Wildlife Photography across the Water: Quick Session

Wednesday 30 March 2011

Quick Session

I checked the weather report for the week and it showed Tuesday to be nice and sunny and the rest of the week to be crap-wet and cold, Winter is struggling to let go, We had sleet the other day and just an hour away it was white with snow, I decided to have a quick session at the private land and try and get some birds on blossom, The blossom is quickly disappearing due to the weather and time is limited and i dont want to miss it, There is nothing like a bird on a blossom branch to make a colourful and seasonal image, I found a blossom branch on the side of the road, It was very thin but i thought it would be thick enough for chickadees and titmice, I quickly attached the twig to a feeder hanger and got set up, My main gear being the 600 lens and D7000, Its a great combo and with the added advantage of being quiet, I havent been to the site to shoot for about 2 months but have been putting food out for a week so there were birds around straight away, It soon dawned on me that i hadnt attached the twig very well, The feeder hanger was too exposed and the birds preferred to land on it or straight onto the table rather than the twig, In the 2 hours i was there not one bird landed on it but i did manage to get some shots of them on other perches, I had some nice sightings with visits from the red bellied woodpecker,Northern Flicker as well as the hairy woodpecker, Unusual bird went to the towhee that landed straight on the feeder, a beautiful male, I will put up a thicker perch in the hope that he returns, House finch,cardinal,chickadee,titmouse and wren all made an appearance as well as the easily spooked jay and towards the end a couple of Eastern Bluebirds just add some extra colour, Although the session did not go to plan and they rarely do it was very enjoyable and nice and warm-the last rays i expect to see for a few days, All images taken in manual mode with the D7000 which is still to go to Nikon, The problem is quite minor and easily worked around so i am not too fussed at the moment

Towhee

Anywhere but the perch

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.