Steve Round Wildlife Photography

Garden Birds

2012-01-27T14:23:00.000Z

I have been concentrating on garden birds over the last week, I didn't really photograph any last year and there is always a demand for these type of images. With the sun getting a little higher each day I am now able to have some reasonable sessions in the garden.

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Nuthatch

Bullfinch

Robin

My Favourite Images (6)

2012-01-24T13:40:00.000Z

Part 6 in the series of some of my favourites.

Oystercatcher

Ptarmigan

Purple Sandpiper

Razorbill

Red Kite

Common Redshank

Hen Harrier v Short-eared Owl

2012-01-16T17:26:00.000Z

A trip out this morning in the lovely clear frosty weather let me witness a confrontation between a Hen Harrier and a Short-eared Owl. The owl had managed to catch a vole which the Harrier was trying to steal from it. It didn't succeed and eventually both went their seperate ways. The fighting shots are fairly well cropped so I just picked out some of the best from the sequence. I always considered the harrier to be much larger than the Owl, but these show that they are quite similar in size.

2012 Desk Top Calendars

2012-01-16T17:02:00.001Z

I Still have a number of 2012 desk top calendars available. The 12 cards as shown below are 210x148mm (A5). They come with a clear plastic display case and are £10 inc p&p (UK) Anyone who is interested can see more details and the ordering info by clicking the link to the right to go to my main website.

A Quick Session in the Garden

2012-01-13T15:26:00.000Z

Finally some sunshine! After a fruitless day in North Wales yesterday I decided to photograph some birds in the garden today. It will be another month before the sun is high enough to really give me chance for a good session, but it was great to have some decent light at last.

Bullfinch (male)

Bullfinch (female)

Bullfinch (male)

Long-tailed Tit

Siskins

2012-01-11T14:43:00.000Z

I am always discovering unused images tucked away on my hard drives that I didn't realise I had. I don't think I will ever catch up with the backlog. These Siskin images are a typical example, A file of over 400 of them taken back in 2008.

Winter Thrushes

2011-12-21T10:16:00.000Z

I awoke on Sunday to see a strange bright light in the sky, I vaguely remembered it as being the sun and had to put aside any festive chores to make the most of this rare occurrence. Wiping the dust off the camera, I headed to a holly tree that was laden with berries and was attracting a lot of Redwing. A few good hours were spent getting some nice seasonal shots. A Fieldfare feeding on fallen apples was a bonus on the way home.

Redwing

Fieldfare

Blackbird

Garden Buzzard Update

2011-12-06T13:21:00.000Z

The Buzzard in my garden is now becoming a little more relaxed and I have been able to move closer to the perches. I even managed to get some shots in sunshine which is rare around here lately.

Garden Buzzards

2011-11-25T15:51:00.001Z

With a pair of Buzzards having bred in the woodland next to my garden and regularly sitting in the trees nearby, it was a good opportunity to entice them down in front of my hide to try and photograph them. Surprisingly, it didn't take much effort and within less than a week I now have one regularly perching before the lens and a second bird which puts in an occasional appearance. I am having to photograph them at a distance to start with, as they are understandably wary. Hopefully they will get used to the shutter noise and I will move closer as the winter progresses. Here's a couple of the first shots.

Red Grouse

2011-11-23T16:45:00.001Z

I had a very productive trip to Yorkshire with some photographer friends last month. We had an early start to arrive as the sun was rising, this made the Grouse glow in the recently flowering heather. As the day went on I tried to get a wide range of images, from close-ups to in flight and "in habitat" shots. I have just added 79 of them to my main site, a few of which I have posted here..

Feeding Jays

2011-11-18T08:51:00.000Z

I have just updated my Jay images on my main website. I hadn't realised that I had such a backlog of them and have added 73 new shots. Here are a few including them taking acorns.

My Favourite Images (5)

2011-10-28T17:12:00.000+01:00

Part 5 in the series of some of my favourites.

Leach's Storm Petrel.
I have many shots of these birds but I particularly like this one with the low sunlight illuminating the underparts.

Little Egrets.
Flocks of these Egrets come in over the estuary to roost each evening. This was a lucky shot with a whole line of over 20 which took the perfect route between the dark clouds with the setting sun behind them.

Little Egret.
This is another shot that benefits from the low angle of the sunlight.

Mistle Thrush.
This bird was guarding the berries of a Mountain Ash tree. I was photographing it from the car and it would occasionally drop to the ground to pick up the fallen berries.

Nuthatch.
A simple shot but I like the gnarled wood on this one.

Osprey.
I have spent quite a lot of time in Scotland photographing Ospreys. The next two shots are a couple that I particularly like.

Osprey

Red Deer Stags

2011-10-18T15:41:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago a friend and I had a day out in Lancashire hoping to photograph waders. When we arrived it was obvious that due to the high tides, the water levels were very deep on the lagoons and the birds were feeding distantly on the flooded fields. A change of plan and a walk around the reserve didn't really produce a great deal, other than a family of Otters that briefly came within photographic range. We decided to have some lunch and then spend the rest of the day in a hide waiting for the rutting Red Deer to hopefully show. Although we could hear the stags bellowing throughout the afternoon, it was quite a long wait before a couple showed towards the end of the day, but worth the wait.

Starling Close Ups

2011-10-10T12:18:00.000+01:00

On my travels I recently saw a group of Starlings that hang around a car park, they wait for food scraps and I just happened to have a few slices of bread with me. As they were coming so near to the car I thought I would take some close-ups of the various plumages that they were showing. Being a common species I think they are quite overlooked and thought of as a drab black bird, these shots show how colourful they are with some lovely iridescent colours and the white spots of their winter plumage.

Dunlin

2011-10-09T12:43:00.000+01:00

Continuing with the local waders I have recently been photographing, here are a few Dunlin. I have added many more to my main website.

Dotterel

2011-10-05T17:45:00.000+01:00

I took a trip to North Wales yesterday to photograph a juvenile Dotterel which had been on the Great Orme for a week. As I was driving near I could see that it was quite windy, but when I arrived at the top of the mountain and got out of the car I could barely stand up in the gale conditions.
I had spent about half an hour looking for the bird when some movement caught my eye, it was the blowing feathers of the Dotterel which was keeping very low by some rocks. I settled down nearby and after a while it became obvious that I wasn't going to get many shots of it walking around, every time it stood up it was buffeted around in the wind and quickly settled down again. Under the circumstances I think I just about exhausted every angle and pose possible of this very approachable bird.

Reflected Ducks

2011-10-03T10:37:00.000+01:00

With some good weather I have been very busy out with the camera over the last week. From local waders to Otters, Red Deer and a 14 hour day photographing Red Grouse. I even visited the nearby Hilbre Island for a day having not been there for over 15 years, which is terrible really as it is on my doorstep.
This post is of a few incidental Ducks that I photographed that caught my eye with their nice reflections.

Gadwall

Teal

Shoveler

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

2011-09-26T11:36:00.000+01:00

Being one of the less approachable species of gulls, I was lucky to get some nice full frame images of them recently. They are smart looking birds when you see them close up.

Bar-tailed Godwits

2011-09-20T11:23:00.000+01:00

More waders from my recent coastal sessions. This time a species that is usually quite difficult to get close to. I think I must have been invisible as this pair of Bar-tailed Godwits didn't seem to be bothered by my presence.

Grey Phalarope

2011-09-16T13:52:00.000+01:00

After all the stormy weather, a calm sunny day was forecast for yesterday. I decided to travel up to Fairhaven Lake near Blackpool to photograph a Grey Phalarope which had been there for several days. It had been a few years since I had photographed one so I wanted to get some new images using more advanced cameras. When I arrived the bird was close to the edge of the lake but on the wrong side for the direction of sunlight, I settled down on the other side and waited in hope that it would come over, which it did after about an hour or two. Being seemingly fearless of humans, Phalaropes are very obliging for photographers and will come very close. This bird was no exception and was at times less than 6 inches away from the end of my 300mm lens. Their hyperactive feeding behaviour does make them a tricky subject though. Overall it was a very productive and enjoyable day.

North Wirral Coast, Sept 14th 2011.

2011-09-14T18:35:00.000+01:00

With the winds dying down now and never having been in the right direction to bring the hoped for birds close enough, it has been a little disappointing from a photographers point of view. There were a few Leach's Storm Petrels passing closer than they have been which provided some distant record shots. Interestingly a ringed Mediterranean Gull that I photographed here back in 2006 has returned to the same spot and was performing nicely for the camera yet again today.

Knot

Cormorant

Leach's Storm Petrel

Mediterranean Gull

Ringed Plovers

2011-09-13T10:18:00.000+01:00

With the strong winds at the moment I have been spending some time on the coast, hoping for the opportunity to photograph some of the seabirds that get blown in at this time of year. Up to now the winds have been too south-westerly with little coming into photographic range, so I have been photographing the waders and gulls that are building up along the shoreline. There are a lot of Ringed Plover at the moment with many juveniles. One of the adults I photographed has a ring on it's leg that's from Norway.

Curlew Sandpipers

2011-09-08T12:24:00.000+01:00

With a large number of these scarce UK birds in the country at the moment I wanted to try get some decent shots of them, my only other attempt at them was back in 2005 in Mallorca. There are plenty reported around the coast locally so I set out to try and find some. I came across four of them feeding on the last bit of sand as the tide was coming in and the results were better than I expected, even the sun shone for a time. Fortunately I had managed to get a good number of shots before the obligatory dog walker threw a ball into the sea and frightened them away, she then claimed she hadn't seen me lying on the concrete.... unbelievable! Still, it could have been worse, she could have turned up 45 minutes earlier.

Turnstones

2011-09-06T10:14:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon photographing Turnstones. This time of year they are in various stages of plumage, some are still in breeding colours which is where they get their proper name of Ruddy Turnstone. I didn't manage any in full breeding plumage but some that were in photographic range were quite colourful. This selection shows just how varied they can be.

My Favourite Images (4)

2011-08-21T12:57:00.000+01:00

Part four of the series of some of my favourite images.

Kingfisher
These next two images were taken in my woodland garden where there is a small river. I know that to have Kingfishers in your garden might seem perfect but it is not as ideal as it sounds. They are very occasional as they breed much further upstream, I have spent many days sitting in my hide without any results and I haven't seen or heard any this year at all. I am always listening out for them though and will be straight down to the hide when they return.

Kestrel
I was very fortunate with this lovely male bird. It allowed me to get very close for some nice shots.

Jay
The perfect lighting on this close up was enhanced by the reflection of the water in a bird bath which it was perched on the edge of.

Lapwing
A difficult subject to get good flying shots of due to their flight being very erratic. This is probably my best effort as it was large in the frame giving good detail.

Insect Close Ups

2011-08-17T15:52:00.000+01:00

A few more macro images from the last week.

Digger Wasp

Honey Bee

Greenbottle

Hoverfly

Daytime Visitor

2011-08-14T13:28:00.000+01:00

The Fox has been coming for food scraps again in the garden. As it is a paved area that it comes to and not very photogrenic I thought I would concentrate on some head shots.

Yellow-legged Gulls

2011-08-09T17:44:00.000+01:00

The evening light throughout the week on our Mallorca trip provided us with great opportunities for flight shots, the low sun really enhancing the colours. One of our target species was the Yellow-legged Gull, armed with bread we found a great location for them. I even sacrificed my cake when they had eaten all the bread, but it was worth it for some nice images.

Curlews

2011-08-04T13:06:00.000+01:00

I'm getting some nice suprises as I dig through my hard drives. Here are some of the Curlew shots taken over the last few years.

Puffins

2011-08-02T14:33:00.002+01:00

I'm working my way through a huge back-log of images and decided that I would set myself a target of having 10,000 images on my main website by the end of the year. This will take a bit of doing but I am finding plenty of unused images hidden away on my hard drives. These Puffins are a typical example, taken over two years ago.

Whinchats

2011-08-01T17:46:00.000+01:00

Earlier in the year I spent several days in North Wales photographing Whinchats. I had never had much luck with them in the past, so I made the most of the opportunity to get plenty of shots of a nesting pair that were feeding young.

My Favourite Images (3)

2011-07-25T18:23:00.000+01:00

The third in the series of some of my favourite images.

Hoopoe
This bird turned up in Scotland a few years ago. I decided to make the long journey to photograph it having heard that it was very tame. It certainly was, this being a full frame image taken with a 300mm lens.

Grey Heron
Another very approachable bird, this one was stalking prey at the edge of a lake and let me get well within 10m.

Southern Hawker
When I photograph a Dragonfly I usually start by taking some shots with my 300mm lens, then if they seem settled enough I'll move in closer using a 60mm macro which is how I got this shot.

Gannet
A bit of a theme developing in this post as I have just realised that they are all un-cropped. I like this one because of the dark background which is the shaded sea.

Fulmar
Similar to the previous image with an even darker background, this time it was shaded cliffs giving the contrast.

Close Ups with a Warning

2011-07-23T12:20:00.000+01:00

It's that time of year when my attention turns do doing some macro photography. As I have said before I only dabble but this year I think I'll put a bit more effort in. I spent a few hours in the garden yesterday hoping to get some wasp shots, I managed a few but the star of the show was a Flesh Fly, hence the WARNING of some very detailed close-up fly images at the end of this post.

Wasp

Hoverfly

Bumble Bee

Flesh Fly

Wagtails

2011-07-21T17:40:00.000+01:00

The first two images are a male Yellow Wagtail of the Spanish race. They are nothing like the common Yellow Wagtail species here in Britain which are pure yellow, as you can see from the third photo, the Spanish ones more resemble our Grey Wagtail which is the final image. Identification of the Yellows can be very confusing especially on spring migration here as we get lots of variations that are quite similar.

Spanish Yellow Wagtail

British Yellow Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Butterflies

2011-07-20T17:49:00.000+01:00

A few butterfly shots taken in my garden over the last couple of days.

Holly Blue

White-letter Hairstreak

Comma

Meadow Brown

Warblers

2011-07-19T16:19:00.000+01:00

Back in Mallorca we spent some time photographing Warblers which can always be time consuming. Some were a little easier than others, the best results being Sardinian, Balearic and the Zitting Cisticola which used to be known as the Fan-tailed Warbler.

Below are some of my favourites.

Something we noticed whilst photographing the Cisticola was how unusually black the inside of it's mouth was, see the last pic.

Sardinain Warbler

Balearic Warbler

Zitting Cisticola

Stone Curlews

2011-07-18T15:46:00.000+01:00

During our week in Mallorca we had seen and heard plenty of Stone Curlews, photographing them was another story though. From past experience I know that these birds are very unapproachable, even at 100m they will start to move away from you. Having seen them distantly from a hide each evening it was on our last night, in fact
only an hour and a half before we were due to check in for our flight home, we had some amazing good luck. They came closer and closer to the hide until we were able to take frame filling shots of them, the best end to the week that we could have hoped for.

Grey Squirrels

2011-07-16T15:53:00.000+01:00

It's a bit of a like-hate relationship with these in our garden, my wife likes them and I hate them. I have lost count of how many photographic projects have been disturbed or ruined by these pests, even though I go to great lengths to deter them. I will take the occasional photo of one, now and again.

Stoats

2011-07-11T19:34:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days photographing a family of Stoats. Having photographed these animals before I knew it wasn't going to be easy and they lived up to expectations. There were six young with their mother who spent the whole time catching food for them. A lot the the shots I took were of the young waiting for her to return. They literally don't keep still for more than a second, in most cases by the time you've pointed the camera at them they have gone. A lot of patience and many hours were needed for these shots, but a very enjoyable couple of days.

Jays

2011-07-10T16:42:00.000+01:00

I have a family of five young Jays and two adults coming to feed at the moment. There is a lot of interaction between them that I have been trying to photograph with varying results. I haven't achieved the shots I am after yet, so more work to do on this one over the next week or so.

An adult

This parent was responding to one of the young which had landed nearby and was calling to be fed.

Juvenile

They don't seem to know what to do with the peanuts yet, often sitting with it in the beak like this for several minutes before putting it down again. They are still quite dependant on the parents.

Some Arty Macro Shots

2011-07-08T19:38:00.002+01:00

A few close up arty shots shots taken recently.

Firstly a Five-spot Burnet Moth, I hadn't photographed one of these day flying moths before, a new species is always nice to find.

Secondly a ladybird. I wanted to include the patterns of the fern to give the images more interest, rather than it just sat on a leaf.

My Favourite Images (2)

2011-07-07T14:02:00.000+01:00

The second in the series of some of my favourite images.

Brahminy Kite
Photographed in Goa, India. One of two wild birds that were very tame due to being fed fish scraps since they were young. This is a full frame image taken with a 300mm lens.

Corncrake
A bit of time and patience was rewarded with close views of these birds on the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.

Cuckoo
This juvenile bird was here locally a few years ago. It was late summer and very overdue for its migratory trip south. It gave a week of photo opportunities which I made the most of. I believe these wing stretches were part of it's final preparation for it's long journey ahead, this was the last day it was seen here.

Dipper
I was set up in a hide on a private stretch of river for this shot. After several days without a Dipper coming close, one eventually performed for over an hour right in front of me.

Dotterel
Taken on the same trip as the Corncrake. A group of these birds were very approachable, as I crawled on my stomach to get within 20ft of them.

Dunlin
Taken locally at a high tide winter roost.

Red Heads

2011-07-06T13:25:00.000+01:00

Two more species that have sucessfully been re-introduced to the Mallorcan reserve at S'Albufera are the Red-knobbed or Crested Coot and the Red-crested Pochard.
Re-introduced in the early nineties they are now in abundance at the reserve. I remember that when I previously visited in 2005, the few Coots I saw all had large white identification collars around their necks, not very photogenic. It was good to see now that the majority don't have them.

Red-knobbed Coot

Red-crested pochard (male)

Red-crested pochard (female)

Tortoises

2011-07-01T14:19:00.000+01:00

We came across a number of these in Mallorca and spent a little time getting some shots. It's a Hermann's Tortoise, one of two species that live on the island, the Hermann's are found on the east side and inhabit the rough scrub areas known as the garigue. They were smaller than I thought they would be, the ones photographed here were about 10-12cm long.

In Flight

2011-06-30T11:20:00.000+01:00

Whilst I'm out working on certain subjects, I try never to miss the opportunity to grab some flight shots of any incidental species that might pass by. These images are some I have taken over the last couple of months.

Lapwing

Raven

Grey Heron

Shelduck

Magpie

Cormorant

Common Terns

2011-06-29T18:16:00.000+01:00

A few images of Common Terns from a recent session.

More Purple

2011-06-26T10:44:00.000+01:00

Carrying on with the purple theme from Mallorca, this is the Purple Heron. We only managed to get flight shots of these, which was a little disappointing. It would have been nice to get some of them wading through the shallows stalking prey. They are a little more shy than their grey cousins though and don't usually come too close to public hides.

Purple Swamphen

2011-06-24T14:40:00.000+01:00

The Purple Swamphen or Purple Gallinule was a reintroduced species in Mallorca back in the early nineties. It has obviously been very successful as there are now many to be seen at the S'Albufera marsh reserve, where the reintroduction took place. I believe that they have also naturally spread to the nearby island of Menorca.

An entertaining bird to photograph, they would sneak out from the reedbed into the open water, slowly gaining speed until eventually they were running, it was as if they thought they were being followed. Their large feet aren't really ideal for speed, so some amusing shots were to be had.

My Favourite Images

2011-06-23T14:51:00.001+01:00

I thought I would do a series of posts from time to time to showcase some of my favourite images taken over the years.

Alpine Swift
A rare bird in the UK, this one turned up locally in 2006. As with all fast flying small birds it was hard work, so I was very pleased with this shot.

Common Buzzard
I caught sight of this flying bird whilst driving. Quickly stopping the car I just managed to catch it banking round in the perfect low winter sunlight.

Bittern
I Have spent hundreds of hours trying to photograph the elusive Bittern without achieving any decent results. I struck lucky on this day with three flying around, giving some spectacular views and photo opportunities.

Arctic Tern
Anyone who has visited the Farne Islands in Northumberland will be familiar with sights similar to this image. I like this one because of the darker, cloudy background which makes the bird stand out.

Black-tailed Godwit
Its always nice to get a good reflected image. It can take some time though, especially of a stationary subject as birds don't tend to stand still for long.

Barn Owl
This was taken on the local marsh where the bird was catching small mammals for it's young. Due to the light direction I went for a silhouette type shot which worked well with the setting sun.

Brown Hares

2011-06-22T12:07:00.000+01:00

A few Brown Hare shots taken in March. Traditionally the month for them being "mad" but on this occasion not the case. I was hoping for a bit more action like chasing each other around or even some boxing, as I have witnessed in the past. This one just sat and washed himself.

Like a Tiny Bird

2011-06-20T13:29:00.000+01:00

I was doing some work in the garden on Saturday when this Hummingbird Hawk Moth appeared. Having seen them in the garden before I knew that it might not hang around, so I rushed in to grab the camera. Luckily it stayed long enough to be able to set up the camera properly and get some reasonable shots. They really are like tiny birds.

Corn Buntings

2011-06-16T19:06:00.000+01:00

A trip out earlier this week didn't really produce the species I was looking for, a consolation was getting some nice Corn Bunting shots.

Tawny Owl

2011-06-15T16:47:00.000+01:00

Every April I manage to find this male Tawny Owl roosting in our woodland. This year there was no sign of him and I feared that he may have died in the extreme weather in December, especially as in January and February I could hear the female calling at night but never heard a male respond. Over the past few weeks however I have been hearing young Owls calling throughout the night, so I decided to have a good luck around and was pleased to find him roosting in the ivy that covers one of the large oak trees.

I'm sure he's the same bird I have been photographing for some years now as he is very tolerant of my presence. I spent a bit time doing these shots, firstly because the lack of light meant I was shooting at very low shutter speeds - 40th of a second, so needed to make sure they were sharp. I also wanted to try and get some different poses, a drawn out process, as a sleeping bird doesn't really do much. He did occasionally have a look around though and I think must have heard or seen the odd small mammal, as you can see from some of the photographs.

Larks and Pipits

2011-06-13T15:26:00.000+01:00

Two of our target species in Mallorca were Thekla Lark and Tawny Pipit. We weren't disappointed, as once found they were quite approachable. The Larks in particular being quite obliging and perching on top of rocks.

Thekla Lark

Tawny Pipit

Cattle Egrets

2011-06-06T20:06:00.001+01:00

Possibly my favourite times on our Mallorcan trip were the sessions we did photographing these Cattle Egrets. There was a constant stream of them flying to their Heronry or should it be "Egretry" Many had sticks in their beaks for nest building, a few which were ridiculously long, sometimes nearly twice the length of the bird. We didn't get much warning of their approach, as they suddenly appeared in front of us over the bushes, sometimes too close to fit in the frame. Great fun though and the evening light worked really well on them, you can see the warmer colours on the ones taken just before the sun set.

Images From My New Hide

2011-06-01T09:04:00.000+01:00

Over the last few months I have been constructing a permanent hide in my woodland garden. The main purpose for this is so that I can now offer photographic tuition on a one to one basis. The hide will also be available for photographers to use.
At the moment I have a number of various feeding set-ups in front of the hide and hope to be putting in a pond later in the year. The birds that visit vary in numbers and species throughout the seasons, so I will post details here on my blog of the comings and goings throughout the year.

Anyone interested can email me for details, there will be an info page going up on my main website in the next couple of days.

Last week I spent about an hour and a half in there, the visitors included: Blue Tits, Great Tits, Nuthatch, Gt-spotted Woodpecker, Stock Dove, Bullfinches (2 prs), Robins, Jays, Magpies, Woodpigeons. Some of the images from the session are below.

Bullfinch

Jay

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Juvenile Great Tit

Nuthatch

Stock Dove

Common Snipe

2011-05-27T12:36:00.000+01:00

A couple more wader photographs from Mallorca. As I add the images of each species to my main website I will post a few here.

Common Snipe

Waders from Mallorca

2011-05-26T13:51:00.000+01:00

Greenshanks and Spotted Redshanks were frequently feeding in front of the hides at S'albufera in Mallorca. They weren't in abundance though with only several about. Annoyingly the two species didn't seem to get on and would chase each other from their favoured feeding spots. Typically this would happen just as they were coming into photographic range, so a bit of patience was needed for these shots. Especially the Spotted Redshanks that seldom put their heads at the desired angle, getting some light in the eye was a bit of a struggle. We did however strike lucky with a very close Greenshank, at a roadside location from the car, hence the headshot.

Greenshank

Spotted Redshank

Welsh Stonechats

2011-05-19T17:50:00.001+01:00

A sunny forecast, so a very early start this morning and I was deep in the Welsh countryside taking photographs by 05:30. I have a number of places that I annually visit in North Wales at this time of year for localised species. With the poor weather over the last couple of weeks I had a bit of catching up to do, I knew that spring was moving on and birds would be feeding their young, you suddenly realise that it is nearly summer and could have missed so much. Even with this in mind, I was slightly surprised to see a family of young Stonechats, they were feeding themselves and were very advanced. I was comparing this to my nestboxes back home where none of the Blue or Great Tits have fledged yet.
I didn't see an adult female Stonechat and had the feeling that she might already be on her second brood, as the male was singing for most of the time I was there.

Juveniles

Male

Female, taken earlier in the year

Common Whitethroat

2011-05-18T16:07:00.000+01:00

This has been one of the species that I needed more images of for some time. A concerted effort over the last month has gone quite well with plenty of them around. Here are a few of the results.

Plovers

2011-05-17T15:55:00.000+01:00

With the horrible weather we have at the moment, I have finally started to sort through my images from Mallorca. First up are some Plovers - Little-ringed and Kentish. It was nice to be able to photograph these small birds at close range and get some good feather detail. The low evening light has really lifted them from the background, particularly the Little-ringed Plover with it's yellow eye ring.

Little-ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

Spring Migrants

2011-05-16T10:12:00.000+01:00

A few shots of some spring arrivals I have encountered over the last couple of weeks.

Common Whitethroat

Meadow Pipit

Whinchat

Sedge Warbler

Wheatear

Daylight Fox

2011-05-13T17:52:00.001+01:00

I have Foxes that regularly visit the garden. I put out peanuts for them each evening and have had up to six at one time. Photographing them isn't easy as they usually appear at dusk when the natural light is poor. Occasionally they turn up at different times, but usually don't hang around long enough to get any shots. Yesterday one appeared at lunchtime and was quite obliging. I grabbed the camera and although I had the wrong lens on and the light wasn't too good, I managed a few shots through the kitchen window.

Red-rumped Swallow

2011-05-11T09:09:00.000+01:00

A Red-rumped Swallow at Leasowe, Wirral was showing well last night. Unfortunately It didn't really come close enough for anything other than record shots. A shame because the wind was in the right direction and the light was good. A few heavily cropped images being my best efforts.

Mandarin Ducks

2011-05-06T09:38:00.000+01:00

A couple of Photographs of a drake Mandarin duck. We have a good population of these on the Wirral. When I took these shots at a local lake there were at least 5 males and 3 females. The sun disappeared soon after I arrived, so a return visit is needed in the next few weeks.

Reed Warblers

2011-05-04T20:26:00.001+01:00

Over the last two or three years I have been trying to get some good Reed Warbler images, without much luck. This was mainly down to the strong winds we were experiencing at the best time to photograph them, this being April and May when the males are in full song. Trying to find and photograph these small birds through the reed stems is no easy task, coupled with the winds, it was near enough impossible. So at last this year we had some calmer weather and after several days of peering into the reedbed, I achieved some good results.
One thing that has become obvious whilst editing the images is that, once you have a Reed Warbler in a reedbed shot, all the others are very similar. So just four of the best in this post.

Grasshopper Warblers

2011-04-27T10:59:00.000+01:00

I had hoped to be working my way through my Mallorca images by now, but too many things to do as is usual at this time of year, especially if the sun shines. With some great weather last week and an influx of a good number of Grasshopper Warblers locally, it was a week of getting up at dawn to make the most of it. Another three hundred images of these birds to sort through now, as if I didn't have enough already. They are addictive to do though and I will no doubt be out doing more, the next time the opportunity arises. Here are some of the best I have edited so far.

Flight Shots

2011-04-24T10:18:00.000+01:00

A quick trip to my local RSPB reserve the other evening turned out to be quite productive. I went hoping to photograph Garganey, a pair had been reported but as I suspected they were far too distant to photograph. There was little about and I was intending to leave but thought I would give it half an hour. It was a good decision, a lot of birds flying around and the low light made for some nice shots.

Grey Heron

Common Buzzard

Shoveler

Shelduck

Mallard (male)

Mallard (female)

Butterflies

2011-04-23T11:58:00.000+01:00

I have been trying to get some decent shots of Orange Tip Butterflies over the last week. They have been hard work as they don't settle very often, when they do it is usually only for a few seconds and more often than not they aren't photographable. So after a lot of time and patience and I have three reasonable images.

Another species that has been in my garden is the Holly Blue, a little more obliging than the Orange Tip in that it settles more often, it hasn't been openening it's wings though.

A common species at this time of year is the Speckled Wood. In the next shot is the UK variant, the last two are a couple taken in Mallorca, you can see that they are much more orange than ours.

Speckled Wood (Mallorca)

Spanish Insects

2011-04-15T17:08:00.000+01:00

I have just spent eight days in Mallorca intensively photographing birds and anything else wild that appeared before the camera with my good friend Rich.
We had hoped for an assortment of migrant birds, which should have been in abundance. There were however, very few. The weather was very warm and clear so possibly the migrants were passing straight over the island. There was still plenty to photograph though and not one hours sunlight was wasted. With many thousands of bird images to sort through, I thought I would get the few insect shots I took out of the way first.

A couple of Dragonflies starting with a Red-veined Darter

A female Black-tailed Skimmer

A pair of mating Blue-tailed Damselflies

The impressively large Swallowtail Butterfly

It was shame this tiny Green Hairstreak Butterfly had damaged wings.

Displaying Goldeneye

2011-04-01T11:52:00.000+01:00

I have tried for many years to get photographs of Goldeneye displaying, without much luck. Last week that changed with a number of them close enough for some good shots.
Their technique is very physical, throwing their heads back and kicking up their legs at the same time. They also get into some very strange postures as you can see from the Images, from craning their necks to lying very low in the water. It was nice to eventually get some of these long overdue shots.

Late Waxwings

2011-03-27T21:41:00.000+01:00

I decided to shoot over to Wales for the last hour of sunlight this evening to try and get a few shots of three Waxwings that had been reported. I arrived to see them perched on an overhead wire above a couple of Cotoneaster bushes, amazingly for this time of year the bushes still held quite a lot of berries. They kept dropping down and feeding for a minute or two, before returning back to the wire.
The light wasn't brilliant and the pale coloured factory behind the bushes didn't help with the background, I managed a few half decent shots though. There was a female Blackcap and a Fieldfare in the bushes also, the latter was keeping well hidden though and wasn't photographable. A Pied Wagtail was an added bonus just as I was about to leave. Not a bad hours work for a spur of the moment session.

Waxwing

Blackcap (female)

Pied Wagtail

Common Toads

2011-03-25T19:14:00.001Z

Earlier this week I was in North Wales photographing birds. Nearby a small lake was obviously a breeding ground for a good number of Common Toads, there were many making their way over the grass towards the lake, which was already swimming with them. I always try to make the most of any photo opportunities because you never know when you will get the chance again. This was one of those occasions, so several hours later I had a bad back from lying on the ground and some quite nice shots.

Reed Buntings

2011-03-21T13:07:00.000Z

A few shots from a recent session with Reed Buntings. These males are looking really smart at this time of year in their breeding plumage. I noticed that they have unusual feet, almost like fingers, this must be for them to grip the reed stems more easily.

Up Close and Personal

2011-03-14T18:31:00.000Z

I thought I would do something a little different for this post. - A collection of close-up headshots of garden birds.
You can see how the face feathers differ between the species, the Nuthatch and particularly the Dunnock having quite course plumage, whereas the smaller Long-tailed Tit has very fine feathers.

Long-tailed Tit

Nuthatch

Robin

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Coal Tit

Dunnock

Great Tit

Bullfinches

2011-03-09T10:17:00.001Z

I am lucky to have at least three pairs of Bullfinches in my garden. They are always good to photograph, apart from their striking colours they are one of the few species that seem to pose for the camera, always pausing for a few seconds in a natural position, with their heads at a nice angle. I wish some of the other species would be as obliging.

Whooper Swans

2011-03-05T14:27:00.001Z

As I said in my previous post I spent a fair bit of time photographing the Whooper Swans at Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust this week. I wanted to try and get something a little different. A few of them were bathing which always makes for some good action shots, the problem is getting them side on with their head at a decent angle. I also experimented with close-up and arty shots. The ones of them drinking have some really crazy and amusing reflections.

Ducks

2011-03-02T13:44:00.000Z

A bit of sunshine at last!
So off for my first visit of the year to Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Lancashire to get some needed images under my belt. It was pretty quiet there with only a few ducks in front of the hide, I had hoped for Pochard but none to be seen, neither were there any Ruff which are usually present about now.
I decided then to concentrate on the Whooper Swans which I usually tend to take just a handful of shots of, I thought it was about time I paid them a bit more attention and my next post will show some of the results, but for now here are a few of the ducks which are looking their best at this time of year..

Pintail

Pintail

Teal

Wigeon Drake

Wigeon Female

Woodland Birds

2011-02-21T18:56:00.000Z

Well! In the last seven days here in the Lovely North West of England we have had about three hours of sunshine. I was ready for it though with my hide set up in the garden and made the most of every minute.

Here are some of the results with a few from other recent sessions thrown in. I'm actually starting to make inroads into my huge backlog of images, although I'd rather be out with the camera.

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Tree Sparrow

Bullfinch

Long-tailed Tit

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Variety of Species

2011-02-15T10:51:00.000Z

With the grim weather we have been experiencing over the last few months I have not been able to get stuck in to any of my planned projects. Apart from the odd reasonable day it has just been a case of going out every time the sun briefly appears, consequently I have ended up with a few shots of a variety of different species. This post is a collection of some of them.

Brambling

Collared Dove

Coot

Fieldfare

Greenfinch

House Sparrow

Redwing

Treecreeper

2011-01-31T12:12:00.000Z

I came across this Treecreeper which was busy feeding just before the sun went down. The light wasn't brilliant and deteriorating rapidly, so uncharacteristically I took as many shots as possible in the hope that some of them would be sharp, with plenty deleted I was pleased to be able to keep 10 or more.

Arty Swans

2011-01-27T12:59:00.000Z

Carrying on from my last post I was making the most of every bit of sunlight. With the rapidly setting sun I wanted to find something to photograph as the warm light would make any subject look good, I was hoping for some waders but the tide was too far out.
Having driven past some Mute Swans on a small lake I decided to go back and try for some close up arty shots. Two males were displaying with their wings arched which made for some nice images, exactly the sort of thing I was after. I didn't have long, the light was changing by the minute, so a bit of a rushed session which could have been easily overlooked.

Some Sunshine at Last

2011-01-24T10:54:00.000Z

For the first time this year we had some decent sunshine last week, so straight out and to make the most of it I stayed fairly local. Having spent weeks editing images on the computer it was great to get out and use the camera.
I found some Shoveler ducks and with half the lake frozen over they were confined to a reduced area which made photographing this timid species a lot easier than normal. I settled down and spent several hours with them. Over this time they became quite confiding, coming reasonably close. The bushes in the background gave the water a lovely brown colour which has given the shots an atmospheric arty feel.

Snowy Blackbirds

2011-01-06T16:14:00.000Z

I have ended up with several hundred images of Blackbirds in the snow. This wasn't my plan, I had hoped for Fieldfare and Redwing shots but thanks to a couple of aggressive female Blackbirds they didn't get a look in, they and other Blackbirds were chased away every time they attempted to land. Even after spreading the apples over a larger area there was one bird that spent more time and effort guarding them than it did feeding, at times it was the only bird on the ground, with at least 15 other Blackbirds wanting to feed.
I think it must have been to the Mistle Thrush school of fruit guarding!

Christmas Robins

2010-12-23T12:17:00.000Z

Happy Christmas everyone.

In Search of Berry Trees

2010-12-18T18:10:00.000Z

Probably the most photographed species of bird in the UK this Winter will be the Waxwing. Every year we have some over-wintering with us, usually in their hundreds, but this year has been exceptional with literally thousands arriving from Scandinavia and much earlier than usual. Their main food is berries, the favourite being the fruit of the Rowan or Mountain Ash. Due to their early arrival there was still an abundance of berries and so they seemed to pick the ripest from each tree and then move on to a fresh source, eventually returning to the trees they had first visited some days later, presumably as the berries had ripened.

I had waited patiently for some to arrive locally and eventually a flew flocks were reported nearby. The problem was that every time I went to photograph them they had moved on and I just seemed to be chasing around without any results. After a few wasted trips I decided to head over to North Wales where several hundred Waxwings had been at a couple of sites regularly for a week or two. It still took two days to get some decent shots and not exactly what I was after although it was also nice to get some of them feeding on Hawthorn berries.

They are great fun to photograph and being so approachable makes all the difference, I'm sure that I'll be tempted to photograph some more before they head back to Scandinavia in early Spring.

Wintry Blue Tits

2010-12-13T10:11:00.000Z

More images from my recent sessions in the freezing weather. I have spent years attempting to get shots of birds in a snow covered pine tree with little success, mainly due to the fact that we don't often get any decent snow in this part of the country. It was great to get a number of species perching in this very festive setting, the Blue Tits and Robins being very obliging, I'll certainly be alright for Christmas cards for the next few years.

Wintry Nuthatches

2010-12-08T18:44:00.002Z

Nuthatches are amongst one of my favourite birds to photograph and as I mentioned in a previous post they are always great fun to do. With all the snow and frost we are having at the moment I wanted to try and get some shots of them in typical wintry settings, on snow covered logs and branches.

Photographing woodland species at this time of year is not easy, the sun being very low and moving direction as it shines through the trees, giving areas of changing light and shade. So a bit of thought has to go into setting up feeding stations for best results. In the Winter I usually only have two or three hours of good light a day in my garden so was pleased with this weeks efforts. I will be posting other species from the sessions very soon.

Little Owls

2010-11-24T10:07:00.002Z

Last week I made a long overdue trip to photograph Little Owls in Yorkshire. It had been nearly six years since I was last there and I didn't even know if they would still be in the same place, as I arrived I scanned the area and sure enough there was one sitting in almost the exact spot I hade photographed them last time I was there. Unfortunately my day was cut short by thick fog just after lunch so another trip up there is on the cards, hopefully sooner than six years.

Fighting Redshanks

2010-11-17T10:33:00.000Z

It's the time of year when I start tidying up my hard drives of the years images, putting the monthly shots into species lists and ruthlessly getting rid of anything that won't be usable. It's while doing this that I often discover photographs that I had forgotten I had taken or ones that have never been looked at. Over the next few months I will post some of these images as I work my way through them.

These Redshanks were photographed back in February, I was lying on the beach photographing a Bar-tailed Godwit when a single Redshank landed in front of me and started to feed, soon another arrived and they started calling, next there was an aggressive confrontation as they locked bills and tried to kick one another, all over in a few seconds they went on their separate ways as if nothing had happened.

Waxwings

2010-11-11T18:09:00.001Z

With large numbers of Waxwings in the country at the moment I was in no rush to chase after them, preferring to wait until some turned up locally. A flock of 40 in Kelsall, Cheshire wasn't too far away so I made the trip, they had been there a few days and had already stripped several of the Rowan or (Mountain Ash) trees of berries, these are their preferred diet so I think they were getting ready to move on to find more fruit laden trees elsewhere.
Ideally for photography the birds need to be low down and feeding but this wasn't going to happen here, I took a few shots and decided that I would try and catch up with some more over the next few months.

Rooks

2010-11-02T16:56:00.000Z

Over the last few weeks when the sun has decided to show I have been trying to photograph Rooks in flight. Thanks to my friend Rich for location details of this large flock which has been very obliging and photogenic in the late afternoon sunlight.
They are good fun to do with their random flight patterns and irregular shapes that they form, I'll be doing some more sessions with them when the sun shines.

Dragonflies

2010-10-21T13:52:00.000+01:00

I'm sorting through images from earlier in the year and found some Dragonflies taken in the Summer. I usually spend quite a bit of time each year photographing Dragonflies and Damselflies but didn't seem to manage it this year, I think probably down to the poor weather in late Summer.

Southern Hawker

Black-tailed Skimmer

Broad-bodied Chaser

Common Darter

Wirral Coast

2010-10-14T18:34:00.000+01:00

I spent a couple of hours on the North Wirral Coast yesterday afternoon, it was suprisingly quiet with birds, the only ones worth photographing were a female Red-breasted Merganser and a Razorbill. They were both sitting on a very choppy sea, considering that there was no wind it was quite strange.

Black-tailed Godwits

2010-10-05T11:43:00.001+01:00

No two sessions photographing the local Black-tailed Godwits are ever the same, whether they are busy feeding or fighting and bickering with each other, their plumages also vary greatly from drab grey-brown to orange, depending on the time of year, so each visit will produce something different.

I spent an afternoon in August photographing them and here are some of the results.

Young Swallows

2010-09-30T21:44:00.000+01:00

Back in July I spent quite a bit of time photographing Swallows. My main aim was to try and get shots of the young being fed, they sit on the fences and wait for the adults to come with insects, the tricky bit is that the adults don't actually land, they hover and push the food into the young birds mouths, this all happens within a couple of seconds so catching this on camera is quite a challenge.

Leach's Storm Petrels

2010-09-18T10:31:00.000+01:00

Well this week has been one of those weeks when the conditions were just right for the Leach's Storm Petrels to be pushed into our shores.

In mid September here on the Wirral if we get strong North Westerly winds for a few consecutive days, these small birds are forced into Liverpool bay and the Mersey estuary, they then work their way West along the North Wirral coastline, often right along the edge of the shore.

Photographing them is a real challenge, firstly the wind is gale force and just standing up is hard enough, pointing the camera at them and trying to get them in focus is another story, along with being sand blasted and getting covered in salt spray, it is quite exhausting. This week I have put in 26 hours in these conditions and I felt like I had done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.

It's frustrating that the light wasn't better, I managed to get very few shots with the sun on them, but there may be another chance this year

In Flight

2010-09-10T12:39:00.000+01:00

A quick post of some flight shots I have taken over the last month.

Common Buzzard
Black-tailed Godwit

Cormorant

Tufted Duck

Sandwich Tern

Lapwing

Brimstone Butterfly

2010-09-05T12:30:00.000+01:00

I was really pleased to spot this Brimstone Butterfly, apart from it being a very obliging subject it was in perfect condition, a lot of Butterflies at this time of year have very worn or damaged wings, but this one looked very fresh. I spent at least 45 minutes with it until my son finally managed to drag me away.