these 'intelligent' birds.

The general impression of a rooks is of a dull black, noisy bird that can be found in muddy farmland during the winter. They are often overlooked by photographers. Having spent many lunch hours with them I have found these corvids to be incredibly beautiful and interesting birds to photograph. For a start they are not black but have a wonderful blue and purple iridescence when the light hits them. They are also great birds to photograph in flight as they form an attractive shape with the long finger like projections of their primary feathers.

I have seen some interesting behaviour amongst the group and the character of individual birds coming through as they descend on my free hand outs. Bold birds, timid birds and displays of pecking order amongst this communal species.

As a bit of insight, a typical lunch hour session would be as follows. First task is to look out the window at the weather, ideally with some sunlight that needs to be combined with a wind from between south to west. This will determine if its a lunch time in front of the computer with a sandwich or one in the car park with the rooks. I have always fed the birds at a similar time of day which has been important as I only have 60 minutes available and need them to arrive quickly. The food is put out on top of the fence at the edge of the car park. Usually at this point there are no signs of the birds nearby with only an occasional one drifting across the fields at distance. After about 10 minutes a lone bird, which I call 'the scout' will fly over and circle above the fence and then disappear for around 5 minutes. When it returns, it brings the flock with it and there is suddenly between 20 and 50 rooks in front of me and the photography can start.

All the photos on this post are a selection of some taken during my lunches on Thursday and Friday last week. You will notice that the birds mostly are facing in the same direction as there was a brisk wind from the south-west during these days.

There is a particular reason why I have shown these photographs. Firstly the rooks were looking stunning in the light on the days and showing off their wonderful colours but also as they may well be some of the last images of my sessions with the rooks.

About 2 months ago it was decided my office would be closed and after next week I am being relocated to Northwich. I will miss the rooks, and all the other birds, such as Dippers, that have filled my lunch hours during my time in North Wales. However, I will make time to visit them occasionaly in the future during weekends and days off. Obviously moving to a new office I will be now on the look out for some new lunch time wildlife photography opportunities and it will be interesting to see what I will find.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Steel) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 21:10:00 +0000

Gigrin Kites

The Red Kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm in mid-Wales is a superb place for the bird photographer. This long established site, with excellent hides, can attract up to 300 birds during the daily afternoon feeding. Other species are also drawn in by the free meat handout including good numbers of both Buzzard and Raven.

I have only visited twice before and both times have been very brief for various reasons. Looking back into my photo archive, my last visit was back in the summer of 2008, and definitely far too long ago. On that visit the skies were grey, the light was poor and the birds looked rather tatty as they were in mid-moult. So with a day off work booked last Friday and the forecast looking reasonably good, I set off with my friend Steve on the twisting and fairly tortuous journey down in to mid-Wales.

For Gigrin to be at its best the ideal conditions are clear skies and a light southerly wind. Red Kites do not look good against a white sky and a blue sky or one with dark grey clouds is better. Sunlight is also needed to show the colours of the birds off to the best. As Red Kites rarely land, most of the photography is of birds in flight. As with all birds, the kites tend to fly into the wind so a northerly breeze tends to have them pointing in the wrong direction and away from the hides and the direction of light. When photographing birds in flight the ideal is for light and wind to be in the same direction. The forecast was for sunny spells and a very cold brisk northerly wind.

We arrived early at opening time at 1pm and made our way down the track to the pre-booked photography hide. There are three specialist photography hides, one at ground level known as the 'Gateway hide' and two tower hides. We were booked in to the ground level one. Feeding time was at 3pm (it changes today to 2pm for the winter months) so we had a couple of hours to wait.

The Kites were already starting to gather. They really are superb fliers and soar around with very little effort using that broad forked tail as a rudder to make adjustments in direction. As we waited the clear blue skies overhead started to cloud up. We could see in front of us what was coming and in the distance a layer of grey cloud was building rapidly. Sunlight and blue skies were going to be limited.

A few minutes before 3pm and we could hear the engine of the tractor approaching down the track with a trailer of meat to put out for the birds. The birds started descending as soon as the meat was scattered and before the tractor had left the feeding area. We estimated around 250 birds, surely one of the most spectacular raptor sights in the UK. However, during the initial frenzy there tends to be actually just too many birds to photograph. The best actions tends to come later on as the birds have settled down a bit and it becomes easier to target individual birds with the camera.

One of the two unusual leucistic birds that visit the site, soaring past the autumn coloured trees .

In total we had about 20 minutes of sunshine and so tried to make the most of the brief sunny spells. I was keen to try and get some diving photos during this session. Typically the birds will drift over the food before turning in mid-air and plunging to the ground to grab a bit of meat off the ground.

The majority of the Kites looked brilliant with their new feathers, having recently moulted. Another advantage of timing our visit when we did was that some of the surrounding trees were showing their autumn colours providing some really attractive coloured backgrounds to the photographs. I am a big fan of the dorsal view for birds in flight, particularly Red Kites as the show great colours and patterns across their backs and the upper side of the wings.

After 90 minutes it was all over. The birds were still feeding but we had lost the light to the advancing unbroken blanket of cloud. Needless to say it was a very enjoyable session and I will return once more this year when hopefully the conditions with be a bit more favourable.