We spent the rest of the time based just outside of Carrbridge, the weather was cold as expected and it snowed most days which was a bonus, although it seemed as though, unusually the rest of Great Britain had more than we did in the Highlands.

During our week we saw some fabulous wildlife as expected and my brother finally got to see Capercaillie, Red squirrel, Crested tit and Mountain hares. 

We left at midnight on Thursday and arrived early for our ferry crossing at 11.00am the following morning, on route I did kindly offer to call in to Gretna green for my brother and Wendy but he pretended to not hear me.

As usual Mull did not disappoint and the usual suspects were all seen within a few days of being there. White-tailed eagles gave particularly good views on a few of our days out. Cuckoos were also easily spotted and we had a pair only 10m away from our car although unfortunately they saw us before we saw them. 

Plenty of nesting birds and we found Meadow pipit, Common gull, Oystercatcher and Ringed plover eggs quite easily as we made our way alongside some of the Lochs. The Otters were as elusive as ever for me but I did manage four sightings although on each occasion photography was out of the question as they were out in the water and far too distant and despite watching from the car they never came ashore.

Corncrake on Iona didn't disappoint and we had a bird that came out out of the undergrowth only a few metres from where we were sat, this time i was thwarted by the fact that `i had a wide angle lens on and my camera was facing away as I was taking a Landscape shot. The same bird did eventually let me take some photos of it after I had changed my lens so all was not lost.

Some of the other nice birds we saw included … Black guillemot, Iceland gull, Golden eagle, Close views of Snipe, Great northern divers, red breasted merganser to name just a few, all in all great trip and one I'm sure to make again soon!

CorncakeIsle of Iona, Scotland

The field and woods where I photograph both barn and Tawny owls has been saturated for months and even walking down there has been at times treacherous. Finally we have had some frosty mornings and a week of dry weather so the fields are now beginning to finally dry out. With this dry spell I decided to try for Barn Owls again, only this time shots of them in flight. Two night ago I went down and within literally seconds of being in my hide one flew out of one of the buildings and perched on my flashgun, after a few minutes it flew off and landed on my camera lens, which was set up outside the hide as i had a wireless remote shutter attached. When the bird did fly up and the shutter pressed the flashgun never went off (stupidly I had set it wrong and it had gone to sleep)

Not to be deterred I returned both last night and again tonight and this time came away with an image from both nights. Wont be long before I leave them to it as Im sure they are about to raise another family as I heard the continuous shrieking and hissing sounds they made last year just prior to laying.

The animal in question is a Wood mouse and he has been helping himself to some of my bird food which was not in mice proof containers. As the weather has been so bad I have not had the heart to capture him and put him outside so have continued to leave him where he is before I eventually capture him and return him to the great outdoors.

Photographing him was more of a challenge than I had anticipated and I was amazed at how agile and fast they can be, thwarting my plans on many occasions.

Wood mouse

This year I have found myself mainly working on one site with the Owls rather than chasing all over the place for different birds, this has at times been just as hard work but the rewards are far greater and more satisfying knowing that its all your own work. Also by putting in this time you get the chance to change things when things are not quite right, of course this is not always possible at sites where there may be other birders/photographers etc and if was a day trip i would nearly always come home thinking "I wish I could have changed things slightly"

This year I intend to do more of the same and will concentrate on the same site and hopefully improve on the images I have already taken.

This last week or so my assumptions that they had bred were confirmed, the Adults were flying earlier in the evenings than normal and had also been spotted at 2pm flying on the woodland edges (probably trying to find enough food for chicks). During one evening sat in my hide I heard the familiar alarm call of the Blackbirds which always signal the arrival of the tawny, the blackbirds will chase the Owl as it flies trying to drive it away and as the owl flew 50m or so away from me I could hear a strange call that I have never heard before, the wheezy sounding call was coming from two directions and the blackbirds were going crazy! A few minutes later I saw an owl fly to my left and land on a spindly branch followed by another and then by a third. My initial thoughts were that there was 3 owlets but many times since I have only heard two so I am assuming one was an adult bird with the two owlets. A few days later I was fortunate enough to see two owls land on my perch, one was the adult and closely followed by one chick, the adult immeadeatly flew off leaving the chick in front of me, this was the moment I had been waiting for and I pressed the shutter, resisting the urge to fire multiple shots for fear of scaring it. The cute looking little chick turned its head to face the noise from the shutter each time it was pressed but stayed and allowed me to take 21 shots of it sat there before it flew to the tree besides me where the adult was calling.

probably one of my best wildlife encounters to date and a bird I have always wanted to photograph so to get the chance to photograph owlets at this stage of their development which I have rarely seen photos of was a real privilege.

The Barn owls have raised two chicks and although I have not been photographing them since they started breeding I have been carrying on with the baiting, hopefully very soon they will also find their way over to where the perch and bait is.

We spent a week on the Island and although the weather was far from perfect it was once again a fantastic wildlife adventure watching some terrific species on this beautiful island despite hardly taking any photographs.

Otters were very elusive and difficult to spot due to the rough water but we did get very good views of two during the week with one eating a large eel 15m in front of me, unfortunately it was one of the rare moments that we had bright sunlight and it was mid afternoon so the sun was making it almost impossible to get the shot I wanted so rather than spook it with the shutter I just watched, another memory that will last forever as I watched my first Sea otter at close quarters.

Golden eagles sightings were plentiful on this day too as the weather was almost perfect for them and we watched 5 separate birds during the morning. We had also had distant views of the White-tailed sea eagles too when suddenly one dropped to the loch we were driving besides and was mobbed by hooded crows, the eagle was just about to land on the foreshore but was once again forced on and it flew close to us giving fantastic views.

Our accommodation also boasts Pine Marten in the grounds with a live video link to the feeding station and although I never stayed awake long enough after a few Ciders I did get to see the video footage the following morning and I believe this to be the only place on the island.

Eider ducks, Red-breasted merganser, Great northern divers and the usual wader species were to be found in many places.

Another highlight for me was pulling in to let a car past and seeing an Osprey sat on a post about 5 metres away before it took to the skies.

A trip to Iona gave me a chance to look for Corncrake whilst the women visited the Abbey, within a minute or so of reaching what looked like a likely spot I heard the unmistakeable call, sitting down quietly I scanned the flag Irises from where the sound came and soon spotted one, this time I had a bit of time and a break in the weather so out came the camera. These birds can disappear in front of your very eyes as you are watching them skulk around and can appear some metres from where you last saw it. I came away with a couple of acceptable shots considering the bird did not once break cover in the time I had.

For anyone that has never visited I would highly recommend it and I hope to return next year, this time with a lot more shots under my belt!

CorncrakeIona

Tawny Owls occupy the woodland beside the Barn Owl site and I have now been baiting them for quite a few weeks now. After two weeks of baiting the bait was finally taken and a trail cam was put in place. The bait start to disappear daily but the camera was not picking anything up, it soon became apparent that the bird was swooping down and grabbing the bait without stopping. Day by day the perch was slowly moved up through the wood towards the open fields some 500m away, I wanted to get the perch in the open field before attempting to use a flashgun near the bird, my concern was that the bird may get startled and fly into a tree in the heavily wooded area. A week ago the perch was where I wanted it and the baiting was continued.

Yesterday I sat in the hide and watched the tawny land on the perch about 10m in front of me at 8.15pm just before it was dark it made three visits back to the perch within the hour.

Tonight for the first time I took my camera and flashguns and set up the baited perch. At 8.21 a Blackbird started to give a warning call (one I have heard many times before when cats are about) the agitated blackbird was constantly calling and at 8.23 the Tawny appeared from low down on the woodland edge and flew towards me in the field closely followed by the Blackbird which was obviously trying to drive it away from its nearby nest. The Tawny sat on a spindly branch on the edge of the wood totally un fazed by the Blackbird which was now sat a few metres above it and within a minute was gliding towards my perch, it somehow managed to knock the bait off the perch as it landed so then dropped to the ground where it sat for a few minutes giving me fantastic views of it in the fading daylight. The bird flew off with the bait but reappeared ten minutes later and agin flew to the perch, this time I pressed the shutter as it was about to land and the flashes lit up the area. I decided not to fire the flashes any more that night so just watched and the Tawny flew directly over the post just inches above it on more than 10 occasions in the next hour and a half but would not land.

I decided to rebait the perch and left and hopefully will try again on Friday or Saturday

Tawny owl juvenileN.Devon

We hired an estate car for the journey as we would be taking a lot of equipment with us. Rob and I considerately packed the car and left plenty of boot space for Ian and late Saturday afternoon we made our way to Bristol. On arrival we were met by Ian who obviously thougt we had hired a mini bus, the bag he was carrying was almost four feet high but then he went back for a full camera bag and two lens boxes, one for the 300mm2.8 and one for a 300-800 zoom!....I started to wonder if I had forgotten to let him know we were staying at a Premier Inn as I was sure he must have packed a tent in that bag, of course he hadn't but he did have a stove, kettle, 5 litres of water and a gallon of petrol. After a scale down of his equipment (I think he took a packet of fags and some tea bags out) we were on our way.

After driving through the night we arrived in Aviemore during the hours of darkness with a very clear run and very little traffic on the roads.

We decided to head for Loch Garten and try for a few Crested tit shots. As the light started to come up Ian offered us a cup of fresh tea and got out of the car to brew up. We waited while he set up the picnic table and eagerly awaited the sound of the boiling kettle, as the temperature was quite low and we were all tired we began to think he wasn't so daft after all, however our first thoughts were right as the cooker wouldn't work.

Still very thirsty from the empty promise and lack of tea we soldiered on and spent a few difficult hours trying to photograph the cresties in the car park. The light was not very good and the visits from the birds were few and far between so we headed to the Premier Inn feeling a little disappointed although this was probably due to tiredness and the lack of TEA!

Day 2

Today we headed to the mountains guided by Marcus Conway (ebirder) in an attempt to photograph Ptarmigan in the snow. Conditions were quite good with only a light wind and the cloud had lifted above the mountains by the time we reached the car park. This year we only walked for twenty minutes or so before we connected with a few birds. Marcus did a great job of putting us amongst the birds but he still hasn't managed to control the weather for us and the light was not particularly kind to us although we did all manage some shots, all in all a successful day!

Day 3

Rob and I wanted to photograph Red squirrels so we arranged a morning session with Neil McIntyre, Ian came along with us to test out the robustness of the Nikon converters.

We stood in a line waiting in the cold morning for the Squirrels to come in and Ian had gone almost 10 minutes without a cup of tea! as he fiddled around with the flask (fortunately the cooker still didn't work) he somehow managed to drop his 1.4tc. Now the slope we were stood on was very steep and about 10m below us a road was cut throughout he hillside before the hill continued down to the river Spey. Ian's converter rolled down gathering speed and dropped with force to the road below where it bounced and continued downhill, quite a comical if not a very professional sight with him in hot pursuit! The Nikon TC was retrieved and remarkably unscathed.

The squirrels did eventually come in (probably after they had finished laughing at this 6 feet plus guy trying to run after a runaway piece of metal and glass) and once again we had some very nice shots. Theses squirrels are easily found in the forests around Aviemore but as time is usually an issue Neil's site is well worth a visit. We spent the afternoon photographing the Crested tits which was a lifetimes ambition for Ian and surprisingly no dramas!

Red squirrelAviemore, Scotland

Day 4 

We set this day aside to see if we could photograph a Capercaillie but after 5 hours of walking and searching only one was spotted and that was as it flew from a tree away from Rob never to be seen again. We set of in the afternoon to check out a hillside for Mountain hares as that would be the following days target. Within 15 or so minutes we had located three so we were all feeling confident for the morning.

Day 5

An early start with the hares and all three of us soon had a Hare in front of us, they stood out like sore thumbs in their white coats against the heather now that all the snow had virtually gone. Lots of the hares were low down but as there was still some snow on the tops we made our way upwards to try for a few shots. As the hours past by we had a few snow flurries which was quite nice as these hardy mammals just hunkered down and waited for the snow to stop. Its an amazing feeling being so close to these animals knowing that they are completely at ease with your presence despite only being a couple of metres away.

Mountain hareA climb to the top to catch them in the snow

Day 6

Our last full day was spent trying for Ptarmigan again. A check of the mountain forecast revealed 30-35mph gusts at over 800m with a wind chill factor of -17' C but clear visibility. This time, 4 days later the snow was very thin on the ground and unfortunately the birds had moved to a much higher altitude, this meant it was going to be colder, windier and more cloud than we had hoped for. We spent another gruelling day on the mountain this time concentrating on a pair of birds we had located rather than the flocks we had seen on our previous visit. The male chased away any other male that came anywhere near, they both made their way higher with us in pursuit. We managed quite a few shots but once again the light was not too good although we did get a few blue sky moments and some nice images were taken.

Day 7

Always the worst day although its always nice to get back home!  (until I saw the amount of snow the highlands were due to get).

Barn owlN.Devon

2014 has been a good year for me photography wise. Since starting in 2011 I have seen and even managed to photograph species that I never thought I would ever come across.

My top 5 highlights of the year are as follows and are not necessarily picked on the shot but the whole day/experience.

5th place

Collared pratincole…..This bird appeared locally and attracted a lot of attention and proved very difficult to photograph, every time I had chance either before or after work I would go down and try again for a better chance, perseverance eventually paid off and I was only one of a few that had the bird come close enough to me for a reasonable shot.

Collared pratincoleNortham, Devon

4th place

little Owls…..This was another great encounter, whilst I have photographed these birds before I had never attempted them in flight, and in great company with Neil Neville another photography highlight for me.

Little OwlI cut off the wing tip on this shot so have used photoshop to make the image worth keeping

3rd place...

Barn Owl…..The reason for this is certainly not the shot as I have only just started to get any pictures and this was actually New years eve. This is based on the fact that this project has given me a real boost as I was at times starting to get bored with just taking the same old shots. Already i have put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to get this site working and I am really looking forward to the next 12 months working it.

2nd place…

Capercaillie….This bird is just fabulous to watch and is one I never thought I would encounter so to actually photograph it was a real thrill, fortunately I had someone with me (not a photographer ) to share this experience with.

1st place….

Kingfisher…Now this bird richly deserves my top spot. Myself and Rob Cross have been down by the river for more hours than I care to think trying to get some good shots of this bird. Perched shots were achieved, quickly followed by perched shots with fish. Each year these were improved upon and as always we were looking for something more, we managed this with a few landing shots which in turn inspired us to try for the diving and emerging shots. So much time, effort and planning has gone into getting these results it just has to be my 2014 highlight………hopefully this year it will again put in an appearance so we can try again!

KingfisherPrivate site, River Torridge, Devon

Once again yesterday i got in my hide before darkness and the bird was on the perch in front of me shortly after dark, as i pressed the shutter only one flashgun fired and the bird was only lit from one side so once again I found myself returning early.

Saturday it rained all day but as i got to the site it had finally stopped but i moved the perch under a large lean-to roof just in case it decided to throw it down again and soak my flashguns, this meant the perch was a little closer than normal as I couldn't retreat any further back against the wall. After an hour the bird perched and i fired the remote, the pic on the back of the camera was very well lit and sharp as a tack but i was bitterly disappointed to see that one wing had been clipped due to the fact that both wings were outstretched when it landed and took the bait.

A return again to the site tonight and I moved the perch a little further out this time. An hour later the bird flew towards the perch and briefly touched down, a mouse that my sisters cat had bought into the house was bait on the perch. I'm afraid I pressed the shutter just a fraction to early, its extremely dark and I had not given the owl time to take the bait first…..another step in the right direction though.

After setting up and sitting in silence for twenty minutes the Owl appeared and tried to land on my flashgun, the movement made the bird fly off towards a barn, through the window and out of the door behind me and then perched 2 metres from my hide. After a couple of minutes I saw him fly towards my setup and land again on my flashgun, at this point It was so dark I could not actually see the bird unless he was in flight. My finger was poised over the remote ready for the opportunity of a shot for what seemed an eternity but was in reality probably no more than 30 seconds. Suddenly i could see the birds white outstretched wings as it took off then immediately i could see nothing. It must have landed on the perch as I could no longer see anything so I decided to push the shutter. There on the perch was this fabulous looking owl, it took off and flew back the way it always does when it leaves the perch. My heart was racing and I was over the moon when I looked on the back of the camera and saw the image I had captured. Not the best image by a long shot and a lot of improvements needed  but it was a start!.

I sat silently in the hide watching and waiting as I wanted to make sure the bird would return to the perch after I had taken the shot and the first thing I did was to switch of the flashgun commander and my camera as I did not want the temptation of trying to take another shot if he landed. Within an hour he landed on the perch took the bait and flew off. This was my cue to leave so I re-baited and left with a big grin on my face.

Shortly after setting up a few perches we settled in front of our cameras and waited as the birds began to come out of the hedges gradually gaining confidence as time passed. The weather was almost perfect with good light and the strong winter sun was filtered through the trees so not causing too many exposure problems. Good numbers of males and females came in although nearly all of them dropped from the blackthorn bushes straight onto the floor to feed so photo opportunities were few and far between for quite some time After about five hours the birds seemed to occasionally settle on some of our perches so we gradually managed to get some reasonably decent images, fortunately not a minute too soon as my legs are now 53 years old and I was starting to cease up after sitting on the floor for so long.

Cirl bunting (female)S.Devon

Every day for the last 19 days now I have been baiting and observing the site and now have finally got the bird confident in taking the free offering every night now and has done so for the past 12 consecutive days. Last night I sat in my hide at 4.40pm and at 5.11pm the owl flew over the top of me and a minute later was on the perch. Hopefully very soon I should be in a position to attempt a few photos.

This is some of the footage captured early yesterday morning.

Many thanks to Ian for making this possible and a new species for both Rob and I

black redstart (male)Constantly on the move and caching flies, Brean down, Somerset

Thursday evening just before midnight I was packing my van  and by midnight I was on my way. With no sleep at all I made the journey in 6 1/2 hours after a slight diversion. After getting some directions from fellow photographers (which were spot on) I was on the site for first light, I did however know that in the morning the light would be in the wrong direction for any photos. As it started to get light I spotted my first  two birds, a Marsh harrier and a Barn owl that perched on a fence post very close to me. As time passed more an more people turned up and hour by hour they left disappointed that the bird hadn't showed. After quite a few hours I had to admit defeat as the bird had clearly flown!

I left the site with another birder/photographer that I had met and we went to see the Isabelline shrike a few miles down the road. After a short drive and walk we were faced with a wall of birders and a few photographers all watching the active little shrike catching insects at a considerable distance. Another bird tick for me although anyone that knows me will know Im not a ticker or list maker but it was nice to see all the same. There was also a Great grey shrike locally but I knew that would be difficult to photograph and as I was only there for that day and part of the following day I didn't fancy wasting the precious little time I had left on it. We both decided to drive 2 hours to Lowestoft for the Red-backed shrike that had also been showing well.

On arrival we found the bird instantly but it also became apparent that getting a decent shot was going to be hard work, the bushes it was using were very thick and a massive factory behind were not going to give a pleasing bg. We both took a few shots of this superb little bird before we tried to position a perch to help us get the bird in the open. This little bird was having none of it and the light was fading fast so I decided I would return in the morning before setting off for home.

The following morning I returned with my brother and although the forecast was rubbish the weather was almost perfect. We placed a perch where we knew the shots would be as good as possible with what we had to work with and waited, the wait was only a few minutes and the bird was seen in the bushes again and during the next hour perched almost everywhere except our perch. We moved the perch in as close as possible without loosing our bg, once again the bird would not perch but would sometimes drop in out of sight amongst the grass and various plans growing everywhere. This time we picked up one of the many short fence posts littered around this bit of wasteland and propped it up below our perch, it was only standing a few inches higher than all the grass and weeds around it. Once again we waited and after almost four hours the bird flew into the grass and then popped up on the post, the shutters exploded with noise as we had our first opportunity of a shot with a half decent bg. After a minute or so of sitting on the post it flew right up onto the end of the perch I had placed above…..BINGO!!…..my patience had once again paid off and at least I managed some shots before I made the long journey home.

Red-backed shrikeLowestoft, Suffolk

I spoke to Rob Cross and we decided to make the trip in the early hours and see if we could get some silhouette shots of the deer at the sunrise. Rob spoke to Neil Neville and as he was also going the following day with a friend of his Dean Mason, we arranged to meet at his Buckinghamshire home and travel in together. 

At 6.45am we were in the car park of Richmond Park and were introduced to Dean, there was a thick mist and a frost on the ground, perfect conditions for what we were after. Within a few minutes we could see our first stag protecting his Hinds from any other males that may have felt brave enough to take over his harem. The sun was not quite up and focusing through the thick mist had to be done manually as we took our first shots of the day. We could see a faint orange glow on the horizon as the sun was rising and it would only be a matter of minutes before we could shoot towards the sun and get the Stag in silhouette, the light was almost perfect and the ISO was dropping quickly as I focused on the animal in front of us. Suddenly he was bellowing and started to move towards another stag which he felt threatened by. At this stage we could not see the the other stag but could clearly hear him, soon our Stag was out of sight as it disappeared deeper into the thick mist to chase off this intruder, we waited for his return but once his hinds started to follow him we quickly realised this was not going to be the opportunity we had hoped for. 

We listened out for more vocal stags and could see the silhouettes of a few other photographers in the distance so we rapidly made our way towards them hoping that they had one in view. As we got nearer we could see our quarry so we quickly got into a position where we could get the stag  clear of the trees that were in the background and use the orangey glow from the rapidly rising sun together with the mist to our advantage. This glorious light did not last too long but long enough for us all to manage some nice shots.

Another really enjoyable day in the company of three great photographers and friends, we even saw a bit of rutting which was a first for me which rounded the day off nicely.

Red deer stagRichmond park, London

On arrival we could see a small group of waders through binoculars around a flooded pool but they were quickly flushed by someone throwing a frisby for their dog to catch along the waters edge, obviously they had no idea the tiny birds were there or that we were about to to try and slowly approach them.

After the walkers got to the over side of the pool and headed back towards the road we slowly made our way down. Camera 500mm and 2x tc attached we soon got in range and managed a few shots. After a short while we had spotted four birds and as they made there way towards us off came the 2x tc and on went the 1.4 shortly followed by no converter at all and finding the birds came that close to us focussing was at times impossible. We had and hour or so with the birds with no disturbance at all and some lovely evening light so a very enjoyable evening.

Little stintSkern, N.Devon

Male kingfisherPrivate site, Devon

From home its about a four hour drive and then a 10 minute boat crossing to the Island. Another early start and Rob and I were on the road by 3am.

Once there we waited for the booking office to open an secured our place on the first boat. 

On my previous visit two years ago the sun was very bright and Skomer can be a difficult place to get Puffin shots in these conditions despite the fact that there are thousands there, this time however the forecast was bright but with a bit of cloud cover for the morning we were hopeful of some better shots. For anyone who has never seen Puffins before this is the place to go! On my last trip I lugged a 500mm lens and tripod around the island…big mistake!….as these birds will come within a couple of feet from you so this time I took a 300mm and a monopod.

Flight shots as usual were difficult as these birds are a lot faster than you may think and when they come in from the sea with sand eels they have to be quick as the gulls will mob them for their catch. A thoroughly enjoyable day

Badger (male)My first ever photo of a badger and in my home county of Devon to

This weekend I returned with Rob Cross to the private Kingfisher site we have been using for a few years now. Nice to get this adult on the perch shortly after setting up so I'm sure I will be returning again soon!

Male KingfisherNice to finally get some shots of an adult male, Devon

The Owls appeared very quickly and we attempted to get some landing/flight shots, this proved extremely difficult for me but still great fun. After a few hours we left the Owls and went for breakfast. Next we headed the short trip to Oxfordshire where we spent a few more hours trying to photograph Red Kites in flight. Once again quite tricky due to the speed these birds can move as they dive but once again great fun and some good results at the end.

The afternoon saw us heading back to the little Owl hide where we continued in our quest to get some more flight/landing shots. The light was quite changeable but the birds played their part well landing on the perches. We carried on until about 8.45pm when we decided to call it a day and make the 4 hour journey home. 

Many thanks to Neil and anyone reading this would be well advised to visit his website to make a booking http://www.neilnevillephotography.com/little-owl-hide

Little OwlTaken from Neil Neville's hide in Buckinghamshire

The following morning Graham and I followed Marcus to the mountain, parked up, dressed up and started the long hard climb. After an hour of  strenuous walking we arrived at the place where Marcus had previously seen pairs holding territory. The whole area was searched with binoculars to no avail so we carried on searching as we went finally coming to where the snow was still quite thick covering the mountain and the end of the territories being held, at this point Marcus said to me that I must be the Jonah as we couldn't locate any. feeling slightly deflated again and already aching from the steep climb I stood to catch my breath when I noticed a male bird perfectly camouflaged less than 12 feet from me, we very slowly backed up four or five metres so I could take out my camera. The bird was lying flat amongst the large boulders so not easy to get a good shot but at least I had finally got something. As I edged around more I saw the female just a few feet away beside him, the terrain was difficult and I lost my footing (which is quite unusual for me) and the sudden movement spooked the birds and they flew 20 m away. After this point we did locate quite a few more bird although it was not easy to get into a good position to get shots we get some fabulous views of these stunning looking birds. The day started cold and slightly breezy and obviously the higher we ascended the colder and windier it got. I had hoped to go a bit higher up to the plateau looking for Dotterel, another bird which is on my want list but the wind started to get very strong and gusty so we decided against it. During our walk back it was at times difficult to keep your footing due to the ever strengthening winds and we were both glad to finally reach the car to get our body temperatures back to normal.

Day2

a trip to the Findhorn. Valley was on the agenda for today and once again plenty of wildlife was seen, highlights included close views of mountain hare and a pair of ring ouzel, three large herds of red deer with at least 60 in each. The views from the very top were breathtaking!

Day3

today was spent walking through one of the many pine forests in the highlands with bilberry and Heather understory.  Within minutes of getting out of the car we had spotted a cuckoo although very little else. After walking for about 45 minutes Graham came too find me as we had separated by a few hundred metres, I could see him waving frantically and when I caught up with him he told me he had seen a male capercaillie which had actually seen him before he had seen it and had chased after him. We slowly made our way back in to the the area which he had marked with a few pine tree twigs, there about 20 metres in Front of me was this fabulous bird stood on the high ground watching us. Quickly I put my 500 mm lens on my camera and attached it to my tripod. I know for certain a 50mm lens would have been adequate as these birds will defend their territory to anyone that encroaches it and I did not want to stress the bird so stayed a reasonable distance back. The bird did at times come towards us forcing us further back and then would happily stop to feed on some fallen pine branches, eating the none too tasty looking needles. I took lots of photos but once again due to the thick ground cover clean shots were not easy. As I was with a friend who has no interest in photography, coupled with the fact that I didn't want the bird stressed we left it to carry on  feeding. The bird was quite tatty looking and had bare patches with many feathers missing around both sides of his face and a noticeable bald patch on the back of his head, all of which looked quite  painful and red. This was another one of those memorable days I will never forget.

CapercaillieHighlands Scotland,

Day 4

today the forecast was reasonably dry although heavy showers were a strong possibility and the following day we were to expect rain, so this would be our last chance to get out and about.  Another walk up the mountain was planned only this time higher hoping to see Dotterel, the walk up to the top took two hours, although I did stop a few times to photograph the Ptarmigan I came across. Today they were far less edgy and the males would stand on a boulder watching over his female as she fed, I managed plenty of full frame images this time so a fantastic result! and I finally had some images I am very pleased with.  Once at the very top I did not manage to locate any Dotterels but the view from the top to the next valley was outstanding and that alone was well worth the walk..

Collared pratincolePatience paid off today and the bird came close today, Northam, Devon

On arrival it was easy to locate due to the number of birders already there which totalled nearly 40 when I left. The bird stayed at distance, mainly due to the large crowd forming so together with another photographer we peeled off to the left by about 30m and waited. Shortly after the bird made its way towards us although still very distant at least we would be able to get a few decent record shots. As the bird made its way slowly towards us annoyingly some of the other birders and photographers thought they would join us for better views, obviously this had a negative affect and the bird just changed direction and moved away from us again, still at least this time I did manage a few record shots.

Wheatears are always good to photograph on this site and pose very well with gorgeous backgrounds for photography

WheatearNortham, Devon

Dartford warblerNot quite what I had in mind….a distant shot and not quite facing the right way, Arne, Dorset

Never one for an easy option I decided to try for another small and tricky subject this morning, the Goldcrest. I went out to check on a pair of nesting Kingfishers I have been watching, they are still incubating eggs at present. After watching for an hour I went looking for the Goldcrests, this time I was travelling light with only a 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4tc if I needed it. The next few hours were as frustrating as the Dartfords and whilst I did get a few opportunities to point my lens at them once again shots were hard to attain. Anyone who has tried to photograph these little birds will know they rarely stay still for a second and are usually in amongst trees or Ivy making things even harder. This one was picking cobwebs off the barbed wire for nest building.

GoldcrestThis one was picking cobwebs from barbed wire for nest building

I have managed a few trip down at the river and it seems as though the Kingfishers are now well and truly ready to rear a family and have been in and out of a hole in the bank where they have been known to have successfully bred before. The Otters have been showing on occasions although still very elusive and on one occasion as I was hidden behind a tree it passed in front of me no more the a cars length away as  it searched along the river bank, unfortunately this was just a watching session and I had no camera. I have managed a few photos and they are getting gradually better and better but still a long way from what I'm really after…..still I never expected too much in the first year anyway.

OtterDevon

The local commons have always been a hotspot for adders but I have never really put any time into looking for them as there always seems to be something else to do. I managed to go last weekend which was going to be for a couple of hours but ended up spending all day. The first adder was spotted at about 9.00am which was quickly followed by a few more of both males and females, plenty of shed skins were also found so the timing was right for mating. After about an hour or so my attention was drawn to an Oil beetle which is not a common sight anymore and I spent a while watching and photographing it. By now my couple of hours were up but and as all the Adders were so well hidden by all the bracken photos were really not going to happen, anyway I took one more quick look and spotted a male straight away so sat quietly watching it when another larger male came past my legs within a few feet, totally oblivious to the fact I was sat there it seemed to be on a mission and a few secs later another one appeared even closer to me. As I watched them move in front of me they suddenly rose out of the bracken and started their "adder dance" bodies entwined they seemed to be trying to get higher than each other and would try and push each other to the ground. This was fascinating to watch and lasted for about 15 minutes when suddenly they parted and coiled up about four feet apart. Shortly after one of the males made a quick getaway, obviously defeated in this battle for the right to mate and a female appeared right in front of me. Within a few sends they were entwined and mating. This was the first time I had ever witnessed this and another wildlife moment I won't forget in a hurry.

AddersTwo males both hoping to mate with the nearby female, Devon

The site has been giving sightings of some fabulous wildlife inc.

Kingfisher, Grey wagtail, Dipper, Heron, Mandarin duck, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Goldcrest to mention a few of the birds. 

A trail camera has been placed on the site and visits from Otter Mink and Fox have been recorded.

The Dippers, Kingfishers and I'm sure the Grey wagtails all nest in the vicinity so hopefully some time in the not too distant future I may start to get some photographs from the site.

 Today I managed a few Mink shots and with a bit of thought I am certain there will be better to come.

MinkNorth Devon, private site.

Otter video clip

Day1…We were in the hide by 8am and awaiting the arrival of the sparrowhawks. Within about an hour a young bird was on a perch in front of us and although the light was not very good we did manage plenty of photos. The male Sparrowhawk came in later but unluckily for us he landed on the floor after missing a chaffinch and photo opportunities were not there. Considering the cold and windy and wet weather of late any shots were a bonus. It was good to see Alan again and anyone who wants a shot of one of these wild birds then this is the place to go. At the end of our session we left and made our way to the Premier Inn at Sterling.

Day 2..We left the premier inn at around 4.30am and drove to the highlands. On arrival we decided to head for Loch Garten and try for Crested tit. As we drove into the car park Coal tits and Chaffinches were beside our car straightaway , obviously expecting to be fed. We were setting up some perches when two Crested tits dropped to the ground within about 8 feet from us. By the time we had our cameras set up on tripods they had disappeared! An hour passed before they returned and Rob managed some shots, unfortunately I messed up so frustratingly I had to hope for another visit. We spent between 4 and 5 hours photographing these with quite a few more brief visits before the light had gone. We then made our way to the Pemier Inn at Inverness feeling quite happy.

Day 3….We had arranged for a day with Marcus Conway (ebirder) as our guide to try and get some photos of Mountain Hare's. The Mountain forecast  was giving snow during the night so we were hopeful of the type of shots we were after. Marcus arrived to pick us up at 7.30 am and after quick introductions we were on our way to the chosen site. On arrival Marcus gave us a quick briefing on the direction we would be heading and a how we would be approaching the Hare's. We headed up at a slow pace, the temperature was fairly low (at least it felt it to me) and started our search for the Hare's. It didn't take very long before we had seen a few some distance away and although still a long way from us they moved away even farther. We did get opportunities to photograph a couple of Hare's but the star of the day for us was one that was sat on a large snow covered boulder, we slowly approached one at a time and took some shots at 11.05am during the next two and a half hours we edged as close as we need to be and during this time the Hare had become totally at ease with our presence in fact most of the time it was asleep in front of us. We waited and waited and every now and again it would jump of the rock to feed and then hop back and again doze off. Eventually for no reason he just decided to run off and as we were talking about the fantastic experience he suddenly ran towards us just a couple of metres in front of us and stopped to watch us, we all tried for a photograph but even with a 300mm lens he was just too close,eventually he moved off again and so did we, back down towards the car. On the way we down we took some photos of another resting Hare before finally leaving the site,  three happy bunnies! (pardon the pun)

Mountain HareTaken after heavy snow the previous night, Highlands, Scotland

Day 4….After the fantastic day with the Hare's we were very optimistic about photographing Ptarmigan on the Cairngorms. We set off dressed for the conditions and camera bags on our backs, We set a steady pace up the Mountain looking for our quarry and after about an hour we saw a few in flight some distance from us and quite a bit higher so we made our way even higher as well. The snow was very deep and on many occasions i would find myself struggling to lift my leg out as the snow was up to just below my knee. We trekked on even more and the more tired my legs got the more difficult it was to keep positive. The wind would occasionally gust blowing small particles of Ice against our faces with at times felt as sharp as glass! After about three hours we took a short break and taking the bag off my back was a great relief. When we started to move again I felt so much better for the short respite and sugar rush from the chocolate bars I had scoffed. As we were heading back I suddenly spotted a Ptarmigan running behind a boulder, it suddenly broke cover and ran upwards, I can't explain how happy we all were at this point but before we could get our cameras out it had flown! We trudged back from where we had just left as the bird had flown in this direction but after a reasonable search we realised it was not to be. We carried on walking and after a total of five and a half hours at 1050m above sea level and covering 7.2 miles we had arrived back from where we started. We went back to our accommodation that night very tired and all agreed that we had put in as much effort as was possible. On the shuttle bus to the lower car park the disappointment could be seen on all our faces and it was a reminder of how unpredictable wildlife can be, another reason to return next year (every cloud and all that!)

Day 5….We decided to have an easy day after our arduous walk on day 4 and returned for some more crested tit shots. We also went to get a few Red grouse shots although the weather wasn't perfect we were determined to make the most of our last day.

A big thank you to Marcus Conway who's help was invaluable

http://ebirder.net

With 2013 coming to an end I decided to take my last photos for the year from a feeding station on the edge of a private woodland that Rob and I have been setting up for some time now. Still work in progress and we need to sort out some decent perches but at least we have plenty of birds starting to feed on a regular basis. Hopefully we should be able to get some decent shots in the New year.

Marsh titTaken from a feeding station, Torrington, Devon

This was my third attempt in two years and whilst not exactly what I wanted the photos I got are my best to date.

I drove to Norfolk through the night and arrived at 6.30am on Wednesday. After a quick coffee at my Brother Kim's house I then drove back to Suffolk to the site where the crossbills were. These crossbills have been regular visitors to these puddles of water. By 9.00am we were all setup and ready. During the next few hours more people turned up but still no sign of the birds when I noticed a Sparrowhawk nearby, this bird of prey was in the vicinity nearly all day and after six hours of waiting the light was starting to go so we packed up. Feeling rather deflated we decided to give it another try in the morning.

Thursday morning came and we made the hour trip back to Suffolk and set up as we had the previous day only this time I spotted four Crossbills in the tree about 70m away so we were more hopeful. After an hour or so a Crossbill flew down to a small tree to our left and was clearly coming down to drink, it stayed there for a few minutes and Kim and I froze so as not to spook it. Suddenly a car drove in and turned around right over the puddle of water which sent the bird off high into the trees some distance away. We were beginning to think things were just not going to pan out right for us when another photographer turned up. As he set up beside us a total of 9 birds flew into the small tree on our left and this time a few of them took it in turns to quickly collect some water before flying away, this only lasted for about thirty seconds in total so the photo opportunities had to be taken there and then. We had both male and female birds at the water and also had another visit later in the day although this time it lasted for about 3 seconds. The birds then decided to drink from another puddle around the corner from where we were set up so this was to be our only chances. We did manage some nice images although as the birds landed on the wrong side of the puddle for us, we did not manage any reflection shots, (maybe next time).

The forecast for thursday was cloud and rain but we thought it may be worth getting up early and trying to see if we could locate the Shore lark and maybe learn a few of the habits of this bird which might help us for Saturday morning when the forecast was going to be good. On arrival it struck me that on such a large beach it was going to be difficult to locate two small birds, the wind was bitterly cold but it was reasonably bright and no rain as yet. after about four hours we were on the verge of giving up for the day when a local birder located them. All the birders in the vicinity were called over so they could see them and once they had left we started to edge slowly closer. After about fifteen minutes we were almost in range for some shots when a Peregrine falcon came from nowhere and flew past us at speed and only about 20 feet away from us and no more than four feet above the ground, needless to say the birds quickly dispersed and were not seen again that day and as we searched it now began to rain. Once again another bird of prey had thwarted our plans.

Saturday was the day for me to return to Devon but I wanted another look for the larks. We arrived shortly after it got light and together with another photographer and at least half a dozen birders the birds were still not located after 3 hours. Everybody else had now left and we decided to head back to the car when I caught sight of a small bird moving in the distance. On closer inspection it proved to be one of the two Shore larks. Once again we crept slowly closer and this time no birds of prey interfered with us, this time it was a flock of about 40 snow buntings that caused us a problem, they decided to join the larks and then shortly after they flew off with the two shore larks following suit and flying off into the distance.

20 minutes or so later I said to Kim that I really needed to get going as I had a six hour journey ahead of me and it was already 11.30am

Once again we headed to the car and once again I spotted them. This time they were close to the Pier and car park, well away from the flock of snow buntings that were constantly circling and only landing briefly before taking off again. We did the same again for the third time, walking along on our knees edging slowly closer. We managed to get some photos from a reasonable range when a dog walker decided to throw a ball for her dog to chase. The dog chased the ball and once again the birds flew, however this time they only flew a short distance and eventually they came close enough to us for the shots we had tried so hard to get.

7 hours later I was at my desk reviewing my shots and updating this blog.

This has given Rob and I a chance to set up some feeders on the edge of a private woodland. Hopefully in a few more weeks time they should start to produce some birds for us, just need to sort out some perches etc.

Whilst watching the activity on the feeder yesterday I heard a small flock of Goldcrests in the trees beside me. I spent an hour or so trying to get some shots which proved very difficult due to the fact that they never stay still and very rarely come into the open away from trees and branches.

On arrival today I quickly located the birds and slowly started to make my way behind them which was tricky as they were amongst the pebbles on the ridge of pebbles that form the sea defence. Despite not being able to keep very low or quiet whilst walking over these I managed to get in range for some shots. Staying still  and low the birds were quite comfortable with my presence so some fairly close-up shots were managed.

Grey PhalaropeThis little bird was at Roadford reservoir, Devon

Yesterday after finishing work early I rushed down to catch the incoming tide for waders. Walking along the pebble ridge I spotted a small group of waders near the waters edge so slowly made my way closer. The birds were Golden plovers and the closer I got the more I could see with over 20 being the final count. These birds are extremely nervous and fly at the slightest sign of danger, with this in mind I dropped to my hands and knees put my camera on the tripod and slowly edged closer. Wet sand meant wet knees etc which was not very comfortable but I managed to get which I thought was about thirty metres away (camera exif actually shows 36m). As the tide was incoming quite quickly and the beach is flat the birds were slowly getting closer to me as they were forced in.

I took pictures every time they moved a fraction closer but this plan was quickly foiled as someone else had decided to walk up behind me with his camera only instead of a slow and low approach he was stood upright and as he walked behind me they all took flight! No doubt one day I will manage to get another 5-10m closer and get the shots i'm after.

Golden ploverA difficult species to photograph as they tend to be very wary of human presence and fly off at the slightest sign of danger.
Northam beach, N.Devon

Last October I had planned to go to Richmond Park with two friends for the deer rutting season but anyone who has read my first blog post will remember that one person (sleeping beauty) or though not really much of a beauty in fact more of a beast, decided to lie in bed so our plans changed and we didn't go. This year the three of us decided to make the same trip although this time meeting up in Buckinghamshire with another good friend Neil Neville and a friend of his Wendy Salisbury. This time Rob and I were under no circumstances going to allow Steve to oversleep, fortunately we did not have to wake the whole road banging on his door at 1am as he had managed to drag his backside out of bed without too much trouble.

We set off from N.Devon to meet up with Neil in Buckinghamshire and after a quick chat we then set off for Richmond Park in search of our quarry. We were introduced to Wendy and together all five of us made our way into the park.

The weather was dry but not as predicted and it was quite cloudy so the light was far from perfect and the misty start we had hoped for never happened. This was the first visit to Richmond Park for us three country boys so we didn't really know what to expect, guided by Neil we were in front of a Red deer stag within minutes and their bellowing of other stags could be heard from all directions. We spent a very pleasant if not tiring morning photographing these magnificent animals as the dominant stags were using all their experience to stop some of the other males muscling in on their hinds. This is a place that I will certainly return to and hopefully the conditions will be more favourable next time.

The Parakeets that are thriving in and around London could be seen and heard all over the park, these are another bird I would like to photograph despite the fact that they are not an indigenous species but no photographic opportunities arose so perhaps another reason to go back. 

The journey back was trouble free and sleeping beauty had managed to stay awake all the way home despite no sleep from the previous night.

Almost an hour past and there was no sight or sound of a KF when suddenly the familiar call and a couple of seconds later he was sat in front of me.  Due to the recent rainfall I suspect he had struggled to fish and now the weather had broke he was in fishing mode catching fish in the shallows and occasionally in the deeper parts. Fishing from my perches, off the stones and out of the tree on the other side of the river this bird was fishing nearly all the time I was there which was until 3pm with just short periods of time when he would fly off downstream before returning. Another bird appeared whilst this male was on my perch and fished from the other side of the river and surprisingly enough they tolerated each other and even fished within about 5m of each other. 

This is one of many shots I attempted as this bird fished. My success rate was not very good considering the opportunities I had but at least it improvement each time.

KingfisherTorridge, Devon

Camera now attached to tripod I slowly edged closer, the sun was high and bright and with lots of other people out walking I only had a limited time before they would be disturbed so I took some shots as soon as I could even though they were distant.

Kynance cove This photo was taken with my iPhone and shows the grassy slopes favoured by the Choughs when I was there.

After our few days away I couldnt resist seeing the Kingfisher again so another early start and I was all set up and in my hide by 6.45am within about 30-40 minutes the Kingfisher was once again in front of me. I stayed until 1pm and in that time the bird was never away from the perch for more than about twenty minutes. This time I tried to capture a few shots as he landed on the perch after diving in the river for fish. I did manage a few but as this was my first attempt I am sure I will improve on it as time goes by.

On Monday evening Rob and I decided to check it out again, we were at the waters edge putting up a couple of temporary perches when we spotted three young Kingfishers, we hastily got into our hides and watched. All three birds flew up and down the river and even landed right opposite us on the river bank, Grey wagtails were in good numbers and one perched on top of Robs hide before posing on the perch we had set up in front of us.

The river was teeming with Minnows and some good sized Trout swam lazily upstream, Mallards and their ducklings were just downstream and a Dipper also put in an appearance. After watching for three hours we put up another temporary perch and left. On our way back over the bridge I stopped the van so we could look back over the river.......there was a Kingfisher sat on the new perch we had just place there 10 minutes ago.

Tuesday 30th July...........Today I drove to the bridge and looked over at the river, as I peered over the wall a Kingfisher landed on the perch just as it had when I left yesterday. A quick drive home to pick up my camera equipment and I was on the river again sat in my hide. Today three birds were present again but one bird spent nearly all day chasing the other and at one point as they flew past my hide chasing one another the one being pursued clattered into the side of my hide. In total I had six landings on the perch but only managed a total of 5 shots as the birds seemed to fly at the slightest movement of the lens, encouraging though that after only two visits I managed some shots. This one was as the bird was about to leave the perch.

After the half hour drive and 15 minute walk (downhill, coming back takes twice as long) Rob and I were once again set up in front of the place we had seen the bird yesterday. Today was a lot more successful and we quickly had a male land although this time only one shot was taken before it vanished again. Shortly after a different bird arrived on the perch, once again a male but noticeably different with a shorter top mandible. This bird landed on a small stick in front of us and caught a small fish then flew on to the perch we had placed. He sat there posing for us until the other male was spotted close-by which caused one to chase the other away. Once again a short time later we heard the distinct KF call and the other male appeared back on the perch, this male had on all previous visits been very wary, however on this occasion he was quite happy with the sound of the camera shutters.

The action had tailed off by about 9am and the local farmer came past us and crossed the river in his all terrain vehicle so with this disturbance we decided to leave, checking out another suitable spot some 6 or 7 miles away on our way home. I managed to get permission last year to photograph on another stretch of the river after some detective work (which I have been accused of using in the past). I parked the van and looked over the bridge crossing the river and within minutes Rob heard a Kingy and seconds later it flew past! 

A site that needs checking out!!

Kingfisher ( male)

Interestingly this particular bird seems to prefer fishing from very low perches and spent about 15 minutes to my side  (I couldn't move the camera for fear of spooking him) fishing in a pool about three inches deep and from a perch just a foot above the water. Previous to this it had been fishing from the ground where it would fly upwards before diving.

Might have another look tomorrow but this particular spot is not being very productive this year.

Rather than an early start neil suggested we visit during the evening as the Owlets were more likely to show then. We set off at lunchtime in blistering temperatures of 34"C and with no air con in my van it was certainly not a comfortable journey. 

Once again we met with Neil and after a brief chat made our way to this fantastic location to be greeted with one of the Owls already out in full view. We set ourselves up in the hide and waited just a short while before once again the Owlet came and perched in front of the hide. This comical youngsters stayed around for a while and was then joined by another, we also saw the adults too but disturbance from people enjoying the fabulous weather meant the visits were short.

The Owls were only with us for about 20 minutes in the couple of hours we were there but what treat! and once again we both came away very happy to have seen and even photographed these Owls and their youngsters.

On leaving the site we had views of 2 Green woodpeckers and earlier when we arrived we saw the ring necked parakeets, maybe I will go back to photograph them some time. Once again a very big thank you to Neil.

Little Owlet

This is a schedule 1 species  and great care and effort go into protecting them their eggs and chicks.The birds I have photographed are at a well protected colony which is monitored 24 hours a day with an electric fence enclosing the complete colony and a further roped of exclusion zone to keep human disturbance to a minimum and to help keep out predators.

Prior to my visit I had contacted the Natural England warden Rick Southwood (I have in the past done some moth recording on this site), I let Rick know that I was hoping to make the trip over on Saturday morning he gave me the name of the Rspb warden who was in charge of the protection of these birds so I dropped him a line too.

I arrived in Norfolk in the early hours of friday morning. My brother and I drove to the site on friday evening and made our way to the wardens hut where we spoke to Daniel who told us that there were now many chicks that had already hatched and about an hour before we arrived he had counted approx 300 adult birds on the shoreline well out of the exclusion zone. We made our way over and took a few shots in some nice light although approaching any bird on an open beach is never easy we did manage to get close enough for a few shots. The morning light would be better as the sun would be in the right direction for us so we spoke to two of the wardens again just to make them aware of our intentions. The roped off area is the closet point at which you can get to the colony although a bit of common sense has to be used and if the birds feel you are too close we were told they would dive at you and that would mean you are to close regardless of the roped fence. We were told the best thing would be to sit on the sand ridge another 5m back where we would be plenty far enough back but still get views of the birds coming to and fro.

My alarm woke me at 3am and by 4am we were on the road. Exactly an hour later we were again on the beach. We said a quick hello to the latest warden who was approaching the end of the night shift and made our way in front of the colony where we sat/lay on the base of the sand ridge. Even though the forecast had been really favourable we were greeted with thick cloud cover so the light was not as good as it could have been and the sun only broke through for a few seconds at a time. 

After taking some flight shots as they past overhead and out to sea to fish we saw a bird land on the shingle directly in front of us, the bird moved just a few steps before settling down, the bird had decided to lay its eggs about 6m out outside of the perimeter fence and just below the roped area. We saw three more pairs of these little birds which had done exactly the same thing, it seems these pairs were later breeding as most of the others seemed to have chicks running everywhere, whereas all these pairs were obviously still sitting on eggs and only gave away their presence when they flew off or the males came and landed close to them We left at 8am and as we walked back towards the hut we could see through my brothers binoculars lots of little chicks running around, the terns certainly seemed successful this year!

Incidentally the wardens moved the barriers to protect these latest nests from being accidentally trampled or disturbed.

On two visits in May I had found five pairs all holding territories and knew it was only a matter of time before before eggs would be laid and chicks needing to be fed would follow. Photographing these birds at this point last year proved quite successful and the birds would come very close as they carried caterpillars and grubs back for their young.

My next visit was still a little early but there's always so much to see there it didnt matter and I wanted to get the timing right so as not to miss the best time, also a few friends wanted to photograph these little birds so I was keen to see how things had progressed.  On each of these visits one pair seemed to be staying very close to a hawthorn tree so this was the easiest pair to locate each time. Early to mid June was always going to be the optimum time but unfortunately due to personal circumstances I was unable to get back there for a few weeks.

On Wednesday a made the hour journey and the 15 minute walk down over the hill, the pair of Whinchats that had been close to the Hawthorn tree were still there and I sat back some distance and watched. The male arrived with a caterpillar and sat on the heather some distance away and the female sat on top of the Hawthorn tree. After watching for some time it was obvious the birds were not going down to the nest (which had to be close-by) I moved farther back but this made no difference and the male ate the caterpillar that it had been holding in its beak, this actually happened a couple more times.

After about half an hour or so two guy's came over to where I was sat, after a brief chat they informed me that they were ringing chicks and the Whinchat nest was only 5m away from the Hawthorn tree. We went over and looked at the nest which was incredibly hard to see and all the chicks in their opinion were too old to ring and if the nest was disturbed there would be a very strong chance they would disperse straight away. After settling back in position with my camera the two guys explained to me that the reason the male would not take the food to them was that they were being encouraged to leave the nest, which is why the female was just sitting in the tree calling and in their opinion the chicks would fledge that day. Safe with knowledge that I was not too close I just waited and waited. After 5 hours had passed I walked up the hill to get some water from my van and meet Rob who was coming down after work.

Within the hour I had returned and found that all the chicks had left the nest!  Even though i'm sure they hadn't gone far it was not going to be as easy to position myself where the adult birds were likely to perch with 5 or 6 chicks all in different places.

I took a couple of shots from distance and a few of the male in the hawthorn tree but it seems I will have to wait another year!

A big thank you to Ian White for giving me the opportunity to takes some pictures of a pair he had been watching in Somerset on a regular basis, the birds were raising chicks so were back and forth to the nest all day looking for food to feed their chicks.

After meeting Ian at a place close to the site Rob and I followed him to the site. After reversing his car back and opening the back of his estate car where he and Rob sat in comfort to take their photographs I however had bought along a nice comfy fishing chair and sat back and relaxed. Cameras at the ready on the tripod we all waited eagerly for the birds to put in n appearance, which after a very short while they did.

The birds came in front of our lenses at regular intervals although some time apart and many shots were taken. One of the birds was a lot more less tolerant than the other and at times lightning fast reactions were needed, therefore many opportunities were missed!

We left about 5.00pm after about 7 hours and when I finally arrived home another 2 hours later re-viewed my shots and found myself once again very pleased with the results.

Spotted flycatcher

Upon meeting up with Neil we were quickly taken to the site and we spotted a Little Owl straight away. We got into Neil's hide and were almost immediately taking pictures, we were facing into the light and managed a lot of backlit shots. After a few hours the sun had risen sufficiently to make photographing these birds almost impossible so the plan was to return later in the day. Once the birds had moved away we quickly emerged from the hide and went to get some well earned breakfast.

We spent a very pleasant mid morning and afternoon trying to photograph Red kites, although conditions were rather difficult.

Later in the afternoon after some more refreshments we made our way back to the site, we had been there for a couple of hours and the light was now behind us but the birds were not really playing ball with just two very brief visits. There was a fair bit of activity close by from walkers all enjoying the fabulous weather which was probably not helping our cause. Neil seemed unconcerned and rightly so as he really knows how these birds react and behave.

Eventually the walkers thinned out and the birds both male and female made numerous appearances giving fabulous photo opportunities, the light was truly stunning and we stayed taking photos until about 8.30pm.  We made the journey back to Devon with big smiles on our faces although I wasn't smiling for too long as I quickly fell asleep (sorry Rob!)

A really big thank you to Neil, a great guy and someone who is very passionate about wildlife giving it all the respect it deserves and without his time, patience and field cratft none of this would have been possible. ( website link on my links page)

More photos to come over the next few weeks!

Another 4am start and a three hour drive meant we were on site for 7am. As soon as we arrived at Gilfach we located a pair of Redstarts immediately  The sun was bright even this early in the morning and the birds were not really coming to the mealworms we had brought along although a Robin, Great tit, and a couple of Coal tits were getting an easy meal.

After a while we decided to go down the hill to a purpose built hide where once again we had a pair of Redstarts occasionally coming back and forth to the free offerings we had. A pair of Pied flycatchers were nesting in a nearby tree and a pair of Dippers were feeding their fledglings on the river below us alongside a pair of Grey wagtails, Steve also spotted a Fox as it slowly made its way across the track beside the hide we were in.  We all managed a few Redstart shots but once again the very strong sunlight made things difficult for us. A couple of Nuthatch were constantly back and forth to the mealworms along with occasional visits from the male Pied flycatcher. 

Nuthatch At about 2.15 we made our way up to Gigrin farm where there is a Kite feeding station and purpose built hides suitable for photographers. For anyone who has never been it is well worth a visit and the sight of Red Kites flying within just a few metres of you is hard to explain, you really need to  experience it. An hour later we all left the hide totally exhausted, holding even a small camera and lens and photographing these birds flying is physically exhausting and I was quite pleased to get back in the car where I slept almost all the way home.

Red Kite

A single Tree pipit was singing loudly and flitting from tree to tree in its quest for a mate. I managed to position myself close to one of the smaller trees it had been using and managed to get some shots (another first for me)

Tree pipit

Due to the cold weather insect activity was virtually non existent so the bird was not as active as we would have liked however it did perch in front of us on many occasions, sometimes quite close. Eventually when it found a food source it returned to the same perches in front of us for the next couple of hours.

The day was ever so slightly ruined by a birder who obviously didnt like photographers as he walked straight past another birder 5 yards to my left and told us we were not supposed to be on the grass (which is common land) and we would be stopping the bird from feeding which of course was total rubbish! if anyone follows my links to Rob Cross images you will see shots of the shrike feeding!! Before this rude idiot came over there was a young family and three other birders with us that all had close views and witnessed the bird feeding on worms, beetles a bumble bee and what looked like a cricket despite the fact I thought it was a bit early in the year for them.

Woodchat shrike

I made a call to Rob Cross who came and picked me up to drive the coupe of miles to the site, within minutes I had spotted the bird feeding on the edge of the water. Knowing how long it had taken us to get photo's of the yellow wagtails recently we was not expecting to get much and the light was dismal, a real gloomy afternoon.

The bird flew away a short distance but seemed quite happy to carry on feeding and gradually made its way to us and our waiting cameras which were set up on tripods at the ready. The bird came very close and very quickly we both had reasonable shots considering the light. 

Hopefully the bird will hang around for a few days and the light will improve.

Ashy headed wagtailA 6am start this morning to locate the bird again before I went to work enabled me to get a few more pictures, this time in slightly better light

Yellow wagtailfinally managed to get close enough and in light that wasn't to harsh to enable me to get some reasonable shots of this bright little bird, Northam, N.Devon

The yellows were in an area where there are also hundreds of Pied and white wagtails and would be almost constantly chased and would fly a short distance to settle and have the same thing happen again. Of course not too much of a problem for the bird but getting close enough for a shot was impossible. 

Evenings seemed to be the best chance of a photo as there were usually less walkers and dog to add to the problem. Over a period of four days I tried slowly closing the distance by creeping up on them which was difficult as they were quite edgy and seemed to have  tolerance level of about thirty yards before they would fly a little further away.

My next approach would be wait in the car for one to fly to an area where I could slowly drive up to and shoot through the window, the birds did occasionally come up but even getting close enough with the car (which normally works a treat if you approach slowly) did not work and off they would fly again. 

On Thursday evening I was watching from the car again and it was blowing a gale. The flooded pool looked as though there were waves as the wind was so strong. This wind was creating a foam which would blow to the edge where all the wagtails seemed to be. It became clear that the air bubbles had trapped all the dead insects (flies and midge)s and therefore making rich pickings for the birds. The following day the wind was still strong and the birds were still feeding on the waters edge, this time whenever a yellow wagtail was chased off it would immediately run back down to the food source, this was just the sort of luck I needed so I quickly got out my chair hide and positioned myself on the waters edge. Within minutes I had the birds within about 10m and managed plenty of shots, the problem this time was the harsh sunlight which is not good for photographing birds, especially canary yellow ones! I could do little about this as i could not position myself any different without actually sitting in the water.

The following morning I awoke early and drove straight back down there as it was still windy the birds were yet again congregating in the same general area, once agin sat in my hide but this time the sun was lower in the sky and behind me so I finally managed a few decent shot!

The plan was to get there nice and early the following morning before to many other people arrived, especially the dogs and their owners as they are more often than not let loose to run free, scattering every bird in the vicinity.

We arrived Monday as planned and sat foe some time in our cars watching three of the Yellow wagtails from a considerable distance. This was never going to be easy as there were literally hundreds of Pied and white wagtails with them which were extremely nervous, coupled with the fact that the site is open grassland we could not formulate a plan to get anywhere near close enough for a shot. Time was now against us as other people were arriving when I noticed a good birding friend of mine Dave Paull with his friend Alec, I went for a quick chat and they were telling me what else they had seen this morning when we noticed a dog chasing a large lamb, they were approx 800m away. We ran as quick as we could (although I'm no Eussaine Bolt, in fact more like Bernie the bolt for anyone that remembers "The Golden Shot") but that's another story.  By the time I got there a fitter and far younger man had arrived to get the dog off the lamb. The dog ran behind us towards some more lambs and thankfully Rob was able to catch the dog before any more damage could be done. The Poor lamb was lying on the floor almost dead from its injuries and the woman owner sauntered over as though she had done nothing wrong. I told her to ring the Police straight away as the poor thing was still suffering but instead she kept protesting her innocence in this episode by trying to tell me that her Dog has never done this before and it was OK to let dogs off the lead here (she obviously had not read all the signs that say quite clearly all dogs must be kept under control!) I told her again to just ring the police and stop talking while this poor animal was still suffering. Eventually the police turned up but the lamb had already died by now. The woman was reprimanded and let on her way to be told if it happened again she could be prosecuted and the dog could be destroyed. Surely she should have at least taken a fine to at least cover the cost of police time and maybe just maybe it might teach her a valuable lesson.

Any chance of Yellow wagtails now had totally gone and all we managed was very distant record shots. We walked along the fence line where my friend Dave had seen Swallows and Sand martins perching on a wire fence. Rob and I were amazed by the sheer numbers of these birds flying around (estimated later at over 400) we had Sand Martin, House Martin and Swallows all perch on the wire fence for us, sometimes there were that many (up to about 60 perched at times) it was hard to isolate one for a shot. After spending a good many hours we did both manage our first decent shots of these species, although as always A BIT CLOSER WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE!

Sand Martin

Once we arrived we quickly located the area and began to search for the little bird, after a couple of hours and about a dozen people looking we made the assumption (which proved to be correct) that the bird had gone. We moved to the next location for Black redstart and Ring Ouzel to be told on arrival by a couple of local birders that those birds had also moved on and were no longer present. Could it get much worse?

We made a decision to travel even more distance for Dartford warblers, these birds were showing well the previous day however, once again our luck was out as the wind picked up, scuppering any chance we had of seeing this elusive little bird. By now it was about 2pm and I had only took two shots of a meadow pipit. Totally deflated we headed back to our home County Devon. We decided to try and salvage something from the day and call in to a nature reserve where a Ring Ouzel has been for almost a week, certainly not expecting to see it the way our luck was going. Not knowing this area at all and having done no research prior to turning up was another mistake, locating the rear access of the site (which was where the bird had been seen) proved difficult to say the least, I drove up and down the same road three times. By this time fatigue was setting in and we thought its just time to go home as it would still take more than an hour to get home. We decided to try one more small lane we had not tried and thankfully we found the site. As we entered the car park I could see the bird in the distance.

Cameras and tripods at the ready we slowly made our way onto the reserve. Another photographer was already there so we let her finish before attempting to move any closer (still 100m away). Once she had finished we had a very brief chat and in we went kneeling down with tripods in front of us we edged slowly closer getting snagged in brambles and thorns in my hand we eventually were close enough for some shots, still a long way off but these birds are edgy so we dare not risk spooking it. A total of 320 miles later and we both were home, at least feeling a little better to have got some shots of a bird which was new for both of us.

Ring Ouzel

Grey wagtail

Also a walk with my dogs along the river Teign enabled me the chance to locate a Dippers nest being built so I may go back there in the morning and try for some shots of the birds with nesting material.

This is one of the singing Wrens from my walk along the cliffs.

During plenty of visits over the next few weeks we managed a few flight shots but the light was never right or the bird never came quite close enough. Late one afternoon I was in the hide when Rob arrived,  rather than disturb me he sat in his car and watched from further up the road, ten minutes later I received a text message from him to say the Owl was perched on a  post in the next rough field, we now realised that this was another of its favourite hunting areas and between us spent many hours observing the habits of this bird, getting a few more flight shots along the way.

During the last week I have not had too much time so Rob carried out the observations alone and it became apparent he was using one of the posts on a reasonably regular basis so it was only a matter of time before the first perched shot was achieved. Still working I was secretly gutted to be missing out on these opportunities and whilst at work this Saturday Rob managed to get some fabulous shots.

Sunday morning arrived, the weather was good and we both decided to try again. On my arrival at 6.50am I decided to head straight to the favoured perch, the Owl suddenly appeared and landed on the perch and I quickly rattled of some shots in the 14 secs that he was there. Rob arrived as the bird flew of the perch to hunt and quickly placed himself in full view of a different perch, the bird was very obliging and landed for both of us at different ends of the field so we both came away with the shots we had worked so hard to get.Barn Owl

Barn Owl

We arrived at about 8.20am after being held up in work traffic for a while and set up our cameras, we chatted to  a local man who said he had seen the Barn Owl earlier that morning. After about and hour we were beginning to think the bird had gone to roost and would probably not show again until perhaps later in the afternoon and were going to move on somewhere else when it flew over the hedge behind us and started to hunt over the grassland in front of us. This bird spent over three hours hunting in front of us and perching on various different perches but unfortunately for us never quite close enough, we did however get a few flight shots at distance but as the light was so good that helped us a bit. Still a great day seeing this fabulous bird hunting for so long!

Bittern

This time on arrival we headed straight for the Zeiss hide where most of the Bittern sightings were from. A quick glance through the windows and both Rob and I spotted the Bittern about 40-50m away but as the light was very good we still managed quite respectable shots. After a short while the bird started to slowly make its way to our right and then slowly came closer to us, occasionally it would stop and catch something from the water although far too small for us to see what it was.

The Bittern spent four hours in full view although most of the times there were reeds crossing his face, beak or body so photography still wasnt easy. When the Bird finally settled down deep in amongst the reeds we decided to go, however we were on our way out of the hide when we spotted a 2nd Bittern even closer to us (probably been there all morning but their camouflage is so good we had not seen it before). This bird was considerably closer although only stayed in view for about ten minutes before finally being lost in amongst the dense reeds.

After quite a few visits to Slimbridge and many many hours in the hide we finally had a day to remember....first finding the Bittern on our arrival and then numerous photo opportunities and finally to see a 2nd bird on the site. Certainly a day to remember!!

On arrival we headed to the place where Rob had previously seen Water Rail, the small pond and stream feeding it was frozen over so we thought this would increase our chances of getting one out in the open. Our thoughts were right and within about 30 minutes one was approaching through the trees and then continued to walk out on the ice where we managed some shots. This bird was very nervous and although was quite at ease with the camera shutters firing any movement and it would quickly scurry back into the reeds. I t would usually re-appear within 15-20mins so plenty more shots were taken.

After we were happy with the shots we had we made our way to the Kingfisher hide. On our arrival I saw a Fox slowly walking in the snow, out of the range of our lenses, we spent about 10 minute here as nothing seemed to be showing. As we were leaving a guy came in and said the Bittern had been showing well at the Zeiss hide (why didn't we go there earlier as we usually did). We ran, well walked fast and puffed a lot to the Zeiss hide and after talking to a few people we quickly located the bird which was barely visible about 40m away. We spent a few hours here in freezing conditions with the bird barely moving. After a while the guy that had told us about the Bittern when we were in the Kingfisher hide turned up, he told us that a few seconds after we left a Buzzard perched on a branch right in front of the hide and taunted us with the photos he had taken. He then showed us the Bittern shots he had taken earlier, the Bittern was in the open right in front of the hide!! and we had missed out again.

The Bittern did eventually move a little more in the open although still at distance, we did get some shots but we both know there are better to come!

Water Rail

We left Dawlish and headed for Topsham where two or three Bramblings have also been showing well for some time now. Once again the light was rubbish, a thing I am beginning to expect and the birds did show but again in trees where they were difficult to get a shot of them in the open. We persevered and did manage a few shots with not too much in the way of distractions before we left so not a total disaster.Brambling

We made the 7 hour trip the night before and booked into a Premier Inn so we would all be fresh for the following mornings photography. We all got up early the next morning, texting each other to make sure no one had overslept. We set of for the meeting place with Alan who quickly introduced himself and led us the short drive and walk to his hide. Once in the hide Alan baited the perches (which are superb), with peanuts for Jays and hazelnuts for the Red squirrels and of course an offering for Max in the form of a mouse. Alan assured us that Max would turn up very soon even though it would still be to dark to take any photos, sure enough within about ten minutes Max was perched on a moss covered log about 10m away from us....a truly wonderful sight to witness. He stood there ripping the fur from the mouse before flying off with his prize.

The day was dark and dismal and the light really was not good especially for photography. It wasn't very long before the small woodland birds made an appearance and sometimes in large numbers, especially Chaffinches. We were getting brief appearances from Jays but with both of us taking shots the birds were spooked by the shutter noises. The two Nikon cameras I had both had quiet shutter release mode but the Canon didn't so it was a little pointless one of us using this feature (I never compare Canon to Nikon as I believe they are equally as good in the hands of the right user but I think in this instance it was a feature that may have helped our cause). The Jays would come and go but were very tricky due to lack of light, the fact that they always seemed to be partially hidden from view and the fact that Steve beat me to the shutter nearly every time which would spook them before I had even focused. Combined with the fact that  I kept previewing my images was were making it twice as hard as it should have been.

Red squirrels at this hide were also showing for the whole of the day, picking up hazel nuts and then running back up the hill to store them away in various places for the coming months. For anyone that has not been fortunate enough to see these in the wild they are nothing like the Greys we normally see in England. They are comical little animals constantly on the search for food and are very endearing making great subjects to photograph. Steve had them coming to the hide window to take food where they would be less than three feet from him, which in turn enabled him to take close up images with his mobile phone.

MAX arrives..... Hopes of seeing Max again were beginning to fade when just before 2.30pm I spotted him in a tree about 50metres away, we were all silent and perfectly still when he suddenly swooped in low and up on to the same perch we had seen him on earlier in the day, this time he had a coal tit to feed on (which had been found dead some weeks ago and kept in a freezer), he stayed with us for a few minutes plucking the bird and tearing at it before flying off with it. We had two further brief visits from Max during the day but the light was doing us no favours so not easy to get the shots we were after. We also had two very brief apearances from another Sparrow hawk but this bird did not stay on the perches long enough for any of us to capture a shot.

 Alan is very knowledgeable of his site and seems to knows this fabulous birds every habit even predicting fairly accurately the times we would be most likely to see him, he's a great guy and I would thoroughly recommend a visit to this site "you will not regret it!"

Follow this link

www.naturephotographyhides.co.uk

I reversed my van in front of the gateway to the field and could straight away see a Buzzard searching for worms to supplement its diet, the bird was only about 20m in front of me, I had to get out of the van and into the back to shoot and knew this would spook the bird but I had no alternative, I crept around the van on the blind side of the bird and quickly got in the back, the Buzzard had spotted me instantly and took off and landed another 40m further away. Quietly I hung camo netting over the doors and set up my camera on a tripod and waited. After about an hour the bird had started to make its way close to me but the light was fading fast, these birds are very wary but I am sure with a bit more planning I will be able to get closer. This shot was taken at a distance of 66 metresCommon Buzzard

Once again it was a no-show from the Bittern only this time there were very few photographic opportunities for any other wild birds as well.

We decided to try for some more flight shots of some of the Pintails and tufted ducks. This time the weather was against us again as the light faded very quickly as the rain clouds built up over our heads........Roll on two weeks time when I am off to Scotland for a days photography in Alan McFadyens Sparrowhawk hide.

Pintail

Today we decided to bite the bullet and drive to Bristol despite the appalling light conditions. Tesco's car park was our destination as they had been seen the previous afternoon. Travelling along the M5 Rob checked BG and found that 14 birds had just been reported in Weston super-mare, we were 20 minutes away so a quick adjustment of the sat nav and we were on our way. We pulled up outside the location and immediately spotted the birds on a TV ariel, so we started to take out our cameras when they flew over our heads not to be seen again, exactly the same as last week only a different location.

Feeling rather despondent we carried on to our original destination, Tesco's in Bristol. We arrived about 30 minutes later and after a drive around the car park we noticed cameras on tripods, which to be honest looked a bit strange beside the trolley park but it didnt stop me from putting mine up as well. The light was appalling and it was freezing cold with a biting wind but we waited patiently until we had about a dozen in front of us but the light was so bad shots were virtually impossible. We stood in the same place for hours as the birds would land for a few seconds at a time, 30 seconds max before flying to settle high in a tree a few hundred yards away. The numbers increased throughout the day with visits back to the trees coming very 15-30 minutes. By the time we left there were 47 birds, unfortunately the light never improved much and when it did the birds were never in front of us, we did however manage a few shots although I am sure if we get another chance in better conditions the shots will be far better.

An added bonus was a single fieldfare which decided it wanted some of the berries before they all disappeared. 

Quite a satisfying day as this was my first close views of these fabulous looking birds, I am pretty suresome of the local shoppers were a little confused seeing men in camouflage jackets and trousers lurking between the cars carrying cameras and tripods .......I'm sure better shots will come another time, but these were a good starting point.Waxwing

When we finally arrived at Brixham we decided to photograph Cirl buntings, which Rob and I had seen here last winter. It started Ok for all of us as we quickly found the birds and managed some shots, although most of them were with the birds on the ground rather than nice perched shots. Unfortunately for Steve, sleeping beauty from my post on  "a weekend of mixed fortunes" found his legs were getting tired and he decided to kneel down, although It was a fairly cold morning I thought kneeling in a pile of Dog sh**t was an extreme way of warming your legs! Still it gave us a laugh.

We spent quite a few hours at Berry head and saw a few nice birds including Fieldfare, Redwing, Jay and Peregrine. We kept checking for Waxwing reports but it just wasn't to be our day. We ran out of time before we could visit Dawlish Warren for the Grebe, although to be honest I dont think it came very close today as I have seen no decent photographs of it appear since ChrisWilsons shot on the various local websites today.

Grey Seal

I decided to drive over Friday night and spent  Saturday at the RSPB reserve Titchwell North Norfolk with my brother. The weather was pretty dire and photography was really out of the question. We did however see some plenty of bird species and I am sure I will make another visit someday.

Sunday morning arrived and together with my brother and his partner Wendy we drove to Horsey dunes, there was a hard frost and the surrounding fields were white although the sun was already shining and it was soon to disappear. We arrived at the car park and there was only one other car there so we had the beach to ourselves (and the seals). The board in the car park announced that 78 pups had now been born so we knew that we would get plenty of opportunities to get some shots.

Once we had walked over the dunes I could see the Grey seals all the way along the beach as far as the eye could see. Even though I have seen many seals before in the water I was totally amazed at their HUGE size. Each Pup was being protected by a Cow while the Bulls were either fighting or sleeping on the beach (typical males). Many pups had only just been born and to the untrained eye appeared to be dead, lying motionless and still bloodstained from their birth.

We spent quite a few hours photographing these giants and the biggest problem I had was I had forgotten my 300mm lens and was forced to use the 500mm which was a problem because I would be too close, I tried walking back but due to the sheer numbers this was not always possible as it was all to easy to walk back too close to a protective female or worse a huge Bull. These guys could move quicker than you think if you were too close and were surprisingly quiet when they shifted their huge bulk over the soft sand.

N.B We did obtain permission from Natural England warden to go on the beach

I travelled back home to Devon that night very tired but also very happy!!

Mallards

On arrival we had a quick look around the car parking areas for Waxwings on some of the Hawthorn bushes, this proved fruitless although we did (with the help of a couple of birders) get some nice views of Four Common cranes which was certainly a new bird for me, it was just a shame they were too far away to photograph.

We finally made our way to the Zeiss hide. After about three hours of standing still waiting in a freezing cold hide we decided it was time to move. 

One bacon sandwich and a hot coffee later we headed of to some of the other hides, we were shown a Brambling which was also a new species for me, I did take a few shots but with harsh light and the fact it was perched on a bird table, it wasn't really what I was after although I was still pleased to see it.

The last few hours were spent taking some shots of the Pintail and Mallards in flight, maybe not the most unusual or rare species but still very enjoyable. 

At 6.30 a.m Steve and Rob were at my house ready to go. We made the trip to our neighbouring county and arrived in good time to be faced with rain!! We walked to the site and quickly located the bird which was just resting completely in the open (if only the light had been good). After about an hour the rain had eased and the light was getting slightly better so we decided to try our luck. We found the bird but this time it was in amongst the grasses as usual, making photography difficult (see video clip). After a few shots were fired by the ever growing amount of photographers and birdwatchers the bird flew off. 3 or 4 hours later we were beginning to think that maybe the bird had left the area when someone had almost stepped on it amongst the long grass. This time once the bird had been located it stayed around for a long time allowing over twenty people to take thousands of photographs. The bird was very tolerant and would at times walk quite close to some of the photographers allowing good views and shots before finally flying off to land about 40 metres down the path, by this time most people decided to leave the bird in peace all, I am sure left feeling very pleased.

At the time of writing this I have seen no further reports so maybe the bird has finally moved on!Hoopoe

Today we decided to go for another special bird, a hoopoe has been showing well at Sand point, Somerset so that was to be our target species. We arrived at about 8.30 am and there was already a small crowd of birdwatchers and photographers present. We set up and waited close to the group that had already formed when I saw the bird fly over our heads and away from us, a few minutes later the bird returned and this time landed. All the people present eventually got shots and views of the bird. The bird was totally at ease with all the attention and carried on searching in the grasses for food. We carried on taking photos which was quite challenging due to the fact that the bird decided to stay amongst the long grass to search for its food. After a few more hours the group had got larger and the bird kept taking to the air and moving farther away, it was at this point we decided to leave the bird in peace.

We then went on to Aust Wharf with the hope of seeing SE Owls again, this time our luck was out but it gave us a chance to catch up and have a chin wag with some of our Flickr contacts. 

Alll in all another very good day!

Short-eared Owl in flight

After trying to ring sleeping beauty on countless occasions with no response we decided to change our plans and make a shorter trip to Aust Wharf, Bristol, where three Short-eared owls had been reported. As we were nearing our new destination sleeping beauty rang us to say he had overslept, we both felt quite sorry for him (as we both knew he would be gutted for letting us down) but we were not going to let him know that. He agreed to follow on down once he had got a few more zzz's in.

Later that morning once we were all there cameras on tripods, at the ready along with many other photographers the owls started to hunt and flew past us on a few occasions giving us plenty of photo opportunities of flight shots. One of the Owls landed on a perch 50 metres from us and we all managed photos (a bit closer would have been good but still got some nice shots).

By the end of the day we were all totally exhausted but all very happy with the outcome and more than glad that sleeping beauty had taken a bite of the apple that made us miss Richmond Park!