Saturday 28 December 2013

A new little project #Nuthatch #Blackcap #Jay #Fieldfare #LongTailedTit

Over the last few weeks when visiting a relative I have been spending about an hour each time just sitting outside watching what wildlife is around, as even when looking through the window there's always something to see and there seems to be quite a mixture visiting. I think living near a woods has a benefit!

After being out for most of the morning, on my way back I decided to call in for about an hour or so with the camera hiding behind a large tree and a rather spikey bush. All the birds didn't seem to bothered about my presence, especially the Nuthatch he was Mr Confident. 
There were lots of visits from the male Nuthatch, also male Blackcap, Great - Blue and Coal Tit, Fieldfare, Black Birds, Robin, Wood Pigeon and the regular Pigeon, Long Tailed Tits, Dunnock and Jay.

With this range of birds I have decided to start up a small project to photograph these guys, which I will set up a hide and add more feeders around the area.

Below are some quick shots of the Nuthatch, and there's a certain part of a tree I'll be focusing on which the Nuthatch did perch on (I was slightly happy!) but he was bobbing his head up and down that quick the shot turned out rather rubbish as you can see - I'll keep trying :)




As you can see below the Nuthatch landing perfectly on the tree, a shame about the focus! 

After about 40mins I went back into the house, then as soon as I turned around to lock the door, one of the Jays flew down and perched on the exact same bit - just typical... So I headed back out for another 20mins and the Jay did come back but within a matter of a second he caught a glimpse of me then was off again. Hopefully the hide should make the bird stay around a little bit longer!



The two shots I'm aiming for is the Nuthatch and Jay. Possibly Blackcap too!

Thanks for looking,
Eve :)

Images taken with a D800 - 400mm zoom lens - no tripod.

Friday 13 December 2013

Last of the autumnal Red Squirrel shots.

I thought I had showed all my favourite autumnal squirrel shots, but the other night I found a card with 100+ images on.

So here are a few more images (I promise these will be the last!) :) 



I had a lot of enjoyment watching these guys and there great little creatures to photograph!All taken with a Nikon D800 - 70-300mm lens.
Thanks for looking,Eve :) 

Saturday 7 December 2013

On the coast watching Knots

Around lunch time today I headed off to Hoylake not far from me which looks across the Irish Sea that meets up with the Dee Estuary (being my usual patch to watch and photograph wildlife).

Today I spent a couple of hours mostly watching and photographing Knots. There were also Oystercatchers, Herring Gull, Black-backed Gulls and I think a few Cormorants. Saw a bird of prey but couldn't quite see what it was, but heard someone say a Peregrine...

The tide didn't come in too high today, but close enough to get a nice view of the waders. The weather turned quite dull towards the end making it not to great to photograph and the waders seemed to be quite spooked. 

It was a great few hours in the fresh air watching these birds and I'll be heading back again to photograph in a bit better conditions (to get the shot I want) :)

A few shots below from today:



Thanks for looking,Eve






Wednesday 4 December 2013

A day in the woods with Nutty Red Squirrels and a few nice little birds.

With the weather being so good, I decided to take a trip out for most of the morning to check out the Red Squirrels at Formby. I usually see and photograph these guys up North in the lovely Highlands.

I was pleasantly surprised by the location and can't believe I have never made a trip there before now. It was amazing to see so many Red's around the place, mostly running around chasing each other like mad, busy eating monkey nuts or running around searching for bits of food.

My aim was to try and photograph the squirrels, well aim for one nice shot, but it was pretty tricky as they couldn't stay still for even a few seconds! The light wasn't great, either too dark in the woods or too bright outside them #AlwaysAnotherDay, but managed to get some quick #ok shots for this post.

It was still an amazing sight to see and watch these guys along with the other wildlife around - Crows, Wood Pigeon, Magpies and one of my favourites the Jay (which never stayed still either!). 
I saw about six Jays in total, which I was really pleased with, along with another favourite the Nuthatch. Also around was the usual Coal, Great and Blue tit, Chaffinch, Black Bird and Robin.

Below are a few quick shots taken from today...

I definitely plan to make some more trips here to get that perfect woodland photograph I'm wanting and looking forward to my trips back up north next year to see these guys!
Thanks for looking,Eve :)