Nasty grey wet weekend weather wise, so not ideal for birds photos. And as it was wet, the only option was to go somewhere with sheltered hides, so I visited my local Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve. I did manage to photograph a male Black-necked Grebe for the first time. Although they are large 50% crops. The advantage of a reserve like Blashford, where you have several habitats, and importantly several
Whilst Storm Clodagh blew through on Sunday, the best location in my mind was to be inside, and the bird hides at Blashford Lakes beckoned. With the adverse weather the light was low and so a higher than normal ISO was required to get a shootable speed. After the tern hide, and Ibsley hides provided nothing close by in relating to wildlife, a short visit to the Woodland hide provided
I was fortunate to come across a very patient and docile Kestral, sitting in a tree on a sunday walk from Tuckton to Hengistbury Head today. I took a shot from the distance that I first saw the Kestral, as normall when you get close to a raptor, it will take flight. However, much to my suprise this one did, not and with these next images, I was more or
This cheeky Robin was a difficult subject to capture on camera today at Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve, but not for the normal reason, it kept hoping towards me and getting too close to the lens to take. However a bit of perseverance by me, in backing off from it I got a couple of close up images of the bird. Having recently purchased Topaz Texture Effects, I decided to have
During this week I visited the Cotswold Falconry Centre for the first time. The Falconry Centre is right next to the Batsford Arboretum and home to approx 60 different species of Birds of Prey. The centre opens at 10.30 and flying displays take place each day at 11.30am, 1.30pm, and 3pm, with each diplay using different birds. During British summer time, March 29th until October 26th, there is an extra
Ham Wall is a RSPB nature reserve within the Somerset Levels and Moors, in area called Avalon Marshes near Glastonbury. It is an internationally recognised wetland and reedbed habitat covering around 469 acres, attracting many different species of nesting birds, including Cetti’s warbler, great-crested grebes and bitterns, along with other wildlife such as water voles, otters, butterflies and dragonflies. The wildlife to be seen at this time of year will
Middlebere Heath ( and the nearby Hartland Moor ) are owned by the National Trust. Middlebere has a path from the parking spaces at the entrances that leads down to 3 hides, two of which are small wagon like hides ( They make a good picture on their own ), with the last a larger hide past the rented cottages overlooking the Middlebere end of Poole Harbour – opposite from
Farlington Marshes is a Hampshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, located just of the A27 between Portsmouth and Havant. It is a wetland nature reserve and overlooks Portsmouth Harbour. The reserve is a wild bird grazing marsh, with lagoons, and it attracts over wintering wildfowl, especially Brent or Brant Geese which can gather there in large numbers. The reserve has cattle that are grazed on it, and if you visit with
Handa Island is a Scottish Wildlife Trust nature reserve located in the far north west of Scotland, and is home in the height of summer to close to 100,000 seabirds gathering to breed including guillemots, razorbills great skua and puffins (Information as published on the Scottish Wildlife Trust site). The reserve is accessed by a pedestrian ferry service that runs from Tarbet on demand during the visitor season. Tarbet and
The British Wildlife Centre advertises that it has the finest collection of native wildlife in Britain, with over forty different native species from tiny harvest mice to red deer. It offers good photo opportunities of the wildlife and interesting talks from the keepers at regular intervals during the day. The site is not large and offers good accessibility, and reasonable facilities including a coffee shop that sells selected food &
