Morning Light

With a day off work today, I had planned to go to Slimbridge today to see if I could get some new images, but within a short time of leaving , and against an iffy weather forecast, the cloud bank that I was driving towards meant that I was likely to get a another crap light day, and I have had plenty of grey ducks from Slimbridge, so I turned round and headed back around my local patch.

These following shots were all taken within 50 metres of each other and shows totalling contrasting results.

The first image was with the sun directly behind me and shows a mother and calf Fallow deer in a tender moment.

Walking directly into the light, this Blue Tit and Buzzard where directly in front of me, but there was no way I was going to get a  front lit shot, so I took these silhouettes.

Now, I am not sure that they work very well.

I have never really been a fan of such type images, but they are something different, and we should always try something different every so often, and maybe to somebody's taste.

The good thing was that I met a dog walker who advised me the location I was at had regular visits from Barn Owl and Little Owl - so looks like a trip back for the early and late shifts so will keep you posted.

Martin

A few more from the Local Patch

As I mentioned here a couple of days ago, we took a quick wander out to our local patch to see what was around.

It was definitely 5 Spot Burnet day as there were dozens of them, either in singles, pairs mating or three just having a chat.

Last year this site was fantststic for the beautiful Marbled White butterfly.  Only a few early ones were out and we maanged to see a couple, although they were pretty flighty so I had to grab this one from a bit away so it is cropped more than I would prefer.

Here is one of them on an Ox Eye Daisy

Martin

Local Patch - Reflections

I was going to get a load of my Red Kite images processed to share with you for Monday but after a wonderful walk out in my local patch this morning (I wrote this on Sunday) I wanted to share that experience while it was fresh in my memory.

After a very busy Saturday, a late night with lots of fine food and wine, I missed the first light slot so went out after the sun was well up.

It was cold and crisp after the first frost of the year.  The sky was sparkling blue and I was in two minds as to whether to take the 7D, 300f4 and 1.4 as my wildlife walkabout combo.  In the end, I just opted for binoculars and decided to just enjoy whatever we saw.

First up was a large flock 50+ of House Sparrows, followed by a couple of flocks of close by Long Tailed Tits.  We watched these for ages and had some fabulous views.  Away to one side, we could hear a Green Woodpecker taunting us with its calls.

It was a popular time for the dogwalkers to be out.  One guy and his two little poodles managed to flush out a Sparrowhawk up ahead of us.  He probably never even saw it, but it flew right by us - beautiful

A little further on, we saw a few Common Darters - one of them ironically landing on one of the reserves storyboard signs, right next a picture of.....?  Yes - A Common Darter - it was quite funny.

Overhead, a few Redwings, the odd Songthrush, Linnets, Goldfinches and Greenfinches flew by.  Tits foraged the hedgerows and Blackbirds sprung out in  cacophony of alarm calling.

In the distance, a Buzzard soared lazily, Woodpigeons clattered in and out of the trees and a solitary Cormorant crossed the azure skies.

Working back on a long open ride in prime Green Woodpecker territory, we checked the grasses and fencepost's.  We were not disappointed - there it was about 100 metres ahead of us.  Using the hedgerows to avoid breaking the silhouette - we slowly worked to within 50 metres.  It was grubbing around for food in the wet grass, before it hopped up onto the posts for a better lookout.

We watched it for a while, edging ever closer before we were sprung and it cleared off ahead of us.  Towards the top of the ride, in much longer grass that seemed out of character we got within 5 metres, until it burst away, yaffling loudly.  I am not sure who was more surprised - us or the Woodpecker.

The final wonderful sight of the day was a small flock of Starlings on top of a heavily berry laden Hawthorn bush.  With strong sunlight on them, they looked wonderful through the binoculars with their iridescent greens, purples and spots.

It was a wonderful walk, and totally invigorated me for the morning.  I was not upset that I didn't take the camera, I don't think there were any particularly show stopping images that I would have got, and was just thrilled to watch it all through the binoculars.

OK next post will be the Red Kites -  I promise

Martin

Local Patch - catching up 2

A short while after we got back from North Uist, we went down to the River Avon in Stratford as I expected to see Banded Demoiselle.  We went disappointed - there were hundreds of them, along with Blue and Azure Damsels.

The male Banded Demoiselles were the easiest to see initially, as there wing patches 'strobed' as they flew,  It was still quite warm at the time, and so it wasn't that easy to get settled subjects.

The females are also beautifully coloured, but without the black wing patches.  I caught this one eating an unlucky Mayfly.

 

A few seconds later and no wings left on the supper

All taken handheld with the 5D and Canon 180 f3.5L macro lens.

The first image looks a little soft at small size so it is worth a click to see at full size

Martin

Local Patch - Common Blue Butterflies

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that it was early June when the Common Blue had just taken to the wing.  Well I was only a month out - those images were taking a month after they had really taken to the wing, and were in full mating mode.  Today's pictures were the ones I got when they had first emerged and were taken before we went to North Uist at the beginning of May.

These images were of a number of different individuals, but wanted to share a photographic study of different compositions, plants and angles.

These were among the first images I took on the new 'old' 5D and with the fabulous Canon 180f3.5L macro lens.  Let us know which if the styles shown here you like best and why?

Martin

Local Patch - catching up

May, June and July have been very busy months for me photographically.  As you will have seen by my posts these days, macro or at least close up photography, to be more technically accurate, is one of my favourite genres.  These last three months have been wonderful in the garden, around the pond and at my local patch.  So much so, that I have many blog posts worth of images that I haven't shared with you.

So going back to the start of June, Jac and I took a trip to our local patch to check out the progress of the various orchids there, and had some great sightings of moths and butterflies when we were there.

On a warm and still evening, we timed it to perfection as it had clearly been the turn of the Common Blue butterflies to take to the wing.  I gave up counting when I got to 100, and being very fresh, they were not inclined to clear off when you got too close to them.

Common Blue (female)

Common Blue pair (male on top)

Burnet Moth Caterpillar

Cinnabar Moth

Dingy Skipper Butterfly

Lattice Heath Moth

All of these were taken with the 5D and Canon 180 f3.5L macro lens, generally with a bean bag or hand held.

I do miss the live view and self cleaning sensor on the 'old' model, but do love the full frame DOF effects that you get compared to the 1.6 or 1.3 crop bodies.  

Maybe I should have stock sale and get the newer 5Dmk2, before they go and bring out a new one and ramp the price up disproportionately.....again.

Martin

Worth getting out of bed for

I really do love this time of year.  Lighter mornings and more prevalent bird song.

I got myself out of bed early yesterday morning and went for a couple of hours wander around another part my local patch.  I didnt bother with the camera - just me and the binos.

What a treat - still hundreds of Redwings and Fieldfare.  I guess with the colder winter that we have had this year that they are now working their way back north again.

Song thrushes were blasting out their varied and repetitive song, and a few Mistle Thrush were seen hopping around too.

Wood Pigeon are in flocks of 50's and 100's as they start taking some of the early growth off the crop tops.  The reverberating reports of 12 gauge shotguns rang out as  various farmers try to protect their crops.

Great and Blue Tits are engaged in courtship with flight chases and much chattering between them in the hedgerows.

I aslo saw a couple of Hare, the funniest sight was one running at full tilt across an open field, with a Raven about ten yards behind making its croaky calls, as if it was goading the hare to run faster.

I mentioned on my last post with the Male Sparrowhawk images that I hadnt seen the female for a while.

Well I had just sat down in my lounge with a cup of tea and my breakfast after my walk when I saw the bird fly down into my neighbours hedging actively chased and mobbed by four noisy crows.  She didnt stay long as she was soon harried away.

So if you haven't made the effort to get out early this year, it is time you should, you won't regret it.

Original content posted at http://wildlifeacrosthewater.blogspot.com

Martin

Time to listen out for.........Woodpeckers

The harsher winter in the UK has pushed everything back this year by some order.  I normally start to hear Woodpeckers drmming in February.

Well we went out for a couple of hours walk this morning around our local patch.  Still chilly but spring is definiteley trying to get through.

Highlights of the walk were Jay (very few around this part of the world), 100 or so each of Redwings and Fieldfare, good numbers of Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer and the best treat of all was about 20 Tree Sparrows.  

Tree Sparrows as a species are now quite rarely seen and this was the first time I have seen them in Warwickshire.

We heard two separate Green Woodpeckers, saw three Great Spotted and heard two more separate birds drumming.

Then when I got home there was a Treecreeper in the garden, another garden first for me.

Martin

That's the Christmas Card sorted then

I spent a couple of hours in my hide in the garden yesterday, in the vain hope that something interesting would turn up on mark11 tree - but  just more Robins, Blackbirds, Sparrows and Chaffinches.

I could have said sadly only just those species.  But I love watching all of those birds.  I love watching their interaction with other birds.  I love watching their behaviours.

So it was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours.

I was there when the first rays of sunshine just started coming into the garden, which gave this otherwise potential drab female Blackbird a wonderful light.

In between further snow showers birds came and went, and just as I was about to pack up, a Robin popped by.

So as the headline says that will do for the next Christmas card

As a follow up, when I pulled back the curtains this morning, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker was busying hammering out the food in Mark11 tree - hey ho!!  Sod's Law is alive and well in 2010

Martin

Quick Update

Just a quickie from me today.

We were expecting a lot of snow today, so I was getting quite excited at the prospect of some garden bird photography.  Sadly, it has just rained and rained.

My garden is still Blackbird city, but have been seeing lots more finches in now, particularly Greenfinch.  I have my new Mark 11 tree trunk set up and already the birds are starting to use it so I hope for some great results from that.  Highlight of the last couple of days has been a pair of Blackcaps in although the resident Robin has been doing its level best to make sure they are not welcome.

I suppose it could be worse, it could be a Squirrel.

I went out yesterday on the second of my BTO tetrads and was pleased to see lartge flocks of Lapwing, Fieldfare and Redwing again.  Highlight of the day was a beautiful pair of Bullfinches showing well in the bright sunshine.

So fingers crossed for a decent dump of snow overnight here.

Martin

Local Patch - a few recent sightings

Just a short one from me today.

Winter has finally arrived in Warwickshire this last week with a hard frost or two, although with the continuing gales and rain it still feels more like autumn.

Regular winter thrushes are coming in to the garden now with daily regular visits from Redwings. I had the pleasure of watching one bathing in my pond this week. Fieldfares are less common in the urban environment, but I have already seen many very large flocks out in the surrounding fields.

I certainly had an exciting sighting last weekend with a Kingfisher flying within a couple of meters of me while I was by the Rowing Club in Stratford, feeding the birds. Great to see one in the town environment. Also the Grey Wagtail is quite a regular sighting now in the same area.

Large flocks of Black headed gulls are now also resident in the town around the river as they have moved inland from their summer sites.

It is also great to see the regular flock of Long tail tits in the garden and had the pleasure of watching them about three meters from me while eating my breakfast.

So I have put the hide back up in the garden now and looking forward to getting out there again when the weather is kind to the birds and they are in the right places at the right times for me.

Martin

More Local Patch - Garden

Last week I was asking where all the fungi was.

Well I only had to look in my back graden.

Here are a couple of mycena species that I spotted that had popped up.

They were resident on some small bark offcuts that were lying around, so with their portable home I was able to put them in a more convenient location to photograph, and put a bit of moss as carpet. Cheating ? - yes of course, and in this case it makes for a better image than where they were located.

But then I have gone and told you all now - so at least I am being honest with you.


Martin

Local Patch - Quick Garden update

With the full effects of autumn in place, the garden is now in need of some work.

I let all the planting of last year run its course this year, so I am cutting back strips to clear back down to ground level to let nature take it's course once again as space and light comes available to other seeds that are laying dormant in the soil. I will leave other areas long until the growing season starts again to give refuge to the wildlife that is still out there.

The hedgerows established themselves well this year and have coped with the dry conditions, with the exception of the holly I put out as it was rooted in potting compost that dried out earlier in the spring.

The regular birds are still here, with the addition of a solitary Blackcap the other day and a Green Woodpecker also flew through last weekend.

I am hoping the Grey Wagtails find their way back soon, as I have recently seen them about half a mile away by the Avon in Stratford.

Local Patch - the last few Daters of the year

A couple of weeks ago I took a walk out on to my local nature reserve that is about ten minutes from my front door.

Well by one of the many ponds there it was Darters galore - all being busy with each other on the wing. Never seen so much naughty Darter business before - I guess they were making hay while we were in the last rays of summer.

There were also quite a few Southern Hawker males bombing them too, but I didn't manage to get any images of them. While I was busy getting these photos, I was told excitedly by a friend that a Kingfisher had just flown by me. So while I was disappointed to miss it, I am pleased to know that they are so close to my home.

These two images show the colour differences of the male and the female of the species of the Common Darter.

Male Common Darter

Female Common Darter

Martin

Pond Life

Back a few days ago I posted some images from the garden with a picture of a female Southern Hawker laying eggs. Well she came back to see us again yesterday and I got another few images.

This image was taken from that first session.

Here she is again, but I noticed on close inspection that she has lost two of her legs, just below her knees on the right hand side in the last week. It is the same dragonfly, as I have very carefully checked the spotting to be sure.

At one point, while laying on the grass waiting for her to land she buzzed by my head touching my ear with her very noisy wings, and even came into the lens hood on the 180 macro. She may have seen the reflection and come into to inspect - it certainly made a lot of noise as her wings clattered the plastic of the hood.

Martin

Local Patch-Bonus Time

In answer to Martins post yesterday i am in the camp of DIY, I much prefer to do my own thing and find my own subjects whether its near home or abroad, The satisfaction of the DIY approach far exceeds being shown where and how to shoot a subject, You do your own fieldwork and use field craft which is something that you learn along the way-anyways

This week has had its ups and downs, I have continued to go to the Kingfisher perch but he seems to want to pose on every other perch around the lake, He is always in sight or hearing range but that's life and in time it will happen-persistence normally pays off, Last night i left the perch and walked towards the car, I stopped and watched the KF from a distance and 5 mins later he caught a fish and landed on the perch i had just left-DOH, The light was gone there anyways and it was good to see him still using it, Whilst waiting i noticed a large turtle half out of the water,He made a sudden dash and was nearly out of the water when he stopped, I didn't know what he was doing until a few minutes later a smaller (female) turtle scooted away from under him-so i got my first reasonable turtle shots in the bag-look close and you will see the smug look on his face
Yesterday morning i noticed a small flock of birds shoot out of the garden and when i looked outside a sharp shinned hawk landed in the tree, I grabbed the D3 and600+1.4x and grabbed a few shots from outside my back door, The light wasn't all that and thank god for image stabilisation, A beautiful bird and difficult to get on camera-bonus
Today i was back in my garden looking for spiders and found 8 webs with spiders on, I shot from every angle and changed various setting to try to get a different shot, One spider had a meal so i shot him eating and afterwards it repaired its web, Black and yellow garden spiders like the European wasp spider have a thick zig zag design in the center and it was this that the spider repaired, First it laid a thick multi strand web and then a single thread-incredible to watch and very difficult to shoot without a proper macro lighting system, You can see the multi thread web in the first image and then in the second spider image the back legs are holding the web whilst the spider lays thread fixing them together-amazing nature at its best
So far the week has been far from unproductive-maybe not what i had set out to get but so what


Dave

Local Patch-Kingfishers

Kingfishers can be very difficult birds to photograph but if you keep am eye on them and find their favorite perches then your chances of getting some shots in are very good as long as you either use a hide or some kind of concealment, The lake where i have been shooting is a very busy joggers lake so a hide is out, I dress in full camo and have made a small gap between the trees/bushes for the 600 to get a clean shot as well as making sure that the flash/beamer isnt obstructed, The bird that uses the perch is a male and unusual for a bird the males are more drab that the females, The Belted Kingfishers here in the states are big birds-similar to a blackbird size in Europe, I have managed a few sessions at the lake in the evening when the bird seems to use the perch, Early last week we had some rain which was good as the lake was very low but the increase in water height for some reason made the kingfisher arrive later, Instead of around 5.30pm it was coming at 6.30-7pm which meant very low light and shooting at ISO 1600 i was getting between 1/40 and 1/60, These low shutter speeds along with a 600 + 1.4x meant that if i was in any hope of getting a sharp image i would need to use a remote release cable and not touch the camera at all, So after composing the shot it was hands off and a quick shot with the remote and check the screen, This way of shooting means fewer images but 100% sharpness which is fine for me, Flash as well is the order of the day and the SB900 and better beamer has been working over time, The bird at this time of day is heavily back lit so a good burst of flash is needed to balance the front of the bird making sure that the bright white chest doesnt blow out, The kit works very well at sorting it out, I am using AV mode and compensating up to -1 2/3 to stop the neck from blowing then using the fill flash to lighten the bird hopefully without giving the impression of too much flash-a difficult balancing act and i am grateful for digital so i can quickly adjust the exposure if needed, I will continue to shoot this bird into the Fall (Autumn) and hope to get some shots with a nice golden background-fingers crossed




Dave

Local Patch - Back in the Garden

Having had a couple of half days off this week, I found a little bit of time in between jobs to get a few photos taken at last. Having seen Common Darter, a male this time, and a female Southern Hawker this afternoon, thought it was time to dust off the camera.

The Hawker was great to watch, as she was busy egg laying all over the small log in the image. She even landed on my shoe as I sat cross legged by the pond, and tried to lay some on there too. It was great to see the compound eyes at such close quarters, and see the transparent outer layer.

Both of these are first in the garden, so again I am pleased with the work I put in last year digging out the pond.

I even had a few frogs pop up and say hello while watching too.

Common Darter (male)

Southern Hawker egg laying (female)

All shot with Canon 1Dmk3, plus Canon 180f3.5L macro. 580 EX flash for fill on the second image

Martin

Local Area-Raleigh

Well like Martin i have been giving some rooms a touch up with the paint brush as we have the outlaws arriving next month so i haven't been too far afield, But then i haven't really needed to, I live in suburbia and have been pleasantly surprised just how much wildlife comes into my very small garden, Siding onto a farm obviously helps as that where the deer,possum and raccoon appear from but every tree and bush has some form of bird,butterfly or bug in it, I have a small low water container in the garden which helps attract things into garden in the hot weather from squirrels to hawks all have a drink an a bath in it, The hummingbirds are now constant visitors to the nectar feeder and woodpeckers and crows at the fat feeder, The usual suspects of cardinals and goldfinch eat at the seed table and now i have 2 buddlia (butterfly bush) there are swallowtails and skippers constantly in and around the garden,I have been trying various things to attract more and varied species into the garden, I cut a small orange in half and after a day there were all sorts of bugs and flies on it, The Black Widow unfortunately has been killed off but i did enjoy spending some time with her and i am sure if i look hard enough i will find another, There is a very small stream just down the road and the other day i popped down to have a look to see what was around it and came across a Water Snake,which was laying on a rock catching some rays, A first for me, I only managed to shoot it from distance and it bolted off when i moved-it was 92 degrees after all and the snake was plenty warm enough,I didnt really mind not getting too close to it as it made me think about the composition and by having it low in the frame shows some habitat, Its amazing what you find when you look for it and people living in the community have no idea whats close by as they go about their everyday lives,

Local Patch - Just outside my office!!

I was sitting at my desk in the office yesterday on my first day back after a week off when I got a call from the Estates Manager.

"Martin - there is a huge moth here, see if you can identify it"

So I went out into the middle of a large building complex, and found this.




It is a Poplar Hawk Moth - female, buff phase.

So now you regular readers are probably thinking what has happened to the quality of Martin's close up work!!!

Well I don't take my gear to work on the off chance, so out came my 5 mega pix camera phone - a Sony Ericsson to get this, about 8 feet off the ground, so at arms length, on black glass with bright sun mirrored in.

However, I hadn't seen one before, like Dave with his Assassin bug, so thought I would get the shot that I could.

I really need to put a Canon G10 in my Netbook bag and carry with me at all times.

Canon - you heard my whinge two days ago - how about sending me one!! :-)

Martin