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

Morning Of Waxwings

For a while now I have been looking out for Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) around Norfolk, with no success. But last night, I found a location via Twitter and decided to see if they were still there today. I was surprised when I found out that the sighting was in the middle of a suburb of Norwich called Costessey in a small park.

I arrived about 9am with my mum as she was interested in seeing them as well and to my amazement, I found around 25 of them straight away in a single tree. I was buzzing with excitement. This was my first ever sighting of Waxwings and they didn't disappoint. You can easily identify them, by their crest on the head. I was also surprised at how tame they were, rarely did they fly off even when I got within five metres.

Waxwing's crest.

The majority of the time they rested in the tree together, preening and sleeping. Every five minutes or so, one would move closer to the neighbouring berry-laden tree to have a look. After inspecting the tree, it would quickly fly onto it, followed immediately by the rest of the flock.

Resting in the tree together.

A lone Waxwing inspecting the berry tree.

This scene was repeated every ten minutes or so, the birds only staying on the berry tree for around a minute or so at a time. This was plenty of time to get most of the shots I wanted.

Waxwing eating a berry.

Inspecting the berries.

Perched on the berries.

They stayed in the same place for about an hour before all flying off for a post-breakfast rest. I have been told that they have been here for the past week and have already stripped three trees of berries, with help from the blackbirds, of course. There are now only two trees with berries on and I cannot see them lasting too long, so get down there as soon as possible if you want to see them yourself. I returned later on and they had returned, but this time I only saw them for ten minutes before they all flew off. I did, however, get a few more shots of them.

Posing with its berry.

About to fly back to the tree with its food.

Catching the falling berry.

Watching the berry tree.

Tips

• Use Twitter, it's a great place to get information on locations.
• Arrive early in the morning, it is usually better light and you are more likely to find them.
• Research the call of the bird you are looking for. You are more likely to hear a Waxwing before you see it.

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lenses: 300mm, 300mm with a 2X convertor

www.wildlife-photos.co.uk

Cheers for reading and I hope you have enjoyed seeing these as much as I did today. Heading back to Cornwall on Sunday, so I might have to go visit the Waxwings again tomorrow!!

Feel free to follow me on my blog and on Twitter:  Josh_Jaggard

Kingfisher Sunrise Shoot

For my final year project I am studying the Carrick Roads, which is a large estuary in Falmouth, Cornwall. During one of my shoots, I came across a Kingfisher location. I had never properly seen a kingfisher before, except a few occasions when I have seen an electric blue flash fly by, so this was pretty exciting.

Over the next couple of days I visited the location three times, getting to know where the Kingfisher lands and where to position my hide. As it is a tidal estuary, I soon noticed that the Kingfisher only appears at certain times of the day depending on the tide. Personally I found the best time to photograph one is around three hours before high tide.

After waiting for the tides to coincide with sunrise, I set out to photograph the kingfisher. I made sure I arrived at the location at least 30 minutes before sunrise and set up my hide. I did this to prevent disturbing and scaring off the Kingfisher and to allow me adequate time to set up the shot I wanted.

After waiting 45 minutes without seeing anything, I looked out the back of my hide and saw these fantastic sunrise views.

 Redshanks (Tringa totanus) during sunrise

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) during sunrise

I suddenly had a difficult decision to make; either go out and photograph different species in the sunrise or wait for the Kingfisher, which I had set out to do?
In the end I decided to stay in the hide and, fortunately, within 10 minutes the Kingfisher had appeared,  landing on the perch I had intended to photograph it on.

The Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) on its perch, ready to fish

The sun was only hitting this perch and the background was in darkness creating this effect. It was all natural lighting without flash. This is the shot I was looking for - and the decision to stay in the hide had paid dividends on this occasion.

After just 15 minutes the golden light had gone, the sun disappearing behind the clouds. The Kingfisher was still around, but now on a different perch.

 

These photos aren't, in my view, as effective as the previous one, but do show more of its habitat. My next plan is to attempt a wide angle shot of the Kingfisher in its natural environment which I am hoping to attempt within the next four weeks when I return to Cornwall.

My main tips for photographing Kingfishers would be ;

1. To be patient 
2. Learn its behaviour
3. Learn where it lands and fishes
4. Use a hide
5. Add your own perch - this way you can plan the shot and the background more

Camera used: Nikon D90
Lens used: 300mm F2.8 with a X2 Converter

I hope you enjoyed this, my first blog. Many more to follow!!