Great Crested Grebes

Here are a few images of Great Crested Grebes, taken back in March. It's often difficult to get right down to water level to get the shots that I like to achieve, but this site allowed me to do that. With the distant reedbed giving a lovely contrasting colour to the deep blue water, these shots are just what I wanted.

Mallorcan Waders

Back in April I spent a week on the island of Mallorca in Spain. Having been there quite a few times, I had a few species that I wanted to get better shots of. At that time of year you never know what you could find, with migration in full swing from Africa.
I spent quite a bit of time at the S'Albufera Marsh, in the north east of the island. It's a very large reserve with a great amount of birds. No two days are ever the same here, with something different to see on each visit. This post will show some of the wading birds I saw at the reserve.

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Black-winged Silt

Black-winged Stilt

Green Sandpiper

Greenshank

Purple Gallinule

Purple Gallinule

Common Snipe

Spotted Redshank

Chatting on the Moors

I have spent some time recently on the moors in North Wales. Two of the typical moorland species I've been photographing are Stonechat and Whinchat. This is an ongoing project with lots more images to come, here are a few taken so far.

Male Stonechat

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Male Whinchat

Male Whinchat

Male Whinchat

Female Whinchat

Female Whinchat

Female Whinchat

Marsh Tits

The Marsh Tit is a difficult bird to find and photograph in the north west of England. A few weeks ago I spent a day at a location I have been to a few times over the years, trying to photograph them. There only seemed to be one pair, but that is all I needed to get some decent shots. Now I need to get the same results with Willow Tits.

Mountain Hares

A few weeks ago my friend Richard and I made an early start to try and photograph Mountain Hares. As the name suggests they live at high altitudes so the weather plays a big part in the success of a trip. We wanted shots of them in their white, winter coats. So trying to find a day when the conditions would be good enough wasn't as easy as you would think. The main problem being low cloud, then the strong winds and snow. Richard had been several times before but this was my first visit.

After a good walk to the hills through patches of snow and having to cross a waterfall, we split up and slowly combed the area. You would expect that they would be easy to spot with their white coats against the heather and grass, but they tend to hide in hollows and behind rocks. I flushed several that I hadn't even seen as I walked up the hillside. I quickly realised I needed to change my plan of attack, I had to try and spot them from a greater distance. After a while I did find one sitting out in the open, It was too far away to get a decent photograph so I would have to stalk it. I started to crawl towards it, getting a few shots as I got closer. Eventually after crawling what must have been 50 metres I was at a range for full frame shots. Over the next few hours I used the same technique to photograph a few more and came home pleased with the results. Hopefully I will be able to get back to them soon.

Short-eared Owls

Back in November I had a good session with some Short-eared Owls. I did think that it would be an ongoing project through the winter, although the weather has put paid to that so far. Hopefully there will be some more opportunities before they move off to their breeding grounds.

 

Great Northern Diver at West Kirby

With the first full day of sunshine for what must be months, I had to get out with the camera. I headed to West Kirby marine lake here on the Wirral, where a juvenile Great Northern Diver has been in residence for over a month. It's a large lake and from experience I know that a lot of walking and waiting for the bird to come close would be on the cards. It worked out well, with the bird coming into good range.