Nigel Blake nature photography

Crossbill

2012-01-22T10:42:00.003Z

I can thoroughly recommend David Whistlecraft's woodland bird hide, here's some of the images I took on my visit.

http://www.djwimages.co.uk/

Owl photography

2012-01-22T10:35:00.000Z

If you want to learn the best ways to photograph wild owls without disturbing them why not book a full days tuition, e-mail me for details.

Winter gems

2012-01-22T10:25:00.000Z

A long time since my last post on here! I was not out as much prior to Christmas due to having what seemed like a chesty cold, it turned out to be a lung infection that resulted in low blood oxygen so I ended up in Hospital and unwell over the New Year celebrations, I'm bouncing back to full fitness now though.

I really like the winter, it's the time to spend at a feeding station, mine is now very busy with lots of common woodland birds coming to get photographed, a great reciprocal arrangement, I help them survive the long cold nights by keeping them fed and they pose for pictures! The Robins are now getting ready to pair up for spring, I have one who poses to sing ... next years Christmas cards perhaps!

The other good thing about Winter's short days is that you don't need to get up as early to shoot the sunrise, this puddled farm track is near Burwell in Cambridgeshire.

Below are some more feeder site birds, the Nuthatch is at one of my sites, but the Wren is at David Whistlecrafts Norfolk woodland hide, I have been there to photograph the Crossbills and Siskins that come to his pool, more on that in the next post.

Another great thing about the winter is the influx of Short-eared Owls that arrive from Scandinavia and beyond, these are a joy to photograph usually. However this year I have been appalled by the behaviour of many of the 'birders with with cameras' that have literally crowded out some of the sites these birds depend on for winter survival, the constant noise of talking, slamming car doors, mobile phones and pagers is bad enough, but several of these idiots spend time hounding and chasing the birds in vain attempts to get close up images. The lack of fieldcraft, general stupidity, complete disregard for the birds welfare, and utter disrespect to other genuine and careful photographers is contemptable!

For just a few days each year the sun rises in a position that allows a clean unrestricted long telephoto lens shot of Ely Cathederal from far away, the longer the lens the bigger the sun will look, I used 840mm (600mm + 1.4X) to get this image.

Close to home

2011-11-07T15:35:00.001Z

I usually check out the dung heap in autumn, just to see what is returning back to wintering areas, I haven’t seen much there as the dung seems to have migrated too, its not there! But there was a Wheatear or two finding plenty to eat at the site.

The other images are local landscapes in some fairly dramatic weather conditions, all taken during some of the brief bits of spare time or on the way to/from various other projects.

Waders

2011-11-07T15:06:00.001Z

This year is flying by, almost Christmas again and I am already fed-up with piped carols in the supermarket, glad I don’t work there!

The seasons are passing on and I nearly missed the main wader passage due to other work commitments and frankly some very crap weather, it seems to have been wet and windy whenever I have been free to head out with the big lenses.

I did get away to the coast though, one of my main target species was Curlew Sandpiper, I have many pictures on file but thus far have never managed to find a really confiding bird that I can shoot from right down in the mud, with it! Part of the problem now is that you can’t go anywhere without there being crowds of people, and amongst them is always another birder with a camera, usually one who makes more noise that a one-man-band in hob-nailed boots!

Well I found the bird, a 1^st year juvenile with a fine peachy flush of colour to its breast feathers, and after a little while stalking carefully I dropped to my tum and started shooting, soon the bird was used to me enough that I could get closer, however , dashing across the shingle I could see disaster looming, I’d been seen and another camera toting person was heading in my direction at breakneck speed…… fortunately once he was closer I recognized who it was and after a few hand-signals and whispered instructions the chap got down low and moved in slowly, he also waited until I was happy that I had the images I was wanting before joining in, It was so good that there are still a few who respect other peoples ‘finds’ and show some etiquette rather than bulldozing in, generally spooking the bird, leaving no-one with shots! Many thanks, you know who you are!

On other days I had to myself a very confiding Purple Sandpiper (above) and an equally tame Golden Plover, it posed for me for about 2 hours.......

.......and also I caught up with some Sanderling, practicing ballet and running in the surf on the beach at Titchwell.

Lots more images on http://www.flickr.com/

Farne-tastic weekend!

2011-06-29T12:23:00.000+01:00

A blinding weekend, two days on the Farne Islands with Steve Blain and Paul Hackett, the weather was pretty much perfect except a strong swell on the sea made the timings a bit outside what we had hoped for, but in the end it was a photographically productive trip.

I came home with all the target shots I had wanted, mostly that consisted of more and better Puffins in flight with bills full of Sandeels, Close ups of Shags showing the irrescent green colour better, Razorbills, I had perfect light for them on Saturday morning and a real poser to work with too.

You can find many more images from the Farnes on my Flickr pages click here .

I am on Facebook now too, please see the link on the top right of this page

1 to 1 photography tuition

2011-06-18T05:37:00.005+01:00

I am now available to take bookings for full day photography tuition (1 or 2 pupils) again, so if you are struggling with understanding your camera's settings, controlling exposure, fieldcraft and composition why not e-mail me for details.

Muddy puddles

2011-06-18T05:13:00.004+01:00

Most years I set up a pool to attract birds so I can get shots of them drinking and bathing, this year I have had 2 on the go, the long dry spring has meant that the pools were much more successful than usual with one pulling in Yellow and Pied Wagtails, Corn Buntings Linnets, Grenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and several species of Warbler, especially a pair of Whitethroats who came to bathe at about 8:40 a.m. each day.
The other pool was shallow and deliberately muddy and offered much needed building material for the Swallows and House Martins around the farm.
There are many more shots on my Flickr pages http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

Yellow Wagtails

2011-06-18T04:51:00.002+01:00

It's about time I did an update on here!! I don't know where this year has gone, it's half way through already and it feels like Christmas was just a few short weeks ago.
Always my favourite few weeks of the year is when sping migrants pass through the farmland near to home, the local dung heap is piled high with the bedding and muck from the winter cattle sheds and produces tons of bugs which from the end of March attract lots of Wheatears, Whinchats and Yellow Wagtails, all stop off to feed on their journey northwards.
This year the numbers were down, I suspect though due to there being several muck piles spread over the area rather than one big one so the birds weren't concentrated in one site, and this year the most accessable site had Sugar beet waste rather than dung spread on it.
7 birds have stayed, 3 males and 4 females took up residence around the Beet waste pile, of the males there is one with a very pale lemon coloured head that looks like a lutea ! There are 3 pairs of birds well into breeding now and they are eagerly coming to meal worms to feed to their young.

Barn Owls

2011-02-02T15:45:00.002Z

I am sure all who read this blog will know that I have a big love for Barn Owls, last week I spent several days working on them at a regular haunt.
There's no substitute for spending time just watching them and getting to know their favoured hunting spots, perches and habits, once you know the birds daily routine the photography is easy; you can be in the right place for the light at the right time of day and wait for the bird to come to you.
So, after 4 days of getting to know my birds daily routine I waited by one of the favoured perching places and got some great portraits in the morning, then spent the afternoon at its favourite hunting meadow shooting flight shots, a very nice day!

The problem with Waxwings!

2011-01-24T12:32:00.014Z

……Is that they are just too popular and too addictive!
With this winter looking like it would produce a big irruption of the Scandinavian beauties from early on I was keen to be out photographing them, it’s not that I haven’t already got lots of shots from previous years but the chance of fresh images on higher (ever growing) resolution was the driving factor.
However I am addicted to these fantastic looking birds and any opportunity to photograph them is usually a real joy; this year though some of that pleasure has been ruined by a few morons.
Now I am a fairly tolerant person but this year I have had my patience stretched by the idiots that turn up where these birds are feeding, that’s birders and camera wavers too; I’ve avoided using the expression ‘Bird photographers’ here because in the main (with 2 exceptions) it is the dSLR owning public with no real interest or knowledge of birds, the new to birding camera owners with no fieldcraft skills or understanding of Waxwing (or any other species) feeding behaviour and the almost totalitarian hard-core anti-photography birders who are the problem!
In general the camera wavers are usually pretty good at taking some carefully worded and constructive criticism of what they are doing wrong, they then stop chasing the birds around, get a few shots they are happy with and move on. Its much the same with most of the others too, some think they know it all'

“I’ve been photographing birds nearly 10 years mate who the f*** do you think you are”

is a typical reply when they're asked to not chase about all over the place unnerving the birds.
Only last week I was stood still in the same place for several hours where I had a great shot lined up on a branch the birds regularly dropped down on, each time they appeared the same idiot ran over to where I was and poked his 100-400mm over my shoulder causing the Waxwings to fly off, the birds got more unsettled, he was not pleased when I finally lost my rag.
Not long after I had the Waxwings right where I wanted them, next to a busy road they were not bothered by the traffic and they were down in the same place for the fifth visit, I was happily getting some great images when 2 idiots screeched to halt, slammed the car doors, then the driver, shouting and swearing, accused me of spooking the birds by being too close. Clearly he had no ability to comprehend it was his own door slamming noise and sudden movement or perhaps the Waxwings usual 'hit and run' swoop, feed and back to a safe perch method of feeding was the cause of their departure.
I do not claim any priority rights over anyone else to look at or photograph birds, but I would like to see a return to some manners and respect for other birdwatchers, it doesn't take alot of common sense to see that a photographer/birder might have a bird performing well for great views or pictures (however common the species) why people can't stay back and leave others to enjoy the moment is beyond my comprehension.

I am nearly 56, I’ve been birding since I was 10, and photographing nature since I was 16, I love it, and until about 5 years ago I could go out and meet like minded people who loved it too, sadly that pleasure is being eroded by that small minority of overly loud and obviously selfish morons who seem to spoil birding for everyone… including themselves!

Barn Owl book.

2011-01-14T16:24:00.008Z

Next month, February, sees the release of a new Barn Owl Book published by New Holland written by David Chandler with photography by me, it's available for pre-order already.
With a nearly double page spread Lapwing shot in the latest RSPB "Birds" Magazine and a Short-eared Owl picture on the January "Birdwatching" cover, things are looking OK for 2011

New site

2011-01-14T08:58:00.003Z

It's still under construction, but a couple of pages are viewable!

http://www.nigelblakephotography.co.uk/

Shorter days

2010-11-20T13:30:00.002Z

The autumn is one of my favourite times of the year, despite the weather being grey and the days being shorter, I always feel that everything in the countryside is busy and there is so much rich colour in the leaves, landscape and sunrise/sunsets.
No surprise then that I have been photographing autumn leaves and busy waders feeding as they return south for the winter.
I have also be taking many more shots of people out enjoying the countryside.
There are many more images from the past month on my Flickr gallery!

Tripod found

2010-11-10T23:08:00.002Z

The good news is that I have now got my tripod and gimbal head back, very many thanks to Mr and Mrs Smith at Burnham Thorpe and Hunstanton Police!

Lost Gitzo and Wimberley head

2010-11-08T22:15:00.003Z

During Sunday afternoon I lost my Gitzo GT3541LS Series 3 Systematic Tripod and a Wimberly gimbal head.
Most likely it was left at Burnham Norton beside the A149.
Many thanks in advance for any info.

Photo tuition

2010-10-15T11:26:00.004+01:00

Are you looking to improve your images, if so, I now have some time again to do full day one to one photo tuition on all aspects of nature photography as well as other subjects; why not email me for full details.
E-mail address is in the 'contact' box (page right).

Rotten woodland!

2010-10-15T09:44:00.003+01:00

It might have been a rotten summer but all that wet has lead to a bumper crop of fungus this autumn. This is a subject that I do not know much about and would be very wary of eating any of them; although lots are edible and tasty there are also many that will upset your stomach and even kill because they are so toxic.
You should be able to find lots to photograph in any woodland now, but it is best to go off the beaten track as sadly it seems many people trample on them, haven't a clue why!
I usually use fill-in flash or Lastolite reflectors to aid with lighting, it is also worth taking a sturdy tripod and cable/remote shutter release.
I think fungi are very photogenic and really like photographing them despite getting wet knees and also very muddy in the process!

Calendar

2010-09-20T21:22:00.003+01:00

Now available from the RSPB online shop, RSPB catalogue and all the RSPB reserve shops is this 2011 calendar packed with 12 of my Owl images!

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/p/Calendars/RSPB_Owls_Calendar_2011.htm

Eagle Owls!!

2010-09-20T08:52:00.006+01:00

I am sure that most who follow my blogs etc will know that I am as passionate about aviation photography as I am about wildlife imaging.
Lakenheath is a USAF base in Suffolk, its home to the mighty F15E, F15D and F15C Eagles of the 48th Fighter wing and I do spend quite a bit of time there, in fact many of my birding trips to Norfolk can be delayed as I pass the base on route, if something is happening then i'll generally stop for a while.
Its not without its wildlife interests, the grass on the base is home to several pairs of breeding Stone Curlew (I guess they are the best protected from egger's in the UK), there are Buzzards and Hobby in the air over Brandon forest, lots of Pied Wagtails and Muntjac too, occasionally I have seen fleeting glimpses of Little Owl on the fence around the base.
This year though the Little Owls have been more evident but until now have been a bit camera shy, but last week they posed for me and seemed so tame that I was able to show them to other aviation enthusiasts, all of whom had never seen a wild owl before, they all got excited at getting some fine images of the Owls......... and one has just e-mailed to tell me he's bought a fieldguide.... maybe a future RSPB member too! Lots of new images on my Flickr gallery. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

Waders galore

2010-09-20T08:27:00.004+01:00

A great day at Snettisham, with an 8.2 metre high tide just an hour or so after sunrise I knew it would be worth getting up at 3:30am, the forecast was perfect too. However it seems that the big flocks of birds went to Holme further around the coast. It's not that it was a bad day at all, loads of Godwits, Curlews, Oystercatchers, Knot, Dunlin and Ringed Plovers put on a great aerial ballet to delight the crowds and it was all spiced up by a Peregrine or two scything through the masses causing panic and confusion.
The star of the show for me was the single Knot that was oblivious to the people and carried on feeding along the tideline with a few metres. I laid down on the tideline about 10 metres ahead of it, wide angle at the ready, and waited, it walked past within inches of me and the camera. I am very grateful to Neil Stych for sending the image of the Knot and me shown below, its always good to have a record of such special moments.

A night on the town!!

2010-09-20T08:19:00.003+01:00

I know its not nature photography, however I thought it would be nice to show some more images of other subjects. London at night is spectacularly photogenic, I wouldn't recommend going there to take images at night on your own, but if you can get a couple of other like minded photographers to join you, you will come away with some great images.

Some Hirundines and the Butcher bird.

2010-09-04T16:33:00.002+01:00

This week has seen some quite nice weather with less wind so I've managed to get out and shoot alot of images. It was a real treat to find lots of Hirundines frequenting a stretch of barbed wire fence, using the car as a hide was perfect and I soon shot in the region of 15gig on Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins in what was excellent afternoon light.

The Red-backed Shrike stayed for a few days so I had to go and have another session photographing it when there were fewer people around, it was in the same hedge by the railway and turned out to be a bit of a poser!

Some other subjects.

2010-09-04T16:00:00.003+01:00

I like to just add a few shots of other subjects now and then, I haven't travelled very far afield of late but I did go to West Mersea in Essex, a day out for my mum who is recovering very well from a hip replacement operation, these beautiful pastel shaded beach huts caught my eye whilst there, luckily we got to a little cafe before the storm that was brewing in the background arrived!

This church is quite local to where I live, it's in the village of Steeple Morden and has just had the spire redone with wooden tiles, the local Great Spotted Woodpecker already has a liking for it!!

One of my favourite local subjects are the radio astonomy dishes at the Mullard Observatory near Cambridge, this is the Arcminute microkelvin imager (AMI) interferometer telescope that is studying the cosmic microwave background.

Lastly another great subject thats always fun to photograph, these are a small few from the Fireworks championships competition at Belvoir castle in Lincolnshire, a damp windy night, but very spectacular.

Red-backed Shrike

2010-08-28T23:10:00.004+01:00

An adult female Red-backed Shrike at Biggleswade, between Biggleswade and Sandy on the common, this evening 28th August! There's a few more on my Flickr site too, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

Where has that month gone!

2010-07-17T05:08:00.005+01:00

Time certainly does fly, I don't know where this month has gone; usually June/July is when I whizz off to the Farnes, Skomer, north west Scotland and concentrate on island seabird colonies, several things have meant I needed to stay closer to home, most importantly I wanted to be available to help my mum through a hip replacement. At 81 she has made an incredibly fast recovery and though still using crutches (she must for 6 weeks) she's back to being her busy self!
Another reason for staying closer to home is that I have had a couple of books to supply lots of images for, and just as 'sods law' always seems to dictate I have been indoors busy on the PC when the weather has been best for photography.
When I have been out and got some air around my cameras it has been quite eye-opening; its is so easy to forget that within a few miles of home there is a wealth of nature to photograph and although perhaps not as glamorous, it's no less inspiring.
I have also done a few days of 1 to 1 tuition at two different local sites, no rarities again, but lots of common species that are comfortable with people close by, these allow the time to practice different techniques, such as how to use 'depth of field' creatively and how to work with 'fill-in flash', I get a real buzz from seeing the smile of someone who has mastered the sort of shot they have previously struggled with, it's been good fun!

Back to the churchyard

2010-06-11T08:47:00.002+01:00

I've been hanging around in graveyards again! However because churchyards offer great habitat and quietness these places are so full of wildlife, my main target species has been Spotted Flycatchers, but there is a good supporting cast of species, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Collared Doves, Goldcrests, Robins and Wrens.
There's also a lot of Butterflies, Moths and other bugs, several of these have been fed to the Flycatchers newly hatched brood.
I've also added more shots of the Common Whitethroats, they are also feeding youngsters, lots of Crane flies, moths and many small spiders that have egg/young cases attached to them, some of these egg cases do look very similar to fecal pellets!

Prey ID please

2010-06-05T08:43:00.003+01:00

I wonder if anyone can ID the grub in this Common Whitethroat's beak, at first I thought it was a fecal sack, however it was clearly alive and wiggly, both adult Whitethroat's bought several back and stuffed them down the necks of their hungry brood!

Bank holiday, rubbish weather!

2010-05-31T14:20:00.002+01:00

Bank holidays seem to always coincide with dull, wet, grey and windy weather, especially when you have things arranged, and this Bank holiday is no exception. OK, the weather didn't hinder me from fitting new blinds in my daughters living room admittedly.
However I have 2 other feeders to shoot for the RSPB catalogue (I finished the first batch a couple of weeks back) one is a feeder guardian, this is a mesh cage that protects small birds from predators while they feed, as well as preventing larger birds from scoffing all the food; these are not that simple to shoot for several reasons. Firstly the light has to be right, bright enough to get adequate depth of field and shutter speed to have the product sharp enough and to freeze the birds movement as well, but not so bright that the shadows created by the mesh fall across the birds and make for a confusing image.
Also, despite having one of these at the feeder site that the birds are in and out of constantly, they get very wary of a bright shiny new one and their visits are brief, to say the least! When they do come to the feeder they also seem to know how to 'wind me up' by feeding with their backs to me as well! Tomorrow looks wet too, I only need one good day!
I have had another churchyard session with the Spotted Flycatchers though, they are real posers, and so was the female Kestrel I snapped while going over to see my mum, not often that you can just stop the car right beside one and rattle off about 40 frames!

Life and death

2010-05-29T06:31:00.003+01:00

A few more images of the Spotted Flycatchers at the churchyard. I will be working on these a lot more in the coming weeks. Yesterday I missed the allofeeding and mating again, and that's a shot I really want, the female was all lined up in camera, lovely submissive pose, I held on so I had a full buffer, but when the male arrived they both flew off to a shaded perch that was partially obscured from my view.
Also a couple of shots of other churchyard residents, Wood pigeon and Collared Dove, there are so many species that come and go, Blackbirds, Song and Mistle Thrush, a pair of Robins lots of Warblers work through the trees and bushes. The day before yesterday I had a Goldcrest feeding within 2 feet of me, It was great to watch it collecting spiders web for a nest at such close range! So much life in a place for remembering the dead!
Lots more on my Flickr (link top right).

I spotted Spotties!

2010-05-22T23:04:00.003+01:00

Really chuffed to find these two Spotted Flycatchers today, a good early find that aren't a million miles from home; they were chasing each other about, collecting nest material and looked as if they were nesting at the same site as last year, best of all they came very close to me after just a short time, all I did was sat quietly near a favoured perch.
I had planned to make a special effort to work on this species this summer, finding them as soon as they have arrived should give me a bit of a head-start!

Wheatears, Wagtails & Warblers

2010-05-19T07:50:00.004+01:00

I have been shooting the images for the next RSPB bird feeding products catalogue this month, a job I always look forward to doing, but this time I had several hanging feeders, usually pretty easy to do, however; the day I picked up all the products was windy and that wind did not drop for 2 weeks. The seed fell out onto the ground and the birds chose the easy option of going there too, very frustrating! Its all done now, I got some great images of Siskins on a Terracotta apple shape feeder, complimentary colours in the backgrounds and lovely Welsh morning light, fantastic; but you'll have to wait for the catalogue to see them.
I have also been at the "big poo pile" photographing the Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears that have been abundant for a few weeks, take a look at my Flickr pages for lots more images.
Two warblers that have evaded me since I started digital photography (I had then on slides) are Grasshopper Warbler and Blackcap; the Gropper was a bit of a poser for about 40 minutes; but the Black just blew me away; I was trying to photograph a Red Kite Overhead near Old Warden when the Blackcap emerged from the bushes within 3 feet of me; my second body had my 100mm macro fitted and I used that fully expecting the bird to disappear when the shutter fired; it didn't and I shot some 90 frames before it went, I was so excited I got camera -shake on about 40% of the images.

Summer is here!

2010-04-25T06:35:00.008+01:00

It's one of my favourite times of the year again, each day there are a few more summer migrants singing cheerfully and showing off their fine colours to attract a mate.
The special favourites of mine are the Yellow Wagtails that for 2 or 3 weeks show up in big numbers on a local dung heap, this week there has been 30+ at times, all feasting on the clouds of flies, despite the muck there they always look spotlessly clean and stand out luminous sulphur yellow.
There has also been a steady flow of Wheatear at the site, some showing quite extensive feather wear to the primaries, the long migration has caused the damage.
The local Pied Wagtails have been bullying everything away from the fresh water pool I have put there, but the Wheatear's have none of the Wagtail's protestations and come there to drink.
The Red legged Partridges are getting less wary too, at the start of the week they eyed me cautiously from the fast growing Barley, in just 5 days they have lost that shyness and boldly stroll over to the pool (just 5 metres away) to drink!
There's hundreds more images from this week on my Flickr gallery.

Off camera flash, well sort of!

2010-04-06T11:21:00.008+01:00

I will be doing a funfair, nightshots and fireworks photography workshop from 4pm until midnight(ish) on Sunday May 2nd, limited to 10 people; e-mail me for details.
Many more fireworks images here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

Quick update!

2010-04-02T18:14:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post (with an owl on it!) to tell you that you can now find me on Twitter!

Barn Owls again!

2010-03-29T07:14:00.002+01:00

Some very successful Barn Owl trips last week, it was a real pleasure to take people out and show them Barn Owls at very close range and get great shots of them, the weather makes no difference, they've been out in the rain too and it makes for very different shots.
"I saw more Barn Owls today than I have seen ever before" being the usually smiley faced comment at the end of the day.
We haven't just concentrated on the Owls, combining some camera tuition during the middle part of the day while the Barnies are roosting has been great fun too, it really surprised me how excited people get at finding and photographing Red-legged Partridges, they can be quite skittish, but up close they are very smart and nicely coloured birds and make great images.
If you want to see Barn Owls ( I can't guarantee full-frame close-ups every time, but haven't failed yet!) email me for details, address in the panel at the right of page, for details.

Fire in the sky

2010-03-19T15:09:00.003Z

I've had quite a few days out with people I've never met before, recently, and its been great fun. What I really have enjoyed most is being able to get some of these people very close to species they have never seen well (or never seen at all) in a way that they have managed to go home with memorable images. The Barn Owl below was one such bird, it was "glued" to its perch for nigh-on an hour just 13 metres away, picking at its talons with its beak, wing stretching and "lazy hunting" watching the ground below for prey, and Julie who was with me for the day took several (well over a hundred probably) frame filling shots on her 400D and 300mm with a 1.4X on it!

I have been out and about at dusk/night shooting some "environmental and green issues" related images, I'm particularly happy with the pylons and electric light, lit sky series, one is shown below.

Lots more on my flickr gallery, the link is top right of this page.

Photogrind thieves blog entries

2010-03-10T07:15:00.003Z

Well I've not had a reply from them yet, this is to make anyone who has a blog aware that Photogrind is actively stealing peoples blog entries without seeking the copyright owners permission, adding them to their site, and then being hypocritical enough to emblazon their pages with copyright notices...... If you are reading this on there; then why not click on http://www.nigelblake.co.uk/ and see the posts as they are meant to be seen.

Night, Owls!

2010-03-09T11:53:00.003Z

Still can't tear myself away from the Barn Owls, I have been photography other subjects too but while the Barnies have been performing well it's rude not to make the best of the oportunity.
I often drive past the Mullard Radio Astronomy site and think about stopping to get some shots, usually I talk myself out of bothering due to weather, or wanting my dinner etc....... well I stopped on a starry night and I have been back for more, I've now got some ideas for other shots too.........
Lots more on my Flickr site

You can't have too much of a good thing!

2010-02-28T12:59:00.002Z

I suppose I really should try to do some other subjects, but with Owls performing very well at several of the sites I regularly visit it is difficult to tear myself away; although I did go to shoot aircraft at Luton and ended up with more Barn Owl shots, so perhaps they follow me, as opposed to me following them! I did get some Short-eared Owls this week though!

Barn Owl addict!

2010-02-21T01:02:00.004Z

It will come as no surprise to regulars here that I have been concentrating on Barn Owls again, I'm addicted to everything about these birds. I cannot explain just how good it is to have days like today has been, I have seen lots of Barn Owls today and thoroughly enjoyed just watching them, the images are the "icing on the cake"!
See my Flickr gallery for lots more!

I'm having a moan!

2010-02-02T16:38:00.006Z

A mountain of images shot this week, the Barn Owls have been the key target species, but as the weather conditions produced some fabulous sunset and dusk skies I have been shooting them too.
I also visited Salthouse again for the Snow Buntings, fortunately most of the time I was there the other photographers were people with at least some common sense, unfortunately there were also some people there for a while with no fieldcraft, common sense or consideration for others; chasing the birds around, talking in loud voices and making more noise with clanking tripods etc than "a one-man band clog dancing on a tin roof" these pratts spoilt it for others by making the Snow Buntings nervous and jittery. I usually moan about dog walkers, but in fairness dog owners are not aware of what we are doing, their passing-by is generally quite quick and the birds soon return. Idiots with cameras are exactly that, idiots!

Owl prowling again

2010-01-24T10:34:00.006Z

What an amazing week, this first bird "blew my socks off" having it perched in front of me for a while I made a little squeaky noise to get it's attention, it flew straight at me and perched on my 600mm lens hood ( lens hood list is now 5; Barn Owl, Spotted flycatcher, Robin, Kingfisher and Blue Tit) my other body had a 300mm on it and the 3rd was zipped in the Lowpro on the back seat, I tried to get the camera on my phone so I had a record of this astonishing moment, however the bleepy noises the phone made spooked the Owl back to the fence post, which was so disappointing!
However; Friday night, Steve, I and Paul Hackett set off on a marathon Owl Prowl around the lanes of Bedfordshire and North Hertfordshire, we got 8 Barn Owls, 7 Tawny Owls a Badger and a herd of Fallow Deer. 3 of the Tawny Owls allowed a very close and prolonged view and Paul was able to digiscope one of them.
All of the night shots here are uncropped with Canon EOS1DsMkIII and 300mm f2.8IS + 550EX flash, the first Barn Owl is with the 600mmf4IS on a 1DsMkIII
A huge amount of new Owl shots (and some older images) uploaded to my Flickr this week.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

Wise old posers

2010-01-22T16:32:00.002Z

Its been a busy week processing and preparing images for libraries etc, a task I don't mind when it's rubbish weather!
Yesterday however was OK so I ventured out for some fresh air in the afternoon and came home with 600+ fresh Barn Owl shots, what a result!
Also I've been out on some more nocturnal forays looking for Tawnies with Steve Blain, we had one real poser on Tuesday it just let us walk around it taking shots, I hope we get the same success later tonight when Paul Hackett is joining us.

Tawnies and snow

2010-01-11T08:56:00.003Z

Its been a very productive week despite having had my feeder site trashed by vandals, I have shot thousands of images, most not even properly viewed or edited yet!
These are a few, the Redwings do seem to be getting tamer as they struggle to find food, they have been demolishing the apples and fruit I have put out for them, and the Robins have posed perfectly on every "christmas card" set I have put up and the Song Thrush has been a show-off too.
Steve Blain and I have been out on a couple of "Owl prowls" in the snow, it's been fantastic, last night we got 5 Tawny owls, 2 Barn Owls and several Muntjac deer again, one of the Tawnies posed for both of us to get great images of it.

The freeze goes on!

2010-01-07T07:50:00.004Z

The cold weather is here to stay by the looks of it, the forecast today (7th Jan) suggests it will last at least another 10-14 days!
The birds at the feeder site always look pleased to see me, the Sing Thrush and Blackbirds are staying within a few feet as I top up the food stock, and not flying off like they usually would.
Steve Blain and I went out on an Owl prowl and got some great views and images of a Tawny Owl, also saw lots of Muntjac.
I have been out with the cameras all day every day since Christmas, the Fens have been great for Barn Owl, Geese, Kestrels and Whooper Swans. I also had a great session with a pair of Stonechats and a juvenile Grey Heron who, because everywhere is iced-up, was catching mice in the rough grass.
Lots of new images on my Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:30:00.004Z

I love this time of year, when the weather is good the light is to die for, cold crisp clear air and rich colours; the recent fall of snow has added a big natural reflector to that, needless to say I've been out with the Canons as much as possible.
One of my main target species for this winter has been Redwing, and no disappointments with them, they seem to be the "christmas decorations" on every berry laden hedge or bush, along with Fieldfares and lots of Song Thrushes (no doubt from the continent) too, great to see and photograph all of these.
The snow covered landscape has been a rare sight in recent years, so it's been a joy to get out and photograph wintery scenes.
The highlight by a long way for me was a chance encounter with a Woodcock, an elusive bird usually, but their cryptic camouflage is rendered useless by a coating of snow on the ground, I've seen 5, but one of them was such a poser, I spent over an hour with it and shot several images with fill-in flash..... and then drove home with a very smugg grin on my face!

Diver and hoverers

2009-11-18T10:11:00.005Z

It seems a long time since I updated this Blog; in the past month I've been doing quite a bit really, but the weather has not been particularly good.
A red Throated Diver at Chelmsford posed for photographers on a small lake in the middle of the town, again not good weather the day I was there (despite a good forecast) however I got images that I was very happy with.
I had a few trips to Norfolk, some productive, but I seem to be good at attracting the " oooh thats a big lens", "I've never seen a camera quite like that" and " can you photograph the moon with that" brigade just at the least appropriate moment........... however the Turnstones at Salthouse are always reliable and good value!
With the weather being rubbish I have spent some time doing studio shots of various things, I really enjoyed shooting a series of autumn leaves images, simple compositions and strong colours.
I am also keeping an eye out for modern farming landscapes, the long plastic strips used for plant propagation make good graphic images.
Then last of all, I had a very posy Kestrel that nearly hovered into the car at one stage, over 300 shots of that which were all stunning... if only it was that easy/good all the time!

Harrowing moments

2009-10-06T08:21:00.002+01:00

I'm still really busy shooting the pictures for a bird feeder catalogue, although the weather is doing all it can to slow the job down; this morning the rain is hammering on the windows as I type, so I'll be editting and captioning again today!
However I have been out and about shooting locally, the Green Woodpecker was a bit of luck.

The other images show a Northern Wheatear on the local dung pile, feeding on the bugs before continuing it's epic journey south, a Lapwing in the regimented lines of a harrowed field and the tractor and harrow in the landscape are all part of a themed series of images showing birds in a farming environment that I'm working on.

Old stones, fireworks and waders

2009-08-30T16:50:00.007+01:00

This last month has been a bit hectic really with airshows at Eastbourne and Dawlish, I took the chance to photograph Stonehenge en route; I also took my mum away for a few days to Plymouth, part of the reason for picking Plymouth was because there was the finals of the UK firework display championships, a two night spectacle of noise and colour, she loves fireworks and really enjoyed the show, we also went to Dartmoor and Castle Drogo. Lots of firework shots on my Flickr pages.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/sets/72157621914563129/detail/

.......and many more on Celebration fireworks website http://www.celebration-fireworks.co.uk/ throughout the site and on the gallery page.

Airshow pictures here http://ngbjets.blogspot.com/

I have been doing more work on the local Kingfisher, but with lots of migrant birds on the move and much higher tides at Snettisham it seemed like a good idea to head up to Norfolk for some Waders; I have yet to process most of the images, but heres a few of the first batch.

Kingfisher.

2009-08-01T10:23:00.003+01:00

Kingfisher, always a joy to photograph these birds, sometimes a frustrating wait for them to perch where you want them, but they always look stunning, haven't got the shots I want yet, so i'll be doing more work on them this coming week.

Haring about after Owls

2009-07-19T12:11:00.002+01:00

Title say's it all really; last night I had a great evening with a great friend, Major Gilbert, we spent several hours trying our luck with the Norfolk Owl and Hare population, despite some pretty garbage light and strong wind it turned out to be both successful and fun too!

More of the Spotted Flycatchers

2009-07-10T20:02:00.003+01:00

Another couple of sessions with the Spotted Flycatchers has been great fun, I introduced a more photogenic perch, and within seconds it was sat on the green cable tie I attached it with! Once the cable tie was trimmed the bird just kept returning to the new perch, perfect.

"Spotties" at last

2009-07-08T04:57:00.002+01:00

A target species for me this year as I really needed to top up my stock of Spotted Flycatcher shots at a higher resolution. Despite looking at several sites where they have been in the past I have found them difficult to pin down; I have seen them, but none that were in locations suitable for serious photography, and then all on the same day I found 3 pairs that were very workable, all are in churchyards too!

Barn Owl face to face.

2009-07-08T04:43:00.005+01:00

I have spent very many enjoyable hours photographing Barn Owls, the sight of one always excites me, but this bird was a real surprise!
I usually have a camera with me when travelling in the car, and very early Saturday morning was no exception; at the nearby village of Steeple Morden where there are houses either side of the road I saw what I thought at first was a cat sat on a fence by a bungalow, that was until the "cat" took off and flew down the road to perch a fence post by asmall paddock. It was too far away for a decent shot so I made a little squeaky noise, as you can see in the pictures it flew straight towards me as if to come into the window of the car; it then spent about 5 minutes perched just above my head on the car roof!
The glow of the rising sun on the ripening Barley made such a great soft focus backdrop that compliments the Owl's colours, a great way to start the day!

Golden Plover

2009-06-19T13:19:00.002+01:00

Golden Plover, well here are some more images of these superb birds, I have had some memorable times photogrphing them in the past; but they were nothing as amazing as the 3 days I have spent working on these birds; more often than not they were too close and I just sat admiring the fabulous colours and dainty movements of them.

3 Days in the Dales

2009-06-18T12:30:00.004+01:00

With quite a few things going on at the moment I have had to grab at some opportunities rather than my usual more planned approach, with a weather and time window from Monday to Wednesday this week I headed back to a site where I have been working on Golden Plover, a bird I wanted far better coverage of.
It turned out to be 3 fantastic days of intensive photography, all the local birds wanted their picture taken I think; the weather was not quite as forecast, however the rain was a bonus as it gave me some great shots of Lapwing sheltering her chicks. The 5am starts led to some great views and images of Black Grouse (taken from the car!), and the Golden Plover were just fabulous posers, I have kept about 500 images of them and will post more when I've processed them.

Puffins on the Farnes

2009-06-14T20:14:00.005+01:00

You can't really go through the year without having a Puffin fix, this week I made the pilgrimage to Seahouses and headed out to "Puffinland" on Billy Sheil's "Glad Tidings" a glorious day, great weather,sunburn and the best Fish and chips in the universe from "the Pinnacles" chippy afterwards...... heaven!
Lots more Terns, Seals, Kittiwakes etc from the day on my Flickr gallery.

Muddy puddle visitors

2009-06-08T18:35:00.003+01:00

As usual this summer I have maintained the water levels in a pool on some local farmland, it is always productive with lots of species visiting to drink and bathe, this week I have also had up to 8 Swallows visiting to collect mud for their nests. There has been Linnets and Goldfinches too, plus a Corn Bunting, several Yellow Wagtails, a family of Pied Wagtails and the recently fledged youngsters and lots of Starlings.
The Starlings turn up caked in mud and poo from the nearby dung heap where they forage for dungfly larvae, they really look like they enjoy their bath as well; its great to watch them!

Apus apus capers

2009-05-29T07:35:00.004+01:00

The Common Swifts are back around my home, I spent a long time on these and deleted a very large portion of the shots taken, but well worth the effort for the few good images I got from the session. The "rooftop" one's are taken from my bedroom window.

Tree Pipit

2009-05-24T16:27:00.003+01:00

Tree Pipit, this is a bird that has eluded me for ages, I had photographed them on that funny old stuff called film long ago, and I had got a few distant frames on my old D30, (the bird must have covered about 12 pixels).
Yesterday a good mate called me to say he had found a very showy bird, but I was all fully booked with family running around jobs for the day; however I was out at dawn today and had a very pleasant 3 hours of the bird all to myself, some of several gigs worth of images are shown below, theres lots more left to process.

Close to home

2009-05-14T19:26:00.003+01:00

A few days of local photography, mainly at the Yellow Wagtail site as I have been doing a fair amount of work on them, but mainly I have been working on a few projects that are commissioned and need to show images at the end of each day; and I've had a couple checks at the hospital, as well as cameras back to Canon for a check-up! together these have stopped me travelling far from home (except for 2 days up a Welsh mountain, see my jets blog), however I'll soon be out and about shooting stock a bit further afield.
A few early starts have been good for Barn Owls, Song Thrush, Hare and other common subjects, I was very happy with the whole Pheasant at dawn sequence.

Yellow fellow

2009-05-03T06:45:00.003+01:00

Yellow Wagtails, these have always been a favourite bird of mine, late April and May is the time when they use a local dung heap as a migration "service station" , very many come through, I have seen as many as 74 there all at once, and usually one or two stay to raise a brood or two. The dung is not the most photogenic of settings but it produces huge numbers of bugs and larvae.
The whole countryside has a predominance of yellow all around, Oil-seed Rape that almost glows in the dark covers great expases of arable land and theres a good show of Dandelions too.

Bluebells

2009-04-30T17:40:00.006+01:00

I see my camera as a sort of amplifier for my eyes; all the time that I have had an interest in photography I have been acutely aware that I am stimulated to look and see much more intensly than I would otherwise, this is noticable to some degree even when I do not have a camera with me.
Photography is not about what you see, but its all about how you see, so I like to work from veiwpoints that we maybe do not look from on a usual day to day basis.
A fantastic morning in a Bluebell carpeted wood led to some different images to what most would shoot; they were not easy to compose or set-up, so I had a good few duds, but the ones that worked made me very happy with the session, (just one shown here) the others are a bit more standard "Stock" images.

Bempton

2009-04-27T12:47:00.003+01:00

Four shots from a reasonably productive day at Bempton cliffs; however I shall be paying Canon pro services a visit today as I had a few focusing problems with the 1DsMkIII that got worse throughout the day!
That aside I was quite happy with several images I got during the day with my other MkIII and the MkII.

Turnstones

2009-04-25T09:43:00.003+01:00

Another species that I have a liking for because they seem to display individual characteristics, and are usually quite approachable; the ones at Salthouse have become very used to people and I wanted them in summer plumage, but I also got some nice behavioral images on my visit this week.
It was surprising that there were so few people on the coast, it was also surprising to get a very tame Avocet on the pools too!

Out and about

2009-04-23T10:40:00.002+01:00

Its been a happy week this week, Nightingales performing, at long last my new LCD screen for the 1DsMkII has arrived and been fitted, a long wait for the part to arrive but Mark at Norfolk Camera Centre fitted it within two hours of it being delivered, so I'm now back to 3 bodies again. The 1Ds MkII is the one I use on the remote set-up (my mini video assist fits it and not the different sized viewfinder on the MkIII) I can now get back to doing some more extreme wide-angle bird shots; so a big thanks to the guys at Dereham.
Hanging about for the Nightingales has not been in vain either as I have topped up my Warbler images too, Chiifchaff, Blackcap and especially Willow Warbler.
After collecting the mended camera I headed up to the Norfolk coast and spent a couple of hours with the fastest tyre fitter in Fakenham, Major Gilbert, photographing Avocets and then Marsh Harriers at sunset.........

The boys are back

2009-04-19T07:01:00.003+01:00

It is another of my favourite times of year, the arrival of spring and increasing numbers of summer migrants fills one with excitement about all the possible images that are waiting to be shot.
Nightingales have always been a high priority songster both as a photographic subject and just as a bird to be experienced, its amazing how close you can be to one and still not see it, deep in cover, belting out an astonishing array of notes.
So far this year I have only spent two days working on them and already I've got shots I am happy with (I've already got loads of images from previous years) but I have a dream image in my mind's eye that I want to try to achieve so I'll be working on them some more yet.

Mill on the hill

2009-03-28T13:03:00.003Z

I am currently photographing the images for a bird food and feeder catalogue, one of the gardens I am set up in has meant that I have passed this mill on my way to and from a few times.
This Postmill at Stevington village in Bedfordshire has been restored after a very long time with no sails on it, so its a real joy to see it looking so good again.Thursday evening I stood and watched the most spectacular sunset; I cannot put in words just how p***ed off I was that there were two large vehicles parked in front of the mill while it all happened, and though I shot some very nice images after the trucks had gone, the sky had lost it's glory; last night I had a return visit, and got some Images that I am very happy with, but they're not anything like the sky was the previous night!

Masked bandit's nick the food

2009-03-28T12:56:00.005Z

With just the hanging feeders left to photograph I've been thawted by the windy weather, so I've spent a couple of days working with these Nuthatches to add to an already large collection of images of these birds; however its time I did them at 21 Megapixels.
Always great fun and frustrating to shoot as they are so quick; in, grab the food and gone, before you get a chance to line the shot up!

Garden birds

2009-03-24T06:13:00.003Z

I am currently shooting images for a bird feeder catalogue, the breezy weather put a stop to that as the 4 feeders I have left to do are all hanging ones and swing about making it dfficult to frame the shots. A blessing in disguise I suppose as I decided to leave the job for a day and shoot some of the birds away from the feeders.
It was not long before I had Tits, Wrens, and Robins on the fixed perches I had set up, I really enjoyed photographing them too.

Bathing belle

2009-03-24T05:59:00.003Z

This is something that I have wanted to get better images of for a long time, (I didn't like the high POV of my other older shots) on Sunday it all came together when least expected.
I wasn't even in the right hide when this female Sparrowhawk appeared and dropped into the pool; I grabbed the camera, 600mm, 1.4X and extension tubes and then keeping as low to the ground as possible I headed to the pit hide and dropped in, there she was! I waited until she was busy and then slid my Canon 1DsMk3 & lens into place, 160 frames later she finished her bath and flew off to preen, and I was looking at the results, needless to say I had a very big grin !

A great weekend

2009-03-03T11:16:00.002Z

Some more images from a very productive weekends photography, very jammy to get such a fabulous sky after such a rubbish day on Sunday, dawn Monday was fantastic too with a veil of mist and golden light.
I really enjoyed photographing the Mallards in flight, the time I spend photographing very fast jets in the Welsh valleys has made some serious difference to my ability to track and compose flight shots of birds, much more calmly handled rather than "shoot lots, pick best bin the rest" technique!

Another good day!

2009-03-02T01:07:00.003Z

Another great day of rewarding photography, nothing rare or out of the ordinary, but some great subjects and even better light to shoot them in!
The 40 minutes or so of the brighter part of sundown/dusk was just fantastic, only a few shots on here but a very large amount on my Flickr pages.

Great Cormorant

2009-02-28T19:07:00.002Z

An icon of hatred to anglers in the UK, but what a stunning looking bird the Great Cormorant is; a reptilian look and a scaly pattern to their plumage makes them look like a very old bird family.
These stunners certainly showed grace and poise as they fished as close as 12 metres to me and they were well practiced and efficient at their art too.
I have never managed to see these at really close range before, so as much as I enjoyed photographing them, I really got a big thrill at being able to watch their behavior and note the fine plumage too.

On my belly in the mud again

2009-02-25T20:05:00.004Z

February is always a good month on the bird photography calendar, because it is the best month for Barn Owls, this year has been spectacular in that there appears to be very good numbers of these marvelous birds.
This year, as well as the usual portraits and flight shots, I have tried to document other aspects of their lives, especially the threats to them from traffic as they do seem to like hunting roadside verges.
I have also had another couple of visits to the Norfolk coast to shoot waders, the Turnstone's and Dunlin especially as they are so photogenic from a low point of view (I usually get very wet and muddy at this site) I was very happy to get one of the Dunlin wing stretching in amongst some wet stones.
The Snow Bunting flock at Salthouse have been photographed by everyone as they are readily coming to the seeded area there, but I wanted to get some shots on the wet shingle by the pools, so I spent some time working on them; still not got one bathing though, and thats the shot I want!

More Barn Owls

2009-02-14T10:50:00.003Z

I think I had my "Harry Potter" charm with me again yesterday, one of my best ever Barn Owl encounters, 3 different female birds hunting in the same area, many times they were as close as just 10 metres from me, fantastic light and they were perching in trees instead of on posts as well; now where did I park my "Nimbus 2000"..........

Thrushes at the feeders

2009-02-08T08:27:00.003Z

Six hours in the cold staring through the viewfinder and I was frozen, but these little bundles of feathers are out in it day and night, you just have to admire their ability to survive in this winter spell we are going through.
They certainly are getting through some food! usually the Fieldfare and Mistle Thrushes are wary, but they are not far away as the feeders are topped up, and straight back as soon as you are hidden away.

Fieldfare

2009-02-06T21:59:00.002Z

Something I have wanted to get images of properly is our winter Thrushes in a wintery setting, the problem being when the winter weather arrived getting to the feeder site was a bit of a marathon journey, very worthwhile though!
This Fieldfare posed well and defended his apples all day, Redwing is the target for tomorrow!

Stone turners a different view

2009-02-05T11:15:00.002Z

An ongoing project that has taken some time to get all the kit together to make remote shooting a joy rather than a labour of love; that said, it has taken a long time to get this so it produces the goods with some degree of predictability!
In return for a fishy feast these Turnstones put a very big smile on my face 3 times over, fun shooting them, more fun seeing the results on the camera, and a very smug grin when I downloaded them to view on my big monitor; I will take them another fish supper as a thankyou!

Hoverers galore

2009-02-01T16:48:00.003Z

A fantastic week with some nice light and a couple of good performers in the way of Barn Owls and Kestrel.
The Kestrel seemed unaware or unconcerned by me being there and I managed to get a couple of "rodents eye views" of the bird from in the grass, a shot that I have always had in my minds eye. The close shots of it from a 3/4 rear view have also been a shot I had in mind.
The Barn Owl performed beautifully too, many more daylight images similar to those on the previous post here, but the nighttime shot of it hovering has been a shot that I have tried to get for possibly as long 20 years, I almost didn't dare look at the screen afterwards, just two frames and my heart sank when the first one showed on the monitor, the owl's wing was covering its face, the second had me whooping with excitement.

More Barny action

2009-01-25T09:34:00.003Z

Don't get many days like today (24th Jan) has been, 2 B-1B aircraft had diverted to Mildenhall and were due to leave at 11a.m. they actually left about an hour later than the rumour mill had suggested, this meant that my planned whiz up to a good Norfolk site would be cutting it fine timing wise, so I opted to drive back through the fens in the Outwell, Manea, Chatteris area.
Wow, I saw 7 different Barn Owls and a SEO two of the Barn Owls were not at all camera shy, and I ended up with some of my best Barn Owl flight shots..... oh and the B-1B pictures are pretty good too.......

Owls on the prowl.

2009-01-15T11:32:00.002Z

Its that Barn Owl time of year again, I saw 17 in total between Bedfordshire and the Norfolk coast during just the one trip there, the route I usually take through the Fens is always good, so far this year its possibly as good as its ever been with several Short-eared Owls out on the prowl too.
I also enjoyed photographing some common species coping with the ice and snow, the Moorhen looks like a speed skater!

A bit of Ice

2009-01-15T11:17:00.002Z

A busy start to the year, having just finished processing all the images for a couple of books I can get back to updating the web pages and hopefully finish off the main website too, I just seem to run out of time and get a bit square eyed with all the computer work.
During the Christmas/New Year period I did get out and shoot some images too, the ice, snow and frost was very nice, we don't get enough of it.

Waxwings

2009-01-06T22:12:00.004Z

Waxwings appeared in Biggleswade yesterday, just the two, but they were posers and the light was fantastic.

Steppe Grey Shrike

2008-11-15T09:40:00.003Z

At last I had some time and a reasonable weather window to get up to photograph this bird.
More on my Flickr gallery too! http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigelblake/

More bleedin' fish

2008-11-03T18:55:00.005Z

I shall upload more images of the Green Heron at West Hythe when they are processed, there's rather a lot!

Autumn

2008-10-13T07:06:00.003+01:00

Autumn is my favourite time of the year, loads of colour and subjects to photograph; it's just a shame the daylight hours are shorter so there's less time to shoot it all!
The Shaggy Ink cap fungus below was photographed just up the road from my home, you really don't need to travel very far to find good subjects!

More from Scotland

2008-10-13T06:52:00.001+01:00

A few more images from the trip to Scotland, I shall add some more as I work my way through them all.

Small birds with big personalities

2008-10-11T08:36:00.003+01:00

I've just returned from a very productive trip to Scotland, over 2000 images to edit, these are a few of the first off the memory cards.
The Wrens and Goldcrests at the place where I stayed were just the most confiding birds I have ever photographed, the weather was a little less friendly at times, but it did make for some interesting landscape shots.
More on my flickr gallery, see link on the right of this page.
New web site is almost there (I've had such a busy year) and will be live very soon.

Website problem

2008-08-09T07:54:00.005+01:00

My main site nigelblake.co.uk seems to have fallen off the web! as a temporary measure I've redirected the domain to my blog.
If this is your first time here why not take a look at some of my other blogs and the Flickr gallery all linked at the top right of this page.

Smart birds and cute mice

2008-07-29T10:22:00.002+01:00

A good days photography with a couple of unexpected subjects yesterday, I would have prefered a lighter background for the Green Woodpecker rather than the dark shadows under the trees.. but I'm not complaining!

More from the pool

2008-07-02T08:37:00.002+01:00

A day at the pool without setting up the remote camera because it was very windy, there was a constant stream of not very camera-friendly wind-blown dust at ground level, in all another good day with a good mix of visiting birds, and lots of juvenile Yellow Wagtails and Starlings.

Poolside birds

2008-06-29T21:15:00.002+01:00

More adventures with the remote control camera, it is time consuming and even with far better view of what the camera is seeing and the ability to frame the image the hit rate with small birds is very low, I kept 7 out of 208 frames today.
Today I had a bad time with a stray dog that just appeared, nestled down in my new car, scoffed my sandwiches, spread mud and snott on the seats, growled and bared its teeth at me and would not allow me near, I had to jam my spade handle in its mouth so I could get hold of its collar (no owner details) and throw it out, I dont blame the dog and I'm not a violent person, but this is one irresponsible owner who is really lucky they were not there!
Yesterday it got windy so I packed all the technical stuff up and shot the Corn Buntings and the Yellow Wagtails with the 600mm when the wind dropped occasionally.

"Singing in the grain"

2008-06-23T05:24:00.002+01:00

Some more work at the pool over the weekend, but the strong wind on Sunday was blowing such a lot of dust across the ground I packed up the remote camera. The Corn Bunting were still singing and clinging on for dear life as they waved about like flags in the strong gusts, however in the picture it looks like a nice calm summers day!

Yellwags and Lappos

2008-06-21T07:25:00.004+01:00

A bit of gardening at one end of the pool to add some vegetation and a change of lens (28-80 at 60mm) so I could work on the Yellow Wagtails soon generated some interesting shots, just needed the light to improve. The Lapwings are just getting easier to work with each day, they are so used to me being there that yesterday I hand fed one of them with earthworms. They also don't react to the camera at all, so I am able to shoot on continuous and as wide as 20mm, (the shot here is 25mm). I saw a couple of juvenile Lapwings today, hopefully I'll get them at the pool soon as well.

Lapwing, perfect Focus

2008-06-20T01:34:00.003+01:00

I spent the morning sorting out getting a new car, (clue in the title, no not a Ford Lapwing!!), and then I was at the pool again this afternoon, a very frustrating couple of hours to start with as the Lapwing generally was only there when the sun wasn't, and when I finally got some images I found I had a big blob of mud on the lens, most annoyingly I had a great flight shot, and some Swallows collecting mud, all totally unusable as a result!
I cleaned the lens and got set for another long wait, eventually the Lapwing and Pied Wagtail performed perfectly and I had some fantastic evening light too, a good day in the end!

Pool shots again.

2008-06-18T13:19:00.001+01:00

More time spent on the Lapwing at my pool, i've also been shooting more on the Wagtails and Corn Buntings too, and then had a new visitor, a young Hare.

Getting there

2008-06-12T08:39:00.003+01:00

Still not quite the shot I have in my mind's eye, but getting closer, if only the cloud had been less dense and there had been some blue patches, and sunlight on the Lapwing....... so back again for another go today with a waterproof camera cover as I would quite like it in the rain; with the pool surface covered in splashes it would look ace!

More Lapwings and Corn Buntings

2008-06-11T00:29:00.003+01:00

Some days nature photography can be slow and frustrating, and some days it can really "blow your socks off"; 4 images from a very good day. The Lapwing is totally unphased by the remote camera, however it does get too close sometimes, even at 20mm!
The Corn Bunting is now using the song perch so often that I really don't need any more singing, preening, scratching and wing stretching shots, again utterly unbothered by me being there to the point that I can change the perch between visits.