Holiday Time

The Pyrenees from Our Bedroom Window

I’m often hearing the comment that I spend a lot of time away from home and even a recent shot I posted from last November noted that I get around. I have to agree that Rose and I do travel quite a bit, a conscious decision made following a life-changing occurrence, but still constrained by Rose having a day job. Our plan is to travel while we can and build a bank of memories that we can look back on when the ‘lure’ of international air travel has waned. 

We’ve reached the stage now where all of our holiday trips are photography-based, except for one, a situation that has evolved since we first raised a camera in anger back in 2011. With only one exception (2013), since 2009 we have spent 2 weeks every year in the Gascony region of France, either in June or September. In recent years, the September date has been

favourite, as I like to spend my birthday there.

Originally, the attraction was to spend our time there indulging our preferred pastime of cycling and to some extent it still is. For my 60th birthday, we celebrated by cycling up the Col du Tourmalet, Rose from the western side and me from the eastern route, meeting up at the summit. But as the photography took hold, we found ourselves bringing all of the camera kit as well as the bikes. The garden of the house we always rented gave us some wildlife shots that have been published and there was plenty to see in the fields around and about.

We had daily visits from Green Woodpeckers, wild Rabbits that were quite tame and even my first sighting of a Southern Scarce Swallowtail butterfly. There were plenty of Buzzards, although they were even more flighty than in UK, usually a pair of Jays and on one of the June trips, a pair of Black-shouldered Kites with a chick that fledged while we were there. We had Red Kites, Black Kites, Hummingbird Hawk Moths, White Stork and an abundance of other insects. Away from the house, in the Pyrenees we saw Griffon Vultures and on one day on the bikes, a Lammergeier.  Across the fields were Red Deer and in one of the local lakes, Coypu.

It got to the stage that in 2015 we even packed our hide and set it up in the garden. But it seems that was when things started to go downhill. All we managed to photograph that year were Pied Flycatchers. The last couple of years we reached the stage where we only took a camera as insurance and in case I came up with a landscape that caught my eye.

It’s difficult to know what caused the change, it could be Brexit I suppose. What it did was take us full circle so that the holiday became a rest from photography and enabled us to do some cycling on nice quiet roads. Drivers there are fully tolerant of cyclists and we didn’t feel endangered or threatened at all. So much so that on return to the UK the urge to ride the bike was hugely diminished.

If you’ve followed me this far you are probably wondering what place this post has in a website that is primarily about wildlife photography. That’s not a bad question, but I’m writing this on my return from our latest, and last, trip to that particular house in Gascony. The house has been sold and will no longer be available so we have had to find somewhere new. Fortunately we found somewhere about ten miles away in a valley, which will give us access to plenty of cycling routes from the front door.

The shame about that is, this year there were signs that the wildlife situation is coming around. The trees at the bottom of the garden are visited daily by Woodpeckers, Jays and on more than one occasion, Black-shouldered Kites. I’ve seen a Southern Scarce Swallowtail in the garden, the first since 2012 and Red Deer in the field opposite. There were Buzzards aplenty, although still just as flighty, as was the local Kestrel that had been missing for the last couple of years and a couple of Red Kites.

I’m at a loss to know why the situation changed as it did. There appeared to be nothing that had changed locally to cause it, but I guess we’ll never know. That’s a pity, because I have the feeling that next year would have been less cycling, more togging. Of course we may find there is plenty of wildlife to photograph at the new location, so perhaps we should again take full togging gear just in case.

The Gannets of Bempton Cliffs

Adult Gannet in Flight

We’re both big fans of Gannets and have photographed them on several occasions. On our three past trips to Shetland, we’ve made the hike from the car park up to Hermaness on Unst five times. The colony there is hugely impressive and well worth the effort of getting up there. The smell that hits you as you reach the cliff edge is something else too, not to mention the likelihood that the weather can turn against you in an instant. From the sea, we’ve also done the colony on Noss and witnessed the feeding frenzy offshore too.

Each time we return from Shetland we voice the opinion that we’ve ‘done’ Shetland and won’t be going back and so we have to look elsewhere for our Gannet fix. However, a further return is in the offing for 2021.

The obvious alternative location was Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire and in 2015 we paid our first visit. We spent a full two days there in mid-June and as well as the Gannets, there were Razorbills, a few Puffins and various passerines. We enjoyed the trip immensely and returned a year later in mid-July.

It seems we took our eyes off the ball, so by this year we were overdue another Gannet fix and planned a Bempton return. Mid-July was chosen again, knowing that there would be not much other than Gannets, but that was our preferred subject anyway.

During the Finland trip we had mentioned the idea to one of our fellow guests and he decided he wanted to meet up with us there on the Saturday morning at 10am. When we got there it was very misty and not really good for photography, but within an hour it had changed and the sunshine appeared. Naturally, that made things a bit difficult for shooting white birds against a dark background, so we were pleased when some cloud cover moved in. Apart from the Gannets, there was a Peregrine about, which eventually we found perched on the cliff. I tried a few shots but even at 600mm it was too far and nothing but a record shot, if that.

After some lunch we moved along to the other end of the reserve and got some excellent courting shots of the head shaking routine and the beaks touching. I was concentrating more on the sub-adults and trying to work out their ages from a diagram provided by the RSPB. It takes 5 years for a Gannet to reach full adult plumage. By the time we’d had enough, the visitor centre had closed and we headed back into Bridlington and fish and chips from the well-known 149 fish and chip shop.

Sunday was planned to be a repeat performance, but the weather was altogether better, being bright, but generally overcast. It was a repeat performance, although this time we were alone and actually split up for a while to pursue our separate targets. There were barely any Puffins to be seen and my folder for the day contained nothing other than Gannets, albeit there were nearly 400 of them. As with the day before, the visitor centre was closed by the time we left, but we gave the 149 a miss this time, the queues were just too long.

That was our 2 days over, but there is one thing that troubles me about RSPB Bempton Cliffs and has done since our 2016 visit. I have no axe to grind as we get free entry anyway, but anyone who pays is charged £5 to get in. My point is, like RSPB Minsmere, the reserve can be accessed for nothing from public footpaths well away from the visitor centre. At Bempton, if you arrive before the 9am opening time, again you can access the reserve for nothing, leaving your car in the free car park.

On this visit there was even more of an issue. The broadband link to the site was down, meaning that the card payment machines wouldn’t work. That being the case, only cash could be accepted, which was fair enough. But what we witnessed was customers saying they didn’t have any cash being allowed in without paying, which is hardly fair.

It doesn’t stop there though. The layout of the visitor centre is exceptionally poor and in consequence it is very easy to browse in the shop or use the café and then amble into the reserve without challenge or any need for payment to be made. Our membership of the RSPB ceased a few years ago due to their complete disregard for the needs of photographers and I feel that the management of the charity are still missing a trick or two.

Return to Mull (Part 2)

Dawn Over Craignure, Mull

We naturally had a late finish to the Lunga trip, so next morning we were able to have a later start than normal, prior to going out on the White-tailed Eagles trip. This is the fourth time we have done the trip, having done the public boat on the first occasion and private charters subsequently. While we enjoyed the public boat trip, once we’d done a private charter there was no going back. The freedom afforded by a smaller number on the photographers’ charter is a big help in getting the shot you’re after.

Once back on dry land we adjourned back to the house for lunch and an afternoon of Lightroom tutorials while the light was at its harshest. This isn’t how we like to operate and was a source of some frustration, but given we were promised early starts and late finishes ahead, we took it as a time for rest and relaxation.

After an early dinner we ventured out and headed down to Grasspoint to see what the Red Deer were doing. We spent a fruitful quarter of an hour with a group in the long grass and then decided to move on.

The plan was to head for Croggan, to check on the Common Gulls and see what waders were around. Finally, we were hoping to get lucky and spot an Otter in Loch Spelve before we headed back to base. We did find the Gulls, but there were less about than last year and actually no waders at all. We did get to see an Otter having supper in the kelp, but the light was fading fast, so not the best photo opportunity we could have hoped for. Already we were halfway through the trip.

Next morning we had a 4am alarm call and were on the road at 5am for another look at the Red Deer down towards Grasspoint. We spent almost an hour there this time and got some really beautiful shots of a stag in velvet as the sun was rising. The light on him was to die for and got the day off to a great start.

We then moved on over to Loch Na Keal looking for jellyfish of all things, the result of a conversation the previous day on the Eagle boat. Apparently weather and tide conditions had combined to make a perfect situation for the jellyfish and there were literally thousands lining part of the southern shore of the loch. It was an amazing sight and one that was to be repeated before we left.

Being Loch Na Keal, we kept an eye out for Otters and did have one quick sighting of a female moving her kit to a new location. Always low in the water and never out on the kelp, so no useful pictures. Staying in the area we got some shots of a Snipe and a Common Sandpiper, then finished up with another look at the Jellyfish before heading back for breakfast. That was it until after dinner, the harsh light being to blame again.

To begin with, the evening drive was a repeat of the previous evening taking in Grasspoint and Croggan. Much the same species on show as you would expect, although this time the Otter sighting was replaced with a distant Meadow Pipit. We decided that in the absence of Otter activity we’d relocate to Lochbuie and were rewarded with some fine Fallow Deer shots. On the way back, we took another look at Loch Spelve for Otters, again to no avail, but with some excellent sunset behind the mountains views.

Our final day started with another 4am alarm call and the chance to grab the image I’ve used in this post. The plan was to head down to Pennyghael for the waders and hopefully Otters in Loch Beg. The first part of the plan yielded Snipe, Curlew and Oystercatcher and gave me a landscape shot across Loch Beg, but we weren’t expecting what happened next.

Taking the road that leads around to Loch Na Keal, we spotted an Otter fishing and moving back the way we had just come. We got out of the car and started walking back down the road keeping it in sight, hoping it would come ashore. Quite soon it did and we got ourselves into the rocks and grassy banks between the loch and the road. Rose and I were about 20m apart and suddenly I saw the Otter heading straight towards her, at speed. From her position the Otter couldn’t see her, nor could she see it. They both had a bit of a shock when they finally saw each other and of course the Otter did an about turn and sped off back into the water.

Keeping low on the rocks and only moving when it was underwater, we continued to follow it and were really lucky that it came ashore again and very close. Plenty of frames were exposed over the next few minutes as it happily preened itself in amongst the kelp. A great sighting and one for the memory bank.

That was it for the morning and time to head back for breakfast. Over the meal we discussed with the other gentleman on the workshop how his morning had gone and the subject of the Jellyfish came up again. Apparently there were huge numbers again in Loch Na Keal right up to the shoreline, so we all decided to go there after lunch with the polarising filters and really go for them. You can imagine the disappointment when we got there and found there were very few to be seen. The weather hadn’t changed so we concluded the tide must have been the cause, but no pictures were taken. We did see an Otter fishing offshore, but it was too distant so we adjourned for dinner.

The evening drive was another repeat of the previous evenings, but less productive this time.

That was it, workshop over and somewhat disappointing, save for the day on Lunga and the Sea Eagles trip. We felt there were less people about on the island this year and the lack of wildlife we experienced last year was about the same. As for the workshop itself, the major frustration was the amount of downtime during the day. Discussing it since we returned, two decisions have been taken: we’ll not be returning to Mull for a fourth time and we’ll be cutting out such workshops in future.

Return to Mull

White-tailed Eagle - Loch Na Keal

In my final blog from our Mull trip last year, I mentioned we had booked a repeat visit for this year on an organised workshop. There were a number of reasons for this, the main one being I wasn’t in the best of health last time and it adversely affected my abilities. No surprise then that I was looking forward to this trip immensely.

On our return from Finland, we stayed in a hotel near Heathrow and next morning set off for Scotland to avoid the Friday delays on the M6. We planned to leave ourselves with a leisurely journey to the Oban ferry on Friday morning and time to stock up on some provisions before the 2pm sailing time. It didn’t work out that way though.

Arriving in Dalmally, with 25 miles left to Oban, there was a road closure and our only option was to divert via Inverary and Lochgilphead, a distance of 78 very twisty miles. We caught the ferry, but it was a close run thing and there was no time to get any goodies either.

Reaching the island, we made our way to our B & B for the next two nights and got settled in, before finding somewhere for an evening meal. At last we could relax.

On Saturday we had booked a day with one of the local wildlife tours on the recommendation of one of my cycling friends. It really wasn’t very good, some distant sightings of Golden Eagles and White-tailed Eagles, but nothing worth picking up the camera for. I also found the guide very condescending and it didn’t make for a good day. The only thing that came close to rescuing the day was a late sighting of two Otters that actually allowed us to get very close, but the day is not one to be repeated.

Our workshop was due to start at 5pm on Sunday, so once we checked out of the B & B we had quite a few hours to amuse ourselves. We had a couple of Otter sightings, but they stayed offshore and I amused myself with doing some landscapes. Then we set off to drive up to Tobermory and around the North of the island and back down the West side to Gruline, stopping to soak up the sunshine as we went.

Last year, apart from one day, we had glorious weather, so good in fact I remarked in my blog at the time how challenging the Puffins were to photograph in such bright light. This year it was equally as bright and there was no bad day at all weather-wise.

Our accommodation for the workshop was in a rather beautiful rented house just South of Craignure and we arrived a little early to a warm welcome from our workshop hosts. As we were unloading another guest arrived and that turned out to be the total attendance for the week. There was meant to be another guest and that evening a rather bizarre set of circumstances played out and he never turned up.

This year, the first day was taken up with the trip to Lunga, again via Staffa. However, as we were on an annually established workshop, Turus Mara were happy to take us out on the public boat and then pick us up at around 8:30pm in a fast rib. This turned out to be a stunning day and probably even better than our first trip to Lunga in 2015. In fact probably the highlight of the week.

For a non-sailor like me, conditions were perfect and I didn’t even need to take any Cinnarizine. Landing on Lunga was much easier as the tide was high, meaning less scrambling across wet rocks. The Puffins duly obliged and we had a mix of overcast skies and full sun. Plenty of time to seek out the Shags along with the Guillemot and Razorbill colonies too.

Time raced by and 8:30pm soon came around, but the amazing day wasn’t over quite yet. By now the sea was absolutely flat calm and mirror-like and meant we could make good speed, a thrill in itself. But then we came upon a pod of Dolphins and they proceeded to swim alongside to boat, breeching as they went. It was an unforgettable experience and one that I decided to just stand and take in, rather than see it unfold through a viewfinder. All too soon it was over and we got the rib back up to speed, only for another situation to unfold as we came across a becalmed yacht.

Our crew had a quick discussion and circled around to come alongside the yacht to check all was well. It wasn’t, the engine had failed and there was no wind to fill the sails, so it was just drifting. A line was attached and we then towed the yacht to a safe anchorage for overnight in the hope that next morning, there would be enough wind to continue their journey under sail. It was almost dark when we reached the jetty back on Mull, with high hopes that this was just the start of a great week.

Brown Bears in Finland

Brown Bear Approaching at 4am

It’s well over a year ago that we started to look into the idea of photographing Brown Bears for the first time. We reasoned there were three main possibilities open to us; Alaska, Romania and Finland.

Being retired, it was soon apparent that Alaska was out and with it the chance to get the Salmon run, unless a lottery win comes our way. Either of the other two options were suitable and we finally plumped for Finland. We had been there before on a winter activities holiday and liked the country itself and the people we met, so we felt comfortable with our choice.

Next it was a case of choosing the company we travelled with, based mainly on the availability of dates that suited us and by early June, everything was booked.

Fast forward twelve months and we were on a flight from Heathrow to Helsinki, with an onward flight to Kajaani booked. We had around a 4-hour layover in Helsinki and decided on a baguette for lunch. At over £8.50, it was probably the most expensive ever and no better than any I’d tasted before. Welcome to Finland.

What followed was rather bizarre. The gate for the onward flight was displayed when we arrived in the terminal and so after lunch we made our way there. First mistake, there was no seating. Then as we approached boarding time the gate changed and everyone who had been standing around marched off to the new gate. This happened a further three times before we finally got to the correct gate.

Arriving in Kajaani we met up with our guides for the trip and two of the other guests. The two further guests had been delayed on their flights into Helsinki and were to arrive much later.

Given the time of year, the way this trip works is for guests to settle into a hide (there are 28 to choose from) at 5pm and remain there until 7am next day. Hides are equipped with bunks and toilets, but as it never really got dark at night, the bunks didn’t get too much use.

The first night was spent in the lodge due to the late arrival and the following day was taken up by familiarisation with the lodge and how the trip would work, together with some photography around the lodge beside a beautiful lake. Only downside was the number of mosquitos, but we were prepared for them.

At 4pm we took dinner and finally it was time to walk out to the hides. It did seem bizarre that we were given packed lunches to eat during the night, but it worked well. By 5:30pm we were set up and waiting for the action to begin.

Our first visitor was a Wolverine at around 10:30pm followed by a pair of Bear cubs around 30 minutes later, one of whom was nearly white rather than brown. Although we’d had a 5-hour wait, we were quite encouraged and ready for more, but that was it and by 7am next day, nothing else had shown. Rose and I had taken it in turns to sleep for a couple of hours during the night, but after breakfast at 7:30am, it was time to crash out.

We had until 1:30pm, when our guides had arranged various activities each day such as tuition on many and varied photographic subjects. We had selected a different hide for the second night, but that turned out to be even worse. A Common Sandpiper around 7pm and a Wolf adorned with a hideous radio collar nearer 10pm and again just after midnight was all we saw.

For our third night we changed to a hide that overlooked water with a rocky outcrop on the other side. This had to be a good spot, but our hopes were dashed yet again. The highlight of the whole night was a pair of male Goldeneye that spent many hours on the water, but otherwise was boring. OK, we both got some sleep, still taking it in turns to keep watch, but it wasn’t what we came for. Personally, I spent some time getting all arty shooting reflections of the trees in the water, out-of-focus pictures of the tree trunks and the mist on the water around ‘dawn’.

Back at the lodge for breakfast, the lack of bears was the only topic of conversation. One guy in another group commented that he had spent four nights in hides and had yet to see anything. Even our guides were getting twitchy.

Things looked up a little on night four when an adult male Bear appeared at about 11:15pm for a quarter of an hour, at last there were some large bears around. Naturally, we weren’t satisfied though, it was a cloudy evening and by that time the sun would be just below the horizon anyway. Crank up the ISO to 12800 and see what we get, to be honest not much. We were lucky in one respect though, people in other hides didn’t see this Bear or anything else for that matter.

Night five was our last and we went back to one of our previous hides. This time we had nothing show up until 1:15am, apart from a Great Spotted Woodpecker. But then it became ‘Bear Central’ all of a sudden. The next four hours gave us eight visits and some beautiful backlit shots as the sun rose. There wasn’t much sleeping done that night.

All that remained was breakfast and then the trip back to Heathrow and the end of one trip, but the start of another. Naturally the question arises of whether to return or not, or even of whether to try for Bears in Romania. The decision is we are going back, but it will be an August or September visit rather than in June. The group that went there the following week had great sightings, it was just bad timing on our part.

Finally a word for our guides, who were devastated at the lack of action we had witnessed, it had never happened to them before. So much so, they offered a repeat trip at a discount, something I’ve never had from any tour operator before. Naturally that was a factor in our decision, not just the discount, but also the genuine offer from two top guys. It’s not my habit of naming companies or guides that I use in these blogs, but I’m happy to put interested parties in touch with this company by way of personal message.

Next stop, the Isle of Mull.

A Session with the Foxes

Seeing Eye to Eye with a Fox

It must be around 30 years ago now that my love of Foxes was born. In my garden no more than half a mile from Weymouth town centre was a Badger sett that I thought was deserted. It turned out that it was occupied by Badgers, but within a couple of years they had departed. Imagine my surprise then when one Summer weekend, sat in the garden soaking up the sun, I spotted two Fox cubs sat on the bank looking at me. They were very relaxed and soon started to become playful, frolicking in the sunshine for quite a while.

That was just the start and as they became more mature they got braver and would come up to the patio doors and look in. On one occasion when the doors were open, one even ventured into the house. I recall sometime later I was on night duty at Weymouth fire station beside the inner harbour and spotted a fox meandering along the pavement in the early hours. But all of this was in my pre-photography days.

The story then moves forward some years to July 2013 and my early days attempting wildlife photography. One evening I spotted another two Fox cubs playing in a field above Upwey churchyard and next day returned with my gear and waited. I was lucky and got a visit, but subsequent attempts drew a blank.

It was around this time I was paying regular visits to Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve for the Barn Owls and spotted another Fox near the edge of the reserve, but again, subsequent attempts to photograph it were fruitless. It’s true to say I wasn’t actively seeking them out and that’s still the case, but is something I intend to rectify. A project is in the planning stage.

Early in 2018 I renewed my quest for Fox pictures when we took a long weekend trip to Zandvoort in The Netherlands where there is a healthy population living in the dunes. We got some very good shots there, as the Foxes are relatively tame and consequently came quite close. There was plenty of lively interaction between them and we both came away with our best Fox images to date. (See Blog post 28th January 2018)

I was quite excited earlier this year though when Rose suggested we pay a visit to a hide in Buckinghamshire solely to photograph Foxes. She’d heard good reports and seen encouraging results, so a booking was made and one Monday in May saw us on our way up the M3.

For a change, the weather seemed to be on our side and by 3:30pm we were settled in the hide and ready to go. Pleasingly, the hide is on the low side of a paddock and partly sunken into the ground so that you are at eye level with the animals. It was a bonus to learn that there were two groups of Foxes using the paddock, which gave us even more scope.

It wasn’t long before we had a visit and for the next three and a half hours it was pretty busy. We were able to get close shots and long shots to include some habitat and different animals to choose from. This was a refreshing change for us, because too often we are in the situation where we are both photographing the same animal and although the slight variation of angle helps, it’s never enough.

One slight downside was the wealth of Magpies on the site regularly photo bombing our images. But then just occasionally there would be a shot where the presence of the Magpie actually added to the picture. Of course this is a by-product of the baiting that is put down to attract the Foxes and if you take advantage to get some Magpie shots when there are no Foxes about, it’s never a problem.

There is also an upside to it as well. Buzzards are frequent visitors and although I’ve been trying to get decent shots of Buzzards for a number of years, they just don’t play ball. Find one sat on a fence post beside the road as you drive past and they don’t move. Stop the car and before you come to a halt, they’re gone. But I don’t need to worry anymore; I don’t think I’ll ever get better pictures than I did from this hide.

It didn’t stop there though. Given that it’s Buckinghamshire, there’s a healthy population of Red Kites there and they harried the Buzzards ceaselessly, getting quite vicious at times. So although we went for the Foxes, we got so much more.

With the sun not at its midsummer peak, the paddock went into shadow at around 7pm and as it did, so the action diminished significantly and we decided it was time to leave. On exiting the hide there was just one more treat in store as the Red Kites were still circling overhead, so I spent a few minutes on some flight shots as the sun was getting lower.

It had been a very fruitful day that we thoroughly enjoyed and is almost certain to be repeated. Maybe next time the second hide that we saw under construction will be operating and we will be able to use it to get a different set of angles and consequently backgrounds. It looked like it was going to be a better-appointed hide too. Drop me an email if you want to learn more about this particular set up.

Scotland in April

Sparrowhawk in the Rain

It pains me to admit I’d reached the age of 55 before I ever set foot across the border into Scotland. I was still in my bike-racing phase and hadn’t moved into photography, but the trip was mainly about climbing a couple of Munros. We managed one, but bad weather scuppered the attempt on the second on safety grounds and Ben Nevis had to wait another year. But two things struck me; the sheer beauty of the scenery like nothing I’d seen before and the fact the compact camera I had couldn’t do it justice.

Since then we have been back half a dozen times, not to mention three trips to Shetland, three to Mull and one to North Uist. All bar one of those was for wildlife photography. It’s no surprise then that we nipped up to Dumfries and Galloway in April for a long weekend workshop.

The plan was to set off on Thursday for the Lake District to avoid the Friday melee on the M6, camp overnight and continue next morning to the Red Kite feeding station at Bellymack Farm. All went well until we arrived and were greeted by rain sheeting across the valley horizontally. It was a no go, a complete waste of time, so we headed off to Raiders Road to check out the camping at Otters Pool where we planned to spend Monday night before heading back to Dorset next morning.

The workshop wasn’t due to start until Saturday morning, but there was a meet up planned for the hotel restaurant on Friday night. There were ten attendees, but it was soon apparent that not all were staying in the hotel, as there weren’t enough rooms. That made things a bit disjointed unfortunately.

On Saturday morning, we were assigned one of the Sparrowhawk hides, mainly because on a previous visit we spent a whole day in the hide and the bird didn’t show up. In the hide just after 7am, we weren’t disappointed this time as we had four visits. The hide is very well situated and also gave us Red Squirrel, Jay, Siskin, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Redpoll along with the more common woodland birds. There was time to head back to the hotel for dinner before returning to the hide while still daylight to set up for Fox and Tawny Owls. The Owl put in an appearance, but the Fox was a no show. What was pleasing about this is it was done without the use of flash, the perch being permanently lit by LED lanterns. Day one was done and we were shattered, but it was another early start next day.

It was our turn in one of the two diving Kingfisher hides, which gave us some super shots, despite the fact the set up is not perfect. We spent most of the morning there before moving on to the Cuckoo hide after our packed lunch. Personally, I felt the word hide was a little grand for what was basically a solid roofed gazebo with some camouflaged scrim netting draped in front, but it did the trick and we had a frantic four-minute session before the bird departed.

Moving on from there we set up to capture Stonechat, but soon gave up and took the long drive back to the second Kingfisher diving hide. This hide is set up much better, but doesn’t have the same level of activity as the hide we’d been in during the morning. A disappointing end to the afternoon, so we set off for the hotel and dinner, eagerly awaiting our evening session with the Pine Martens.

For some reason we had to meet our guide five miles away in the wrong direction and then drive back past the hotel to get to the Pine Martens, which was quite a distance. Once we arrived where the vehicles had to be parked, we then had a walk of about half a mile along a disused railway track and over a viaduct to another ‘hide’. This was a wooden framework draped with black plastic, a wooden bench to sit on and no floor, just a muddy quagmire.

As a wildlife photographer I’m well used to laying in mud (and other less pleasant things) to get the shot. It goes with the territory and I happily accept that. But I feel that if we are expecting to be in a hide, especially as this was on a foul wet night and pitch black, it should meet a certain standard.

This turned out to be a total waste of time, no Pine Marten deemed to show its face and who could blame it on such a night. Worryingly, while we were in the hide (our guide had taken us there and left), we heard what sounded like a pack of dogs gradually approaching. We never saw anything and eventually they moved away, but it was somewhat unnerving, especially as we had to find our own way back to the car in the dark. It could also be that the sound of the dogs was what kept the Pine Marten at bay.

The final day was left to members of the group to decide which hides they particularly wanted to revisit. Our choice was to go back to the same kingfisher hide as the previous morning and then have another crack at the Sparrowhawk from the second hide. This proved to be a good choice and gave us even more Kingfisher shots than the previous day.

Lunchtime saw us move on to the Sparrowhawk hide and immediately had Red Squirrels and of course the resident woodland birds. I’d decided to be more choosy on this visit and apart from a few shots, I concentrated on the Sparrowhawk as the background from this hide was more pleasing. It may have been the wrong decision as we only had one visit, but it lasted more than 10 minutes and so I had plenty of opportunity to get THE shot.

Once the Sparrowhawk took off, we just had a short while to grab some more Redpoll pictures, before we were off to our final location. This involved a 10-mile drive to meet up with one of our guides and be shown to the Badger ‘hide’. We hadn’t expected the workshop to last into the evening of the final day, it only became clear the previous evening. The consequence was we had to shelve our camping plans and have another night in the hotel. Another bizarre happening became apparent too, when we learned the tour leader had left to go back home into England. It’s certainly the first workshop we’ve ever done where the tour leader bailed out before the end.

We had a short walk from where the cars were parked to the location of the hide and yet another surprise. This hide consisted of a wooden bench capable of seating three between a tree trunk and the edge of a dug out bank, roughly ten to twelve feet from the entrance to the set. That was it. To make matters worse, there were five of us in the group. It meant that four had to cram on the bench, while one person at a time layed flat on the ground to the side. It wasn’t ideal.

The Badgers soon appeared and we all got some shots, but they didn’t hang around as we’d been led to believe. Probably the rotation of positions while they were out of sight unsettled them in some way, but it was entirely necessary as it was impossible to remain in the laying position for very long and the fourth position on the bench partly obscured the animals from view.

Two of the group decided to leave and after 90 minutes, we also wandered back to the car, leaving one guy on the bench. Over dinner later on he told us that once the four of us had left, there was much more activity and we concluded it was because he was able to just sit there and allow them to relax.

Next day it was the long haul back home and chance to reflect on how the trip had gone. Undoubtedly we bagged some excellent pictures and in the main enjoyed the interaction with other members of the group. However, the quality of what was on offer and a lack of organisation did detract from the trip and would impact on any thoughts of a repeat.

Special Birthday (Part 4)

Preparing for Take Off

Unbeknown to Rose, Alfred had a plan to make her birthday trip really special and this was to be the day it happened. She had an inkling he had planned something, but was thinking along the lines of the people from the local Maasai village to come to the lodge to do their dances in her honour and maybe for there to be a birthday cake at dinner. How wrong she was.

The scene had been set the previous night when we were told we needed to go out an hour earlier than normal. The excuse was that the Fast Five (a coalition of 5 male Cheetahs we wanted to see) were moving into the area and we needed to be out in time to catch them in a particular area.

At 5am we set off in the pitch black and took a different route to normal. A while later driving along a wide track, we were overtaken by a couple of other vehicles travelling at some speed and Rose was inquisitive to know what was going on. Joseph passed it off as them being in a hurry to get to the same sighting as us.

A short distance further on we spotted some torchlights in a field beside the road and as we got closer we could see a lot of people and some vehicles parked there. We motored on by, but Rose asked Joseph what was happening there and he quite truthfully told her the answer. Not much further on, he stopped the vehicle, turned around and headed back to the field. The inevitable question was asked to which Joseph replied, “You’re going on a balloon flight”.

What followed was an unforgettable experience, a full hour balloon flight at up to 1000ft, followed by a champagne breakfast in the bush. A special experience for a special birthday.

It was mid-morning by the time we resumed normal game driving activities and spotted a pair of Topi fighting. We’ve seen this happen before, but this fight went on for fully ten minutes that we witnessed and was quite ferocious. No injuries resulted, amazing since the horns they possess look like they could inflict some nasty puncture wounds.

As the day progressed we had some more great sightings starting with a Wattled Plover (Lapwing) and a Lioness drinking. These were followed by a large Buffalo herd containing a number of cute calves and then two Thomson’s Gazelles mating.

The day ended as beautifully as it had begun when we had a very special two-hour sighting of a female Leopard named Bella 2. We got some wonderful images of her peering through gaps in bushes, stalking and just walking out in the open. It was yet another superb Leopard sighting that we have become used to getting on our trips to the Mara.

Having used the Fast Five as an excuse for the previous morning’s early start, our final morning was back to the normal 6am departure. The news coming through was that the Fast Five were indeed moving towards an area where we could see them and so we starting making our way towards the point at which they were expected to cross the boundary of the Mara National Park.

On the way we spotted our old Lion friend Olbarnoti, seemingly none the worse for wear after his extended chase of Notch 2. We also got pictures of a lone Black-backed Jackal carrying a body part he had stolen from a kill.

When we reached the border (actually a series of white painted rocks spaced about 200m apart) there were some rather zealous rangers keeping watch, so we had to sit and wait until the Cheetahs crossed into our territory. For three hours we followed them as they stalked across the open plain and watched them make a couple of failed attempts to make a kill before they were finally successful.

We sat watching them for nearly 30 minutes, but after about a quarter of an hour I had spotted a couple of Lions making their way towards us. Keeping a close eye on them it soon became apparent that it was a whole pride of Lions and they were using their numbers to set up an ambush to take the kill. Once the Cheetahs were aware of the Lions, it was a rush to eat as much as they could before their kill was stolen from them. Soon a chase ensued involving two Lionesses one of whom continued to chase a Cheetah that was unaware she was doing so. One of his brothers gave a warning call and the Cheetah turned on overdrive and was gone. Meanwhile the other Lioness had grabbed the kill and walked off with it.

Unfortunately there were some unsavoury moments involving the rangers, who were trying to fine drivers for going off-road and line their own pockets. We even witnessed guests in one vehicle paying them to be allowed to go off-road.

That was our final drive on this trip and we took the afternoon plane from the Mara back to Nairobi. Unlike previous trips, where we had dinner in a hotel before heading to the airport for our late evening flight back to London, this time we had booked an extra day in Nairobi. There were two reasons why we did this; firstly to visit the Giraffe feeding centre attached to Giraffe Manor, and secondly to visit the David Sheldrick Trust where we are sponsoring two elephants.

From my perspective I was uncomfortable with the Giraffe centre and unconvinced of its value save for a tourist attraction at the expense of the animals. The David Sheldrick experience was the total opposite, where the hour that the centre is open passed all too quickly. We certainly got a feel for the work they do in taking care of the wildlife in Kenya and were able to spend time with ‘our’ Elephants.

That was our trip over. Until November…..