Persistence Pays

Now I'd be the first to admit this is not the best image I have ever made, but it was one I was determined to get. OK, so it's just a record shot, but after a total failure last weekend to even see the birds, I was determined to get something today. Although I followed the same route as last week, both I, and a sizeable group of others at Wyke Down, were treated to a flying display for over an hour, almost without a break. One thing is for certain, there's more work to be done to get to grips with Canon's new 7D Mk ii judging by this result.

It Must be Nearly Christmas

Every week Rose tends her daughter's grave and recently noticed this friendly Robin in the churchyard. Needless to say she didn't have a camera with her and bemoaned the fact for days. But today was a different story as we called in on the way to shoot Otters at Blandford. In fact we had too much focal length, hence this uncropped portrait shot. There are plenty of Robins (and pictures of Robins) about at the moment, so it must be nearly Christmas.

Hiding on Sunday

We had planned the trip down to Colin Varndell's hide at Netherbury in Dorset for some time and had the day booked well in advance. It was no surprise that being November, the weather didn't favour us, but we had an enjoyable eight hours in a variety of hides. For once it gave me the opportunity to use my 300 f/2.8 lens without a converter and also another chance to use the new Canon 7D Mk ii. This Great Tit shot is just one example of what we got.

Canon 7D Mk ii

In my last blog post I mentioned the long awaited Canon 7D Mk ii camera had arrived. In the main it will be used by Rose with a 100 - 400mm zoom lens to give her a nice balance between reach and weight. Naturally I was keen to give it a try, but prising it from her grasp was a challenge.
I did however manage to get three or four hours with it on Portland and attached my 300 f/2.8 lens with the 1.4 x converter, which gave me plenty of reach. I was immediately taken with it and the improvement over the Mk i version we previously used is huge. 
Always a lover of Kestrels and birds of prey in general, I was really pleased to make this image within the first half dozen frames I shot with it. Nice one Canon!

Discovering Sussex

There has been lots going on since the last blog post, most notably the arrival of the new Canon 7D Mk ii and the announcement of the second generation Canon 100 - 400mm zoom lens. Both are going to become a boon to wildlife togs everywhere if current reviews are to be believed.
We've been out to a variety of locations now with the new camera and made some pleasing images. The latest trip was a weekend in West Sussex, where we attempted to see both RSPB Pagham Harbour and RSPB Medmerry. While we did get to Pagham on Saturday, it coincided with low tide and consequently a lot of distant birds. Sunday saw us at the Arundel Wetlands Centre where I made this Pintail image, alas not with the 7D as Rose was using it. Monday was pencilled in for Medmerry, but sadly heavy rain stopped play, so that will have to wait for another time.

Processing Madagascar

The long process of downloading and generally dealing with the five thousand images we brought from Madagascar is now well underway. It is going to take a while as we tend to be less ruthless than perhaps we should be, but already we have managed to publish some nice shots. The normal Verreaux's Sifaka shot is the one of them dancing across the red dirt road and yes we have some of those. But this female was intently watching Rose photographing other members of the troop, completely ignoring her own baby climbing over her back.

Back Home

After over two weeks abroad and being busy since our return, today was our first chance to get back out on the local patch. The forecast was good, so we decided to head to RSPB Lodmoor first and then follow that with a visit to RSPB Radipole Lake. Apart from finding out what birds were on offer, it gave us the opportunity to meet up with our friends in the local wildlife paparazzi and also to test the long awaited Canon 7D Mk ii. Rose will make her thoughts on the camera known quite soon, but meanwhile I captured this Stonechat posing beautifully with my normal rig.

Madagascar

We've been quiet for couple of weeks while we realised a long-held ambition to photograph the Lemurs in Madagascar. It was challenging at times, but we did come away with some wonderful images and memories of these special animals. Never let it be said that we don't get close to the action either. The Lemurs in this shot are not captive, they are genuinely wild and really interested in Canon L series lenses!

Writing and Rainfall

The weather here in the UK had to break up sooner or later and I suppose it was bound to happen on a Saturday. Applying the 'every cloud has a silver lining' rule, it meant that I could start work on the backlog of images that need to be dealt with.

Reminiscing

I've been looking back through the archives and keep finding myself drawn to the output from our two trips to the Shetland Isles. Each time we go there I think it will be the last, but I always find myself wanting to go back again. It has to be my favourite UK wildlife location and I do have some unfinished business there with the Otter population. This Redshank image was captured very early one morning in June 2013.

An Otter Near Ottery

Another image from our visit to Escot last weekend. The Otters they have there are these Asian Short Clawed variety, because they are diurnal and they live in close family groups of around half a dozen. That means they are around for visitors to see, but if they were the Eurasian variety that are native to the UK, it's unlikely visitors would see them.

Now You See Me

A chance viewing of the regional TV news the night before sent us down to Escot in Devon on Saturday, to photograph Red Squirrels. As it turned out, waiting until Sunday would have been a better bet, because the challenges of the flat light within the squirrel compound were quite great. Despite this we had an enjoyable day and got some good images, not just of the squirrels, but also Wild Boar and Asian Short Clawed Otters. A repeat visit is planned, but only when the light is better.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I've been looking back this evening at the images we have collected from our more recent trips to the African continent. That in turn has whet my appetite for the trips we have planned in the next twelve months. This image of an Arrow Marked Babbler was taken at one of the South African camps we have visited a couple of times and unlike the UK, you really can get this close to the birds.

Falconry Day

We ventured over to Forest Falconry today for a long awaited opportunity to fly birds of prey. It wasn't planned as a photography day, but the opportunity couldn't be allowed to pass by, even though captive birds are not our usual passion. But it was a real pleasure to be able to get upclose and personal to the birds and learn something about both them and the skill of falconry. Our thanks to Keith, Karen and our falconer for the day, Ian.

Challenge Weymouth

Mens Race Winner - Joe Skipper

We've had a really inspiring day photographing the Challenge Weymouth Triathlons. A great atmosphere and some outstanding performances by competitors in all the age ranges. Great organisation too, from a bystander's view at least and weather that was kind to everyone.

Home Turf

Out and about last night on the local patch checking on the wildlife and a couple of potential landscapes. Within 50 metres of the car I already had three Roe Deer, a Painted Lady butterfly and a Red Legged Partridge. Next up was a Kestrel and then a large and active badger sett, although a little too early for any movement. The walk back was less eventful, despite another five Roe Deer and another Kestrel sighting. Unfortunately no sign of the local Brown Hare population this time out.
Today it seems although the Partridge was spotted in what would be its normal habitat, it may well have been an escapee from over 100 birds stolen locally the previous night.

Cornwall Weekend

A weekend of good weather and a trip to Cornwall coincided for once and there were some good wildlife watching opportunities to be had. A day spent at Marazion Marshes was quite productive, both on the RSPB reserve and on the Mounts Bay seashore where I got this Sanderling feeding. There was also the opportunity to try a landscape shot of St Michael's Mount, but on this occasion the sunset was not going to play ball through low cloud, so another trip has to be made to tick that box.

London Buses

It's often been said you wait ages for a London bus and then two come along together. That's how it is with this blog at the moment, but I will probably have to take a rest tomorrow!

Rose fancied a trip out to Higher Hyde Heath on Saturday to do some more work on her macro technique. It's an avenue that only opened up on our recent trip to France, but has now resulted in her commandeering my macro lens. I had a cunning plan that would enable me to also take part, but reckoned without the intervention of Parcelforce. The result was trying to wield the 100 - 400 zoom or the 300 f/2.8. This image was captured late in the day with the latter lens.

I'm happy to say that the dreaded Parcelforce finally made the delivery today, a mere four days late. I've had an apology after I Tweeted about the situation, but unsurprisingly no explanation.

Saddened to read today that some misguided individuals felt it necessary to break into the North hide at Radipole Lake and cause a lot of damage. I guess it's too much to expect that they'll be caught.

Getting Back to Normal

Unfortunately posting to the blog has had to take a back seat over the past few weeks for a variety of reasons. Aside from the trip to France and the need to catch up when we got back, there have also been family issues to deal with and putting the final touches to the 2015 safari.

Happily we now seem to be turning the corner and I managed a trip down to Lorton Meadows one evening last week. Even so, it was a far cry from last Summer when it seemed we were down there most evenings in search of that elusive barn owl shot. It was quiet again when I got there, but I soon spotted this young Kestrel perched on a power line and managed to track him for around 30 minutes or so before he got fed up with me and flew away.

Since then we have managed a macro shoot at Higher Hyde Heath, despite Parcelforce's best efforts to scupper it. The order I placed with WEX last Thursday on next day delivery has still not arrived and rather than 24 hrs, by the next delivery tomorrow it will have been 120 hrs. Currently the tracking still shows it in London, where it has been since the early hours on Saturday! All credit to WEX though as they had refunded my postage by teatime Friday.

Don't forget full details are now available for the Big 5 safari which promises to be a great opportunity to capture images at close quarters to a big variety of African animals and birds.

Big 5 Photo Safari 2015

At last we are able to announce our 2015 photographic safari to South Africa. 

The trip will commence at Hoedspruit Eastgate airport on Monday 14th September and visit three private game reserves within the area of the world famous Greater Kruger Park. In addition, there will be two nights in a boutique guest house where birding walks can be undertaken. 

Our safari group is limited to just 4 guests and at each of the lodges there will be a vehicle with an African guide exclusively for the use of our group. There will be a total of 18 game drives and the group size will ensure an outside seat is available to all photographers, with room to store extra equipment. There will be a mid-trip day where local sightseeing will be on offer as well as some processing time using Photoshop and Lightroom. The trip will end at Eastgate mid morning on Friday 25th September.

Cost will be £2500 pp based on two sharing, excluding flights.

To register an interest or for more detailed information, drop us an email from the link on this blog.

Dreamliner

This is not the sort stuff we usually take and neither of us are into aircraft spotting. But this one flew over Vic-en-Bigorre, France while we were out taking pictures of Red Kites following a combine harvester. It just looked like another passenger aircraft until a spot of research was carried out.

It turns out that this is the third of five A350 XWB (extra wide body) test aircraft that Airbus are currently evaluating. This one was on its way to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates to carry out hot weather testing. As a rival to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus already have orders for 742 aircraft from 38 different airlines. The first of these is due for delivery to Qatar Airways in the final quarter of this year. 

Un Jour a Le Lac

Yesterday was a warm sunny day and we decided to walk by the lake. The Lac de Bassillon is actually a reservoir close to where we are staying and has a circular walk laid out around it. We have visited previously, but never until now fully appreciated the wealth of wildlife that abounds there. We managed to spend six hours there and only walked half of it.

It was quiet when we arrived, only one jogger and a walker parked up so we set off with high hopes. Soon we were shooting a variety of Dragonflies and Damselflies, not to mention the odd bird, mainly wildfowl. It was so pleasing to see Great Crested Grebe chicks sitting on mummy's back as she serenely moved around, while some of the older ones were following on behind very noisily.

Probably the highlight was the Otter sighting, not once, but three times. Unlike the Blandford contingent, these are very shy and were soon away once they spotted us. The plan for today was to go back and try to get a shot, but it seems the weatherman has other ideas. Hopefully tomorrow, otherwise they will have to wait for another time.

Cutting, Fledging and Lightning

We've been looking at the field across the lane from our holiday base for a week now and rueing the fact that the grass was six feet high. The problem was at the bottom of the field is a pair of Black Shouldered Kites with a chick in the nest. We have been trying to photograph them to no avail, because we just couldn't get close enough.

We were pleased to see when we got up this morning that the farmer had decided to get out his ancient, small, Case tractor and was slowly cutting the grass. That also had the benefit of attracting up to eighteen Buzzards, eager to catch the mice and voles that had been disturbed. It was a super photo opportunity witnessed from the 'hide' of the upstairs windows.

There was a downside though, as it appears that the Buzzards were attracted to the Kite chick. The parents had to work very hard to protect the chick, but for some time after it looked as though they had failed. Thankfully by late afternoon, we noticed three kites in the trees. The chick hadn't been taken, it had fledged.

But what an evening to have left the nest, as we experienced our fifth thunderstorm since Saturday evening. This image taken from the same window as this morning's Buzzards.

En France

I've been a bit remiss over the past week or so and not posted any updates, but I do have an excuse. Arriving in our holiday hideaway in the Pyrenees, we found that the France Telecom internet connection was not working. Thankfully after 6 days of work by the housekeeper, not to mention a line repair by yours truly, we were reconnected.

We weren't at a loss for things to do though, plenty of photographic opportunities and some good cycling country too. Friday was an unexpected combination of the two.

We drove down to the Col d'Aspin where we have seen a number of birds of prey in the past, but there was nothing to see. So turning back down the mountain, we got about halfway down when we had to stop for a road closure to allow a bike race to finish. It turned out to be the Route du Sud and held us up for a couple of hours.

The silver lining to this was on the drive back, Rose noticed a huge number of birds of prey following a combine harvester as the farmer was cutting his corn. We were hoping to spot a Black Kite amongst them, but had to make do with a variety of Buzzards.

Monday's Child

In August last year we ventured down to the Devon Badger Watch on what turned out to be a very wet evening. Since then we have been promising ourselves a trip to the Dorset Badger Watch at Buckland Newton and at short notice, last night turned out to be the night. Although it was a mainly dry evening, the light could have been kinder, but we did manage to make some nice images.

We're not sure how many members there are in this clan, but we saw at least five, of which this is one of the young cubs. We were treated to some good long periods when at least one of the clan was on view from as early as 6:45pm. However, by 10pm they decided we'd had our share of their time and we packed up to leave.

A worthwhile experience that doesn't break the bank, but for photography a few improvements could be made. However the hide is available from 6:30 until midnight and by prior arrangement you can stay there all night to spot other species. If you're thinking of venturing out there, get in touch and we can give you a few useful pointers.

Back in Gear

After the donning of formal attire earlier this week, it was good to get back into the khakis again yesterday after work and venture down to Lodmoor. There was no particular plan in mind, just a slow walk around to see what was about and maybe make a few good images.

It wasn't long before we encountered some busy Long Tailed Tits along Beachdown Way and the reason was soon apparent. While Ian was concentrating on the adults, Rose had found a position where she had this superb view of the brood. 

That was the main excitement of the afternoon, but there are an abundance of chicks of many varieties on view at the moment and offering similar photographic opportunities. It was also pleasing to again have some good Marsh Harrier sightings.

Once in a Lifetime

Yesterday was a special day for us both. Rose was nominated to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace and Ian got to attend as her 'official hanger on', aka Spouse. Rose's nomination was threefold, based upon her work for Dorset Fire & Rescue Service managing youth diversion programmes. But it was also in recognition of the book she wrote about her daughter Karina's battle with cancer and also her charity fund raising by running three London marathons in Karina's memory.

The weather did its best to spoil things, as a heavy shower coincided with the arrival of the Royal party on the balcony above the garden. However, the Queen was unfazed by it and carried on meeting guests under a clear umbrella.

The tea, sandwiches, cakes and ice cream were, as you would expect, of the highest order and the organisation of the whole afternoon was impeccable. Too soon it was all over, but a treasured memory that will stay with us forever.

Africa 2014

So far we have only blogged about UK wildlife trips and sightings, but in January of this year we were fortunate enough to spend a week on safari in South Africa. We based ourselves at the Tangala Lodge in the Thornybush Reserve, close by the Kruger National Park. 

There we were guided by Floris De Meyer and tracker Maurice, who did a fantastic job of seeking out all of the big 5, sometimes in very challenging weather. The South African summer is particularly hot, but at times very wet and the resulting lush vegetation makes spotting the animals even more difficult.

Through their undoubted skill, we were able to make this particularly pleasing image of a young lioness which was shot on a full frame camera at a focal length of 210mm. In short, we were CLOSE.

The trip was not only for pleasure, but also a fact finding mission for a proposed group safari in September 2015. It will be a Big 5 safari taking in at least two lodges and aims to be affordable. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like to express an interest.

Better Late Than Never

After the wake up call from Eggy last week I thought it was time to get back on topic and probably also high time I went through the images from Good Friday on Portland. I mentioned back then what a bright and warm day it was and also that there was an abundance of birdlife filling the air with song. In amongst the images I've gone through this evening I found this one of a Wheatear right on the cliff edge, slightly north east of the bird observatory.

Owls of Pleasure

We've been trying to get some Owl images for over a year now and only met with limited success. Last year we were fortunate enough to see a Barn Owl out hunting, but his habit of coming out just as the light was fading didn't help matters. On one occasion there was a fleeting glimpse of a Short Eared Owl, but even that image wasn't great. As for African Eagle Owls, they were conspicuous by their absence on our last trip.

So we recently made a trip to Buckinghamshire where we knew there were Little Owls on offer from a hide. In the days leading up to our trip they had been very visible and on a lovely day, we weren't disappointed. It was a pleasure to be able to spend five solid hours photographing these beautiful birds.

This is a bit of a plain image and a quick look on Flickr will reveal a lot of pictures of the same bird on the same fence post. I'll try harder to locate a more interesting image when time allows.

Introducing Henry

Domestic animals are not usually what we photograph, our preference is for the wild variety and the challenges they bring. But last weekend the macro lens was out to make a record of the first 'Karina Eloise' rose of the year, when Henry showed up. He's the youngest of our three cats, something of a loveable rogue and quite vocal when he wants attention. So to keep the peace, I fired off a few frames and came up with this 'butter wouldn't melt' image.

For those interested in things horticultural, the Karina Eloise rose is a delicately scented red floribunda that was grown and named in memory of Rose's daughter, who passed away in 2003.

Red Moon

On Friday we took a long-awaited trip up to Buckinghamshire to spend the afternoon and early evening photographing Little Owls. It was a very rewarding trip with plenty of sightings and the occasional lull in proceedings during which we could satisfy our thirst and hunger pangs. The weather was set fair too, so we had an enjoyable time. More about that when we have had time to go through the images we produced.

The journey back was uneventful, but as we crossed the Ridgeway into Weymouth we were greeted by  a deep orange moon to the South East. It was a real opportunity, but tiredness had set in and we let the moment pass. However, yesterday was a similar day to Friday, so we headed over to Bincombe to await the moon rise. We weren't disappointed and made the image above.

Happy Easter

Time Flies

It's been some time since the last blog post and it may look like nothing has been happening. That's not true of course, it's just an indication that if you are going to blog, time has to be set aside from the doing, to enable the blogging.
On top of this is a need to do things that are worth blogging anyway and the reality is the mundane day-to-day living isn't terribly interesting. Add in a couple of wildlife shoots where the wildlife hasn't played the game and a near three week break soon happens.
With the weather set fair for the first part of the Easter weekend, we decided to try our luck with what Portland had to offer. I've never found the island to be a warm place, I've even felt cold there on a sunny July day in the past, but Good Friday 2014 has been different. We spent a full seven hours on the cliffs between Church Ope Cove and Portland Bill and were warm the whole time.
There was plenty to occupy us as well, with plenty of Wheatear and Pied Wagtails about, not to mention Stonechat and the lovely sound of the numerous Skylarks. Highlight though was at the end of the day when we spotted a Peregrine Falcon beside Cheyne Weares Look Out.
I was also privileged to see the Weymouth lifeboat on a shout for the first time. A boyhood fascination with the lifeboat was born out of living next door to a crewman and many's the time I have watched them launch from the Nothe Parade boathouse. I had a VHF radio that would give me Channel 16 so that I could hear where they were going and even sometimes the names of the crew being passed to the Coastguards. But my lack of sea legs prevented me from trying to do anything to join the crew.
So after nearly 50 years, to see the boat actually underway on a job was quite thrilling and I just had to get the shot I've posted here. A while later I learned they had been on their way to rescue a broken down fishing boat from a point 29 miles south west of Portland Bill. It was a nice day for it and maybe one that I could have coped with, without the need for the Kwells!

Anglesey Weekend

I suppose living in Dorset ought to make capturing a Red Squirrel image fairly easy. A trip to Brownsea Island should be all it needs and if that fails we can always fall back on a trip over to the Isle of Wight without too much difficulty.
So why is it that a trip to Anglesey was planned with the 600 mile + trip that entailed? The truth is that research suggested it was the closest place that we could be guaranteed a sighting and with it a good shooting opportunity. Add to that the fact that the sat nav was going to take us right past Gigrin Farm at Red Kite feeding time and the answer becomes apparent. A trip to Brownsea last year had also yielded nothing, apart from the information that you have to carefully time a visit for Red Squirrel sightings.
Naturally with a distance such as that to cover, it had to be a full weekend jaunt and that resulted in another 170 miles on the clock. But all looked to be set for a good weekend with fine dry weather forecast for the area.
Setting off on Friday morning was delayed by torrential rain which made loading the car take a lot longer than normal. We were into Wales before the rain really stopped, but it was dry as we reached Gigrin and with 15 minutes to go to feeding time we were set up. There were a good number of birds, although not as many as our last visit in the Autumn. It was overcast, but part-way through the feeding there was a fleeting glimpse of sunshine during which I made this image. Almost as soon as the shoot ended, the rain returned and stayed with us for the remainder of the drive to our base in Porthmadog.
Saturday dawned wet and not very promising for our first Red Squirrel site on Anglesey. The rain stopped shortly after we arrived and one of the locals kindly pointed out a Squirrel atop a tree. Within minutes he was down the tree, on the far side to where we were standing, into the undergrowth and gone. We spent the rest of the day on the local area, but never saw another Squirrel.
Sunday morning was much better weather-wise and we set off back to Anglesey to another site. This proved to be even worse than Saturday and after a fruitless search, with much stopping, looking and listening we decided to cut our losses and head for RSPB South Stack at Holyhead. That gave us the opportunity to have some lunch and make some images of a Peregrine Falcon perched on the cliff face. The plan then was to head back South to RSPB Valley Wetlands, adjacent to RAF Valley and then return to the squirrel site from Saturday. In actual fact, Valley was much like Radipole Lake and Lodmoor have been recently, quiet with just the usual suspects about. So we set off for the final chance to see a Squirrel and as soon as we entered the car park, I spotted one feeding. We then spent a couple of hours until it was nearly dark watching and waiting and were rewarded with sightings of what I believe to be at least four different squirrels. We headed off for dinner and back to base, happy that we had at last seen what we wanted.
Monday was travelling home day and the forecast was for rain gradually moving north westwards. We calculated that it was likely to be wet at Gigrin, but thought we may have a chance of more Red Kites at the Nant Yr Arian feeding station. Unfortunately, the felling of Larch trees there to control the spread of Phytophthora ramorum, a fatal fungus, has left the site decimated. The number of Kites has consequently reduced, but still provide a spectacle. Unfortunately, our weather calculations proved to be incorrect as the rain arrived at the same time as the birds' meat, so although we made a few images, there was nothing worth showing.
And so our weekend came to a close, with just a four hour drive back to Dorset. All told a sometimes frustrating weekend, but a pleasurable one nonetheless, learning valuable lessons for the future. Next stop Brownsea or the Isle of Wight.

Courting Weekend

This was going to be the weekend where we and a whole group of others were going to get THE Great Crested Grebe courtship dance shot. It turned out that after two days of waiting, no-one actually got the shot, although it must be said there were some who came close. I've entitled this shot Will They, Won't They, because it is very typical of the behaviour they displayed. On Saturday there was not too much action, there was a stiff breeze and that made the water quite choppy. There were four pairs to choose from, but even those who managed to find some flatter water didn't oblige us. It would have been a distant shot had they done so. Frustrated by this lack of action, we moved off around the reserve and tried to hunt down some Bearded Tits. Some members of our group had already been successful the previous weekend and posted some stunning shots on Flickr. Again we were to be disappointed. They were there because we could hear them, but they were deep in the reeds and we never did see them.

Sunday was rather better from a wind strength point of view and that is when I got this shot. There were still four pairs of Grebes, but they were generally much closer to our position. I lost count of the number of times it looked like we should finally be lucky, but we never were. There was one occasion where one pair tried to exchange tokens of their love (a reed stalk and a small twig), but I guess neither were that impressed and eventually they parted.

On the face of it, a wasted weekend, but it was far from that. The weather was good, as was the company and it was quite relaxing just to watch the birds on their terms, with the feeling of expectation.

A Rest from the Spoonbills

After two days of solid Spoonbill chasing, we decided to take a rest from that and ventured down to RSPB Radipole Lake to see what was on offer. The day started promisingly with a pair of Great Crested Grebe doing a courtship dance near the concrete bridge. Looking into the sun, a silhouette shot really didn't do the spectacle justice, so we moved on to where we had been told there were Bearded Tits. There was nothing doing in that respect, but very soon we came upon a pair of Long Tailed Tits busily nest building and we started to look for THE shot. A dead tree in close proximity offered what we needed, but as ever the wildlife had other ideas.
So about 90 minutes later we were still there having photographed them in a variety of poses and light conditions as they came and went. Sometimes they would be gone for ten minutes, other times only for about thirty seconds as they gathered lichen and moss to build their new home. In that time THE shot was only offered twice and this was one of the results. They don't perch for long before they move off again, maybe only to another branch, but on other times to a distant tree.
The rest of the visit was something of an anti-climax. We heard reports of Marsh Harrier activity closer to the North hide than normal in the morning, but saw nothing and there had been a brief glimpse of the Kingfisher. So without further ado we decided to adjourn and found ourselves drawn back to RSPB Lodmoor. 
The closest shot of a single Spoonbill was on offer from the Western path, before it flew back to the distant location they seem to have favoured on this visit. We later learned that the other three had flown away from the reserve earlier in the afternoon.
And so to today, where we have found out that the Bearded Tits were back at Radipole late afternoon, well after we had left. Our friend Frank Gardiner has posted up some beautiful shots of them. I guess that's more unfinished business for us.

Spoonbill Stake Out

The welcome sunshine that arrived yesterday sent me down to RSPB Lodmoor for another crack at getting a decent Spoonbill shot. Last weekend's effort had been a complete waste of time as they kept their distance, rendering a mere record shot as the only outcome. Once I arrived it was quite easy to find them, but getting a shot was out of the question. So I set up in the shelter where I could at least track their movements and hope they would come close. Suffice to say, four hours later they had moved a few times, but never came close so I gave up for the day.
Today was a different matter and Rose and I set off again hoping it would be our lucky day. As we approached the shelter, we could see that they were quite close and meeting up with our friends Frank and Chris, they reckoned we should get a result. Once again we set up in the shelter along with another friend Danny, who had already been there for nearly three hours. At this point the 'Spoons' were all sleeping and although each would stir briefly and preen for a few minutes, they just went back to sleep again. And so it remained for another couple of hours until one of the trio started walking, quickly joined by the other two. We hoped that finally they would move near enough to get a decent shot and very quickly they took to the air. For a couple of minutes they circled around, getting higher and higher and then started to dive down. It looked as though they had found a spot to land, but then suddenly they climbed again. A couple more circuits and they did land, in the middle of the reserve where once more a shot was impossible. So this shot I grabbed as they were taking off was about the best I could get today. But there's always tomorrow………….

Processing and All That

The plan for today was to have a serious attempt at going through the images from our recent trip to South Africa. It wasn't long before I came across this image of what is said to be the most photographed bird in the country. I can see why that should be. There are many different shades in their feathers and most importantly, they like to pose. This is one of a series of shots and also my favourite.
That trip was a fact finding visit as much as for photography.  We are planning a trip in 2015 with a group of four to six enthusiastic photographers in conjunction with On Track Safaris. So if you want to get shots like these and others we shall be posting in the next few weeks, be sure to get in touch. 
As I'm sat here doing this, the sun is creeping through the grey clouds and I think I won't get through many more images before the urge to get out to the local reserve takes over.

Ian Rose Photography is Born

This portrait of a Mute Swan was taken at Lodmoor RSPB today as we waited for the Spoonbills to move closer to the cameras. A super portrait to mark the start of Ian Rose Photography  and the launch of this blog. We will be regularly updating with images from our various assignments, along with information about the workshops and photographic trips we are organising.
Exciting news to start off with is a planned Big 5 safari to South Africa in September 2015. We have recently returned from a fact finding trip and are now working on the exact details with our colleagues in South Africa. The most important aspect of this is to ensure it is affordable for enthusiast photographers and represents good value for money. More details as they become available.
You can catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter and look out for the website coming soon at ianrosephotography.co.uk.
Incidentally, the Spoonbills never did come close.