Fun at the Feeders.

As a wildlife photographer I constantly strive to get images of birds in their "natural" habitat. However, sometimes its fun to get them at feeding stations. Garden feeders produce a regular source of birds. I saw a few during the period of snow, the meadow pipit was just one example.

Recently its been back to the "run of the mill" birds. My female Blackcap keeps visiting though.




and occasionally I get a pair of Goldfinch, like today for instance.

Starlings have been visiting occasionally, I love the colours of the Starling, unfortunately the light today was not brilliant so it does not show the beauty off so well.

Earlier in the week I went into the forest. There are a couple of places where the birds feed on feeders. One such place is New fancy view another is Cannop ponds. The feeder station at Cannop has unfortunately been ruined by the Forestry commission, who in their wisdom took down the tables that had been placed there by members of the public and have replaced them with a huge monstrosity of a table. In doing so they have also cut down the small trees and bushes that surrounded the old tables thus creating a vast open area which is not condusive to photographers needs and requirements. It has also caused the Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Jays to think twice about coming to feed.

Dont get me wrong, birds still come to feed. In the recent weather they have needed to. However the place does not hold the appeal that it used to. That's not just my opinion either. I spoke to a number of people who agree with me. I just wish the Forestry would consult with people before they make the sweeping changes that they seem to love doing. Talking of meeting and speaking to people I bumped into my friend Bob Bushell, he's been having some problems with his camera and has bought himself a new Canon 7D. I'm looking forward to seeing some shots from him when he starts to use it. I've loaned him my 300mm lens too as he's thinking of getting one. There should be no excuses now Bob. Visit Bob's website from my links and see for yourselves.

Here are a selection of the birds that I managed to photograph over 2 days at both places.

First off the Coal tit.

A sweet little bird that hardly ever seems to stop. One has to be very quick to snap them.

The Blue tits visit the both sites in large numbers, they are coming into summer plumage and starting to look lovely.

Likewise the Great tit.

A less frequent visitor is the Reed Bunting. This is a male coming into summer plumage with his jet black head almost complete.

and this is the female looking her best.

The stars of the show were some Long tailed tits who came to visit. I love these birds so much.

So beautiful with their incredibly long tails.

I have some more images to sort through so there may be more to follow.

As always click for bigger versions.

From Scotland to England

On wenesday evening we moved south from Scotland, we were heading for Leighton Moss RSPB reserve in Lancashire. Wednesday night was spent in the nearby town of Carnforth. We stayed at a Hotel which had Carnforth in its title, it may have simply been the Carnforth hotel, I cant recall. It cost us twenty pounds for a room each, I had a twin and Chris a single. I am not exaggerating when I tell you the place was a tip, the rooms were clean but at the same time grotty, the bedding was very basic and the room was freezing despite having the radiator on full blast. There was a shared toilet/ bathroom which stank of cigarettes a half full ashtray was on the floor next to the toilet. Would I stay there again? No.

However all that said, we had a cracking evening in the bar, music videos, chat, and good alcohol made for a great evening, The elderly landlady was very entertaining.

The next morning after a breakfast in a nearby cafe, which I would reccommend, we headed out to Leighton Moss. We called first at the Eric Morecambe and Allen hides. Unfortunately due to the cold conditions the scrapes were frozen over so other than a few Lapwings and Redshank there was nothing to see.

Bittern were or target species. I have no pictures of Bittern so any shots would have been appreciated. The Lower and Public hides were reputed to be the place for Bittern so it was to these we headed next.

On route to the first of them I spotted what I thought was an Otter in the distance, a quick hop to the first hide proved me to be right. We saw 3 Otters, probably a mother and two cubs. Unfortunately they were too far away to photograph.

The lakes were frozen over too so the chance of seeing the Bittern were good. First however I was amused by this Coot who seemed bemused by the ice.

He did brave it, but looked very unsure of the whole thing.

Our first sighting of a Bittern was some way in the distance. This is a heavy crop so It gives you an idea of how far away it was. Still it was my first shot.

This was the only sighting we had so we decided to head back nearer to the centre and we called into the Lillian Hide. This Bittern had been moving around, again at distance infront of the hide, but it flew across the ice and came a little nearer. Again this a crop, but not such a heavy one.

The closest we got was on the occasion that a Bittern was flying across the front of the hide. These two shots are cropped but they are the best I managed.

I am happy though, I got to see Bitterns and photograph them. I also saw Otter, something that I had only seen on two previous occasions. I also got to see a lifetime first first for me. Snow Geese. There were four of them mixed in with a flock of Greylag Geese. They are beautiful birds.

Our trip to Scotland had been largely successful, we had seen and photographed a number of species, a number of which I hadn't photographed before. Some very challenging conditions and some different techniques used. All in all a very enjoyable experience.

Scotland day 3

Our third whole day in Scotland saw us over in the Aviemore area, We spent our third night at the Cairngorm Guest house in Aviemore, A very nice guest house, clean and tidy, with free internet access. We shared a twin room which whilst not overly spacious was well laid out and had a nice shower room en-suite. The breakfast was very nice and I would recommend the establishment.

However I just want to bring you a few last shots from the Braemar area, These two shots of the Mountain hare were definately the best.

We often saw groups of Roe Deer, but unfortunately only from a distance, this is the best shot I got. More of a record shot really.

My Favourite were the Red deer, and here is a last shot of a fine stag.

Our target in and around Aviemore was the Crested tit. This member of the Tit family is found only in Scotland and is quite distinctive as it has, as it's name suggests, a crest of feathers on the top of its head.

Also whilst looking for the Cresties we wanted to get Red Squirrel. The weather was not kind to us, it snowed throughout the day and was at best overcast with the odd flash of sun. The only squirrel we saw were a couple at feeders in the Abernethy forest area.

An incredibly cute creature. The red squirrel surprisingly looks very grey as it ages, but it is different in size and of course has the tufted ears that the Grey does not have.

The Crested tit did show, I was pleased with these shots given the weather conditions. I hope you like them.

You can clearly see the crest.

Day four of our trip see's us move from Scotland to Lancashire and to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. Come back in a while to see the photos from there.

As always click for bigger pics.

Scotland day 2.

Second full day at Scotland, still in and around Braemar. Hoping for better shots of what we already had, and hopefully more.

Red Grouse, which we discovered were more obliging in the morning.



Note the red flash over the eye of the male Grouse. when alarmed it stands out quite a lot.



I had forgotten about these birds over the many years since I chased them around the Yorkshire moors. They are quite amusing little characters with their stumpy legs and little podgy bodies. Reminds me of something.......ah yes, me.

So next on the menu, more Hare. A different location, still within a short drive from Braemar. The first of these two hares must have been giving us a chance, no way we could miss this one really.



This second one was making it a little harder but still reasonably easy to see.



We found these red deer wandering down from the hills.

These following Stags were looking a bit worse for wear, they have obviously had a hard winter.

Still magnificent creatures though.

The second night we stayed at the Braemar Lodge Hotel, Not quite as good as the Fife Arms, in my humble opinion. Thirty five pounds for bed and breakfast and although very clean the bedroom, a single, was not as comfortable as the Fife and the shower head desperately needed replacing as it leaked something awful. The menu for the evening meal was varied but expensive. so we didn't eat there. Breakfast was nice the next morning though.

Forest Rally

Despite having a cold and not feeling my best it was out into the Forest of Dean this Saturday just passed for what used to be called the Wyedean Stages, the first BTRDA rally of the year. I have been following the rally for over ten yrs now and it never fails to deliver. This year there was lots of drama as the drivers pushed their cars to the limits on stages which for a nice change were not covered with snow.

I want to start this post with a little humour. The car below came around a corner on the first of the two serridge stages, unfortunately the driver lost it a bit and ended up "off roading".

Not very amusing I hear you say.

But take a look at one of his sponsors, could he have been trying to drum up clients?

There were a number of "offs" during the rally the worst of which halted the Speech house stage for quite some time. The driver of car 305 had to be transported off the rally by the rescue ambulance. I believe he was not injured too badly and hope he recovers quickly. the amazing capabilities of these vehicles in accidents should never be underestimated. These may look like road cars but the roll bars fitted internally are there for a very good reason. Form the side the vehicle doesn't look too bad.

But then take a look from the back, the point of impact.

The rear end is pushed in by a good two feet, It truly is amazing that both driver and co-driver got out of this relatively unscathed.

That aside there was a good days racing and below are a few of the many action shots I tried to capture in very often dull conditions.

Andy Burton is usually a high place finisher in his Peugeot Cosworth but this year he failed to finish due to engine problems.

Nik Eslmore, the local previous winner only managed third this year In his Mitsubishi.

Hugh Hunter finished 2nd in his Ford Focus.

This years winner was Steve Perez from Chesterfield in his Ford Focus.

I had a great day, made all the better by the company of my brother Alan and my son Lee.

Thanks to everyone involved in the rally, not only the racing folk but also the very many safety officials who all volunteer their services for free.

As always click the pics for bigger versions.