Common Snipe - continued

Here are a few more shots from my last session with the Snipe, as before
the light was stunning, as was the subject matter. I think it might be a bit
obvious that I love photographing this species :-)

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Wheatear

I couldn't get out with the camera today, so I had time to look through
some of my hard drives and found these shots of this lovely Wheatear.

Won't be too long till my much needed 12 days off work, so I'm hoping for
some more shots of this species and of course my much loved Snipe :-)

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Good News

This morning I headed up to the Common Snipe site to see if they had
returned, and after the recent disturbance I wasn't too hopeful. An early
start was again the order of the day ( 02.30, these are getting harder and as
the year progresses they are going to get even earlier ). I arrived for sun up and
it was a perfect morning, with perfect light which is always good for photography.

After a quick survey of the site nothing was showing, but then there was the familiar
sound of a male Common Snipe displaying and marking out it's territory. After parking
up the 4X4 I had another quick scan with the binos and found this superb bird sat on
his shouting post; FANTASTIC, the Snipes were back!!!.

The very cold start to Springtime has put everything back by about a month or so, this
may be a blessing because if the Snipe had returned during the repair to the river bank
they may have well abandoned the site altogether.

Anyhoo, I am a happy bunny once again in the knowing that the Snipe have returned and
I'm hoping they have a good year. Also at the site were 2 pair of Common Sandpiper, so
with any luck I will be able to capture some shots of those too.

Same as last year, all the shots are just about Full Frame, give or take a couple of pixels.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Meadow Pipit

It's been a while since my last blog post, so here is one from my
trip up North this morning.

I set off early to check out the Common Snipe site, on my last visit
the site had been just about ruined by the underpinning of the river bank
next to the bridge, but now the work is complete it was time to see if it
had disturbed the local wildlife?.  And the answer is yes, there wasn't a
Common Snipe in sight, now this could just be down to the very harsh start
to Springtime we having at the minute, when I arrived this morning there was
a thick covering of snow on the hills and in the valleys, we are nearly in May and
you would have thought it was mid Winter up there!!. That said, all the other
species had turned up, with Oystercatcher, Golden Plover, Curlew, Common Sandpiper
and as you can see from the shots Meadow Pipit.

So I am really hoping the Snipe return once it starts to warm up. Other species seen
this morning were Little Owl, Short-eared Owl, Black Grouse, Wheatear and a gorgeous
Stoat, though Mr Stoaty was at the Snipe site, so maybe not such a good sighting after all.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Red Grouse

This morning I headed up north to the Red Grouse site, and with Spring
just around the corner the male grouse were hard at it, sparring and jousting
with each other, with lots of calling and displaying. It made for a quite pleasant
morning.

On a rather sad note, my superb Common Snipe site has been turned into a
bloody disaster area, with a huge excavator sat right in the middle of the river.
I'm not too sure what's going on, but if the work isn't over in the next couple
of weeks there will be no Common Snipe, Common Sand or Oystercatchers!!

Until next time, thanks for looking.

Andy...

Curlew

Last year I spent a little time trying to photograph Curlews, anyone
who has tried this knows just how frustrating it can be. As soon as
you breech that invisible barrier off they fly, just like Buzzards, they
make you want to pull your hair out.

Here are a few shots I did manage to capture, I'm not going to say
how much time I spent trying for these images, I think that's best left
unsaid ; )

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Little Owl

It's been a while since my last blog post, this is partially down
to my image editing PC blowing up!!. This has caused me to
break out my brand new editing PC that has been sitting in it's
box for the last 5 months, and now that the new PC is up and
running I've had to learn a totally new way of image processing
in Lightroom 4. This new processing method is totally alien to me
and I think it's going to take some time to get used to. Anyhoo
here are a few Little Owl shots from last year, these have been
processed with the new workflow so not too sure how they look?

Boy do I miss my beloved CS2!!!

Until next time, thanks for looking.

Andy...

First shots of 2013 - Short-eared Owl

At long last I have my first shots of 2013, I photographed this beautiful
Short-eared Owl at first light this morning, what a bird!

Until next time, thanks for dropping by

Andy...

Barn Owl

A reworked image from back in 2010. Barn Owl sat on a fence.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

This will be my last blog post this year, so I'd like to
wish all who frequent my little bit of cyber space a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Your views
and comments have been greatly appreciated.

I don't think I have a Christmas themed image, so we'll
have to make do with this little spud. Probably my most
memorable wildlife encounter from this year and one that
will live long in the memory banks, being so close to a wild
Little Owl was a superb experience and one I hope to repeat
next year.

Ayhoo, have a good un and all the best for the coming year.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Short-eared Owl with prey

An early start led to a superb encounter with this gorgeous owl, The day
started with me scraping the ice off the car at 06.00, it was -6 degrees
and I was beginning to have second thoughts about making the trip as my
hands were freezing, but after a little griping I was off and on my way.

I arrived on site at about 08.00 and was pleased to find a slight increase
in temperature, it was only -5 degrees, but all you could see were copious
amounts of freezing fog, which doesn't make for ideal conditions for
photography, but I decided to stick it out and waited to see if any owls
came out early. After waiting for over an hour and a half this gorgeous
Short-eared Owl came within range and I managed a few shots.

I am very pleased with the shots, especially the ones of the owl eating
the vole, I know a guy who's been waiting for over 3 years to bag a shot
of a Shortie with a vole, so it just goes to show that an early start might pay
off after all.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Barn Owl

Some Barn Owl shots from earlier in the year, taken at one of my
favourite places on the North Norfolk Coast.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by.

Andy...

Snipe, Grouse and Mipit

Not had much time for photography over the last few days, so here
are a few shots from the files that didn't make previous posts.

Until next time thanks for dropping by.

Andy...