Birds and Squirrels

A day of mixed fortunes; trying out a new bit of kit then my battery died... fortunately I managed to get one shot before it did so...

A Grey Squirrel shot at 14mm

I then focused on the surrounding birdlife for an hour or two...

Robin

Goldfinch

Blue Tit

And finally the squirrel returned, allowing me to get some nice close-ups...

A wet day with garden birds

Yesterday I went to The lost gardens of Heligan with a couple of course mates, It has one of the best hides for garden birds that I have ever been in. All day we sat there watching the frantic action as they darted around from feeder to feeder. The light was poor but upon arrival it started to rain, I always prefer to shoot in the rain (especially when sat in a dry hide) as I feel it adds something extra to a photograph. 

These are only low-res copies and the colours are slightly off, I am pleased with the sharpness of the shots though not sure if this will be obvious on internet copies...

Male Chaffinch 

Long Tailed Tit

Female Pheasant 

Blue Tit

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit

Great Tit

Nuthatch

Blue Tit

Easy subjects, difficult angles

Whilst not in Cornwall and away from the Choughs I have taken to practicing my wide angle technique. To make things easier for myself I have 'focused' on easier subjects. When back in Cornwall I hope to apply this technique to the Choughs, though of course this will be very difficult and take much time and patience. 

Unfortunately the light has been poor for what seems like an eternity in London so these shots are far from great.... I'm hoping for better tomorrow when I go to Regents park!

peg leg

Mallard line up...

Bodmin Moor

Ive just got back from a very long but very successful day at Bodmin moor! There was loads of species around and a lot to photograph... Though I found myself once again focusing on the ever elusive Dipper. Slightly larger than a Robin the Dipper lives in streams as it wades out in the fresh water to feed off insects. We watched it for ages as it 'dipped' again and again... my shots aren't great but there is a lot of potential at this new location.

A rare sight seing a Dipper on a branch like this

Looking for insects

Spot the Stoat?

It's caught an insect!

Another catch for the Dipper

Just a Common buzzard for the records...

Wild Cornwall- north and south encounters

Despite friday night being rather heavy I managed to get to the lizard for midday saturday, I was continuing with my project with the Cornish Choughs; one of the rarest birds in the country. We had a great afternoon and spotted 6 feeding at the same time, unfortunaely the light was poor so no great shots, nonetheless still good for records.

Today I went to the north coast, again poor light but still had some great wildlife encounters, very playful seals, snow buntings and a pod of 8-10 Dolphins were among the highlights. It's weekend like these which make me feel privileged to live in Cornwall

The Cornish Chough is known for its unusual flying technique 

Grey Seal of the most southerly point in Britain

*** this photo contain 20% of the entire population of Choughs in England***

Curlew taking off

a very playful seal of Godrevey head

**** A WILD ENGLISH DOLPHIN!!! (worst photo ever)

Perranporth at night

Last night I went to Perranporth on the north Cornwall coast, it seemed to lack photo opportunities whilst light, but when darkness fell things changed...

It's been a long time since I have shot anything other than wildlife, it was a refreshing break and felt good to get creative...

November Dipper

I have returned to the dipper site, now the canopy has thinned they are easier to photograph, as I can use an ISO less than 4000. This shot still isn't great but it is an improvement, we have a new location which we will try again tomorrow. Only had a couple of sightings this morning which was quite frustrating but I look forward to trying it again in the morning. Dippers are an elusive, stream dwelling bird, they're quite difficult to spot and even harder to photograph....

A Cornish Chough in its coastal environment

As many of you know I am studying one of the rarest birds in England for my final year project, The Cornish Chough.

 He is the first Male Chough to arrive back into to Cornwall, Its wing is badly damaged probably due to a Peregrine Falcon attack... 

A composite image showing the Cornish Chough in it's coastal environment

Autumnal Swanpool

Lately I have been practising at Swanpool lake; it's teeming with wildlife and only a short walk away, I've found a spot which enables me to get about 2 inches above the water, when combined with a flat surface it creates the glassy reflections as seen in shots 1 and 3. Conditions are hugely variable at this time of year which makes for unsettling, inconsistant photography.

I am currently searching for the elusive water rail which can be found in winter at Swanpool.

A wet, wet world

It seems to be raining all over the world and Cornwall is no different. Even the local wildlife seems to be fed up of the water...

A learning Curve...

I have spent the last weekend at Wildphotos, a photography symposium where the worlds best wildlife photographers come together and share their tips and stories. It was truly inspiring. This was coupled with a trip to Bushy park with an accomplished photographer, who taught me even more... unfortunately the light wasn't great so  I didn't capture anything fantastic... But I feel these two show best what I learnt over the weekend.

Light is everything; A stag portait in the 'golden hour' before sunset

Creating a sense of place;  a Grey Squirrel feeds, I kept it small in the frame to show the environment it's in. This was something that many photographers highlighted at the symposium.

A beautiful day in sunny Cornwall

The weather has been very poor lately in Cornwall. Luckily we had a break and the sun was shining though the wind was still strong. We headed to Godrevy point on the North coast of Cornwall. There is always a a lot of wildlife on Godrevy and today didn't disappoint. 

Female Stonechat in the 'golden hour' before sunset

Juvenile Cormorant 

Cormorant diving for food

An affectionate pair of Grey seals 

Rock Pipit with an insect for lunch

Just before we left we were treated with a Kestrel landing only a few feet away from us, the light was perfect...

Kestrel 

The day ended with one of the most stunning sunsets i've seen in cornwall, I only had a 500mm so had to make do

Sunset over St.Ives bay