County Durham

Hello,

This weekend just passed I spent in County Durham. The main target really was to watch a black grouse lek which was simply amazing. Alarms set for 3:45 and arriving, windows down, before first light we were welcomed with noises not dissimilar to an alien attack! Snipe, curlew and lapwing all calling right near the car.

As the light started to break through in a typically British grey way we could here the grouse gargling away down in the valley. I didn't get any photos of them lekking because we were too far away but what a great spectical to watch!

Here are some dodgy black grouse records when we bumped into them during the day;

From a photographers perspective the highlight were the snipe along 'Snipe Alley', as we named it. They were great fun just sitting up on nice perches!

Unfortunately it wasn't until the last hour of shooting that we discovered a certain way of stopping the car that resulted in the snipe staying put, the 'snipe stop'. I would say how... but I'd have to shoot you... ;-)

OK, that's enough snipe!

We often bumped into a short eared owl too - what great birds. Things didn't really come together photographically with them but it was a nice addition and something we weren't expecting...

I certainly plan to go there again as it was a productive two days! Next time we might actually have some interesting light to work with too!

I leave you with the supporting cast...

Pheasant & Meadow Pipit;

  

Red Grouse & Redshank;

Rose Coloured Starling

After a long day working at Poole Hospital I decided I was due a rarity fix after spending most of my time recently endulging in photography locally.

On my way home I popped in at the Rose Coloured Starling in Hordle, Hampshire. The bird was obvious right away singing at the top of a tree - a lovely looking bird!

I got a few dodgy record shots, here's one;


Thanks for reading as always,

Daniel

Catch a Caper

The undoubtable highlight from my recent trip to Scotland was a run in with a rogue male capercaillie!

Here is a selection of photos of him but please check my flickr for more of the beast!

I'm particularly happy with the top wide angle shot as it shows the Caledonian habitat too;


What a lovely chap - I hope to meet him again!

Daniel

Snow Chickens!

I had great fun hopping around on rocks and sliding in snow trying to photograph Ptarmigan!

I went up in the North Corries in the Cairngorms a few times whilst in Scotland. Weather conditions were rather mild, it would be great to photography these beauties in a blizzard!

enjoy...

Cheers,

Daniel

Cresties!

Crested tits; fast, flighty and fantastic!

Unfortunately it was rather dull that afternoon weatherwise so without some interesting light to play with it was difficult to get a variety of images. They were a lifer though so I had a fantastic time!

During the time we spent with them we also saw a siskin and common crossbill - not bad at all...

I quite like the affect you get with the rain in the first one, this added a bit of interest but oh how I wished for some nice winter sun!

Cheers,

Daniel

Scotland Teaser

I've just returned from a fantastic trip to the Cairngorms - what a magical place!

I have a lot of images to process and will dedicate posts to each species in due course. My subjects included Ptarmigan, Red Squirrel, Crested Tit, Mountain Hare and Capercaillie!

below are two teasers...

Come back soon...

Daniel

My 300th Bird!

Hello everyone,

I spent yesterday in Hampshire having eventually given in to the lure of 2 great rarities!

We arrived at Calshot about 08:30 and saw the Spanish Sparrow right away... what a beautiful bird! It was looking right at home amongst the local house sparrows and with potential hybrids in the area it would seem it's been around for a year or so. I would love to know where abouts it was when it hopped onto a ship and hitched a ride to the UK!

This was my 300th bird species in the UK and was actually a world tick too! Next milestone is 350 which I suspect will be in a good few years (decades?) time now that I spend more time being a photographer than a twitcher!

After the sparrow we headed to Hawkhill Enclosure in The New Forest and again got onto the bird right away - an American Vagrant - Dark-Eyed Junco! Another suspected ship-assist and what a gorgeous little bird!

Here are a couple of photos, I'm particularly happy with the top one...

I'm off to Scotland next week for 11 days; 3 days wildlife photography, followed by 5 days mountaineering and then ending on another 3 days of wildlife photography!

Having never seen some of the Scottish specials, such as crested tit and ptarmigan, I'm very excited about this!

Watch this space!

Daniel