Wildlife Photography across the Water: Local Patch-Raleigh

Thursday 26 March 2009

Local Patch-Raleigh

Things are hotting up in my local area as spring kicks in-out and in again, The spring migration is in full flow and every visit to lakes show more and more ospreys, Yesterday i revisited the nest and there were 4 ospreys circling over, One would drop onto the nest and the other 3 would swoop down,The one on the nest would literally back flip as if you grab the swooping bird,then all fly off and have some fun in the air calling each other before doing it all again,

I did get some shots,nothing spectacular but the account is now well and truly open,The weather yesterday was very grey which made metering difficult so i used manual mode and after a couple of test shots i realised that to get a bird in flight properly exposed i would need to completely blow the sky which was fine as it was a horrible grey anyway, I used the Nikon D3 along with the 600+1.4x but the conditions meant that i needed to go up to ISO 800 and sometimes ISO 1600, The D3 is famous for its high ISO capabilities but in order to get grain free ISO 1600 shots you need to have the exposure bang on,Any adjustments in processing will bring the grain out,

The garden is going very well with more and more birds turning up everyday as well as different mammals,The usual suspects are still coming like cardinals,junco,sparrows (2 types now) woodpecker,tufted titmouse,pine siskin and a sparrowhawk but we now have new guests that are regulars like American goldfinch that are just coming into breeding colours,Nuthatches (2 types) warblers,bluebirds and yesterday whilst in the hide a brown headed cowbird-what a crazy name-no udders and doesn't moo,still nice to see and a great addition to the portfolio,
Mammal wise i have deer coming every night along with 2 possums,2 grey fox and the other night a raccoon and lots of squirrels-not too bad for a small town garden,
All this means that i can grab the camera and spend a pleasant hour or 2 in the hide when the conditions allow,I haven't tried for the mammals yet as most come out when its dark so will need a couple of extra flashguns for that but will continue to feed them to get them into a routine,

Dave

2 comments:

Unknown26 March 2009 at 13:41
The shot of the two Osprey's at the nest is great Dave, well caught, keep them coming.
Iain.
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Anonymous26 March 2009 at 21:37
Thanks for looking and leaving a comment Iain,I will be back in a few days when the weather decides to brighten up

Dave
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.