Waxwings

This winter has seen one of the biggest invasions of Waxwings into the UK. Tens of thousands of them have moved southwards through the country over the last couple of months. I couldn't resist going out and adding more images of these to my already large collection. I wanted to try and get shots of them on the ground, as this would be generally a little different from the majority of my photographs of them. At first light they were coming down onto the grass to feed on the berries they had displaced from the trees. The low sun and the frosty ground really enhanced them. I also took some large group shots of them in the trees and it only really leaves me with flight shots still to do.

Frosty Birds

The past couple of days here have looked like a winter wonderland. Having had freezing fog, everything was covered in a thick layer of frost. With the sun shining I braved the minus 3 conditions for a few hours in my hides. My first goal was to try and get the Buzzards down on the frosty grass. It took quite some time before one of them decided to come to feed. The male was sitting in the tree above, but for some reason didn't want to come down. I think possibly because he had watched me go into the hide. The female who is much more wary than the male did eventually fly in. I had to be extra careful not to spook her as I had a feeling it would be over for the day if I did. Carefully, I managed to get the shots that I wanted. After she had gone I turned my attention to the 5 or 6 Jays that were coming in to feed. After about 3 hours the skies clouded over and it was back to the house to thaw out.

2013 Desk Top Calendars

New 2013 desk top calendars are available from my website. The 12 cards as shown below are 210x148mm (A5)and are printed on thick quality photo paper. They come with a clear plastic display case and are £11.50 inc p&p (UK)

Click here to go the calendar sales page - Calendar Sales

Red Kites

My friend Rich and I decided that we were long overdue a trip to the Red Kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm in mid Wales. It was 2006 that I was last there so some new pictures of the Kites were desperately needed. We chose what was supposed to be a clear sunny day, I say supposed to be. There was a lot of dark cloud about and very little sunshine which isn't good for flight shots.
The birds were fed and the frenzy of several hundred Kites circling and diving was quite a spectacle. We made the most of the brief spells of the sun, which only totalled about twenty minutes throughout the afternoon. I was trying to achieve shots that were a little different from the norm which went reasonably well. Another trip is on the cards later this winter though, this time with a clear afternoon.

Water Rails

A major project last winter was photographing Water Rails. I have just started processing the many hundreds of images that I now have of them, here are some of the first ones to be done.

Desert Wheatear

I took a trip to North Wales today. Part of the day was spent photographing the Desert Wheatear at Rhyl.

Sparrowhawk

I managed to creep up on this Sparrowhawk in the garden and get a few shots. It was busy watching the birds on the feeders, although it did look round at me a couple of times, it didn't take flight. I read that they only respond to movement and maybe my stealth like way of freezing every time it looked in my direction paid off.

Buzzards in Flight

With some sunny weather the Buzzards have been circling above the trees in the garden. The low winter sun now gives the opportunity to achieve some good flight shots. As they bank round, their underparts being nicely illuminated.

A Late Hobby

Just over a week ago I spent some time at my local RSPB reserve - Burton Mere Wetlands on the Wirral. A juvenile Hobby had been there for several days and with the wind in the right direction, was giving some close up views of its aerobatics, whilst catching Dragonflies. Over the five days I spent there, only a couple of them really had the bird close enough for some good shots, including it perching up in a tree. There were plenty of Dragonflies around which I assume was the reason for it not being on its way south, as it should have been at this time of year.