Sanderlings and tide times - Norfolk Coast

Whilst filming and photographing the grey seals on the Norfolk coast, I came across a flock of Sanderlings on the shoreline. Normally you see individuals running around frantically looking for food. But it was getting to the end of the day and they had grouped up and were getting ready to roost.

Before I go on a photography shoot I always check what the conditions are ie. weather, wind etc... and when I'm on a beach its always good to know the tide times. In this case I remembered that high tide would be in a few hours. This helped massively in obtaining these shots. As large flocks can sometime be hard to approach due to the many eyes watching your every move. I positioned myself up on the beach a fair way back from the flock. From here I knew if I stayed still the tide would bring the flock to me and they wouldn't be scared off. After about a 45 minute wait the sanderlings were a meter away from me. I doubt I could of got this close if I had tried to approach them.

Here are the shots I got:

Sanderling flock

Portrait

Keeping an eye out

Taking flight

Amongst the flock

Preening

Take off

Washing

Profile

Reflection of the flock

Standing on one leg to save energy

Running from the water

Stretching

Flying kick!

Tips:

• Use the tide to your advantage.
• Patience is key to most wildlife photography and it nearly always pays off.
• As always, a low angle and shallow depth of field works well to make the subject stand out.

Website: www.wildlife-photos.co.uk
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Cairngorms

I recently came back from a trip to the Cairngorms. We were only there 3 day, which wasn't ideal but I did learn a lot from the short visit. My main aim was Mountain Hare but due to the weather conditions I didn't get to spend as much time as I had hoped on them.

I spent one day going after Red Grouse which in previous visits resulted in seeing the rear end of them flying off. This time I used my car as a hide and drove up to them. Here are some fellow photographers trying it out. Don't think my car is really big enough for all of us but it worked.

Photographing Red Grouse using a car as a hide.

This was a much more effective way then attempting to stalk them, which I tried before. The car journey resulted in the following image.

Red Grouse Portrait

Red Grouse in the heather

Red Grouse in its environment

Camouflage

Red Grouse keeping an eye out

Red Grouse

Mountain Hare were much harder then I thought they were going to be and took me a number of hours before perfecting a way to get closer to them. I found it much easier in January when there was plenty of snow. Some hares are more tolerant then other and after seeing about 30 different hares, I found a few which stayed around for a bit. I am hoping to go back and spend a solid week on them and get better pictures. But for now here are a few that I managed to get.

Silhouette on the horizon of a mountain hare. Normal view I got.

Mountain hare tucked down in a scrape

Mountain hares sitting in the peat

Mountain hare grazing on the grass

 I also visited a Speyside dusk watch in hope of seeing a Pine Marten. Sadly it didn't turn up but did get some amazing views of badgers and deer under the spotlights. Due to the power of spotlights you had to shoot at 6400iso to get anything near sharp but it was an experience I wont forget. I can only hope that the government comes to their senses soon, listens to everyone and stop the ridiculous badger cull!

Badger under the lights

Tips:

• Try stalking Red Grouse but if your having no joy, try finding some along a road and drive up to them.
• Be persistent with mountain hare, you will find one or two that wont run straight away.
• Patience with mountain hare is key, the slower your approach the better and the more behavior you will see.
• Use the landscape to your advantage if possible. Mounds, ditches and rocks are a photographs best friend when stalking wildlife, mountain hare especially.

Website: www.wildlife-photos.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/Josh_Jaggard
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JoshJaggardPhotography

Norfolk Broads - An Owl's Heaven

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Recently I have been trying to photograph Barn Owls. A month ago, I was told of a local location where one had been spotted daily. After spending a week and a half, most mornings and evenings, the Owl never turned up. It still hasn't been spotted and it has been 3 weeks now, so I feel something might have happened to it or hopefully it had just relocated.

During a visit to a wildlife reserve I met Norman Tottle, who is a Norfolk-based photographer who specialises in the landscape and wildlife of the Norfolk Broads. He told me to check out a number of different areas where he regularly finds Barn Owls.

So for the past few days I have been traveling to the Broads to photograph the Owls, early morning and evening. I knew the Norfolk Broads was well known for its wildlife, but didn't realise how bio-diverse it is. Currently, at one location you can spot daily: a Barn Owl, Short Eared Owl, Little Owls, Cranes, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Cettis Warblers, Great Crested Grebes, Herons and the elusive pigeon. Also Otters are sighted occasionally, so I am always on the lookout.

I felt as if I had won the lottery finally getting to see the owls and all the other species. For the last few days though, I have just been concentrating on the Barn Owl and Short Eared Owl. Here are a few of my pictures so far:

Barn Owl in flight - Norfolk

Barn Owl hovering - Norfolk

Short Eared Owl watching me - Norfolk

Random Heron - Norfolk

Barn Owl flying over the reeds - Norfolk

Barn Owl roaming - Norfolk

Short Eared Owl Flying low - Norfolk

Tips:

• Wear camouflage if you want a closer view.
• Speak to locals, they can guide you to the best areas.
• Best time to see Owls, is after a few days of rain, as they are out during the day to find food. They can't hunt very well in the rain, so they are normally hungry.

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RSPB Minsmere

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After signing up to be a member of the RSPB, I decided to go to one of their well known reserves that I hadn't been to yet, Minsmere. I wanted to spend most of the day there, so I set off at 5am because it takes a hour and 10 from mine.

I decided to spend the whole day in one hide, as I am yet to do this. This meant that I didn't see much of the reserve but allowed me to document and record the same area all day. It ended up being a 10 hour shoot with no breaks and in 1 hide. This was a test of my patience as there were long periods with no activity.

View from the hide, 2 deer in the water and 1 on the path.

The key species I wanted to photograph were Bittern and Otters but both are elusive species.

I didn't see any otters but did end up seeing 4 bitterns. 2 flew straight past the hide and another one walked down a path next to the hide for about a minute, but was quiet a distance away from me. It wasn't until 3:30pm, 9 hours into my shoot that one flew into the reed beds but the lighting wasn't great for photography.

Other species I photographed and documented were:

4 Bitterns, 4 Marsh Harriers collecting reeds for nest material, 4 Red Deer, 2 Water Rail, 2 Cetti's Warblers, a Kingfisher, 2 Monkjack's, Mating Greylag Geese, Mating Coots, Reed Bunting, Squirrel and the rare Blue Tit.

So it wasn't a bad day really and I met some nice people as well. One being Norman Tottle who gave me a few locations and local knowledge around the area, which was good.

Here are a few of the images from the day.

Bittern flying over the water.

Water Rail flying into the reeds.

Marsh Harrier collecting reeds for its nest.

Red deer in the reeds.

Bittern flying over the reeds.

Cetti's Warbler displaying for mate.

Cetti's Warbler hiding in the reeds.

Bittern wading through the water.

Marsh Harrier soaring.

Red deer.

Red deer in the water.

Red Deer grazing.

During the day, 4 Red deer came into the water to cool down. It was a great experience even though it annoyed some twitchers who stormed off in angry. They then came and slept in front of the hide for the next hour. They were too close to photograph 90% of the time, but great to watch.

Tips:

• Patience pays off.
• Wear suncream in hides (My hands got burnt)
• Speak to people and you will pick up local knowledge and tips.

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Thanks for looking

RSPB Norfolk

After returning home from Cornwall,  I decided to go on a shoot in North Norfolk as the weather was great. I wanted to find Black Throated Divers and Black Necked Grebes, so I did a little research on recent sightings and came to the conclusion that I should head to Snettisham and Titchwell, which are both RSPB Reserves.  They had both had sightings in the past few weeks, so it was a long shot but was better then nothing.

I ended up not finding either of the birds I wanted to, which is normally the case with wildlife photography, but still had a great day and photographed a number of different species.

Key Species: Great Egret, Avocets, Skylark, Bar-Tailed Godwits, Shovelers, Barnacle Geese, Goldeneyes and a Common Lizard

Here are a few shots from today:

Barnacle Goose

Avocets Mating

Avocet Feeding

Skylark

Flock of around 1000 geese

Bar-Tailed Godwit wading

Shoveler Preening

Shovelers

Tips:

• Research locations to have more luck finding specific species (even though I didn't find them on this occasion)
• Make the most of locations and photograph all of the species
• Patience in the hides pay off for behaviour shots ie. Avocets mating

Follow me on Twitter: @Josh_Jaggard

And check out my website: www.wildlife-photos.co.uk