HOWARD'S BIRDSPOT: September 2011

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Far Ings 27.9.11.

Common Kingfisher and Goldcrest, both taken during this mornings session at Far Ings.

Monday, 19 September 2011

More Kingfisher at Far Ings. 18.9.11

Both of these shots taken at ISO 2000, and whilst they are acceptable I can't say I'm happy with them. There is just no getting away from the fact that there's no substitute for good light.

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Goldcrest and Treecreeper at Far Ings today. 15.9.11.

I decided to look for these two species in the small thorn woods around the reserve today after a poor session in the hide. I knew it wouldn't be easy to get many decent shots of these two tricky species with the trees still in full leaf. Also I wondered if It might be a bit early as they are not as numerous here in the summer months. To my surprise there were a few goldcrests on the reserve already. Not as easy to find yet though as they are in the winter. The treecreepers were not as evident, I only managed to track two birds down. They gave themselves away with the distinct shrill sound rather than thier musical song. I will look forward to trying again during the winter when the light penetrates the bare trees and these lovely birds roam the woods joining flocks of tits feeding.

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Marsh Harrier from July 27th.

Here is a Marsh Harrier shot from far ings I didnt get round to editing from July. Never seem to find the time to get them all done.

Monday, 12 September 2011

Male Sparrowhawk at Far Ings today 12.9.11.

Click or double click for larger versions.

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Far Ings 11.9.11.

The first Bearded Tit I've seen in quite a while. A pair were present today but only one showed in the open. Also male Marsh Harrier made a high speed pass carried by the very strong wind.

Friday, 9 September 2011

Little Grebe 9.9.11.

This Little Grebe fed this chick while its partner fed a second chick. They both caught fish almost at will. The birds didn't mind my presence, but the light was less than ideal this afternoon, with only hazy sunshine breaking through at times and otherwise mostly cloudy . Whatever happened to the summer.

HOWARD'S BIRDSPOT

Hello and welcome to my blog. Firstly, I am not a professional photographer or a bird or wildlife expert. Most of what I have learned about photography and wildlife or birds is self taught from books or what I have learned from friends and wildlife photographers and birders. I owe a lot of my sucess to friends and photographers for their guidance. I am still learning and have many subjects I still want to photograph. I am very passionate about birding and bird photography. All of my subjects are wild birds or wildlife in the wild. I do not photograph captive birds or wildlife in a staged setting. It's just not my thing. I get no satisfaction from photographing captive sujects. That's not being disrespectful to those who do, I'm just not comfortable with it, and would rather go without pictures of rare subjects than take photos of captive ones. I do however respect the work of captive breeding programs and caring for injured birds and wildlfe. I belong to the local bird study group which records breeding birds on my local reserve. This has helped me to gain increased results in locating species to photograph from an increased knoledge of birdsong and bird behaviour. I have enjoyed increasing sucsess with my work in having work published in books and magazines including birdwatching magazine, in national newspapers and countless web features and articles. I was also the winner of the 2011 wildlifextra.com national photography competition "birds" category. leading to the publishing of the winning picture in the competitions book. The same picture is liscensced for sale by Getty Images through the Wildlfe and wetland trust, who featured my photo in a published article. My photo's have featured many times on flickr explore. I have also had pictures feature on the BBC springwatch red button site on television and have received the Springwatch photo of the day award. I've also had them used during the BBC and ITV weather forecasts and on the BBC Earth and BBC Nature websites. I also featured in a BBCTV look north feature shown on BBC 1 about my competition win and my love of photography on the Far Ings Nature Reserve. Thank you for visiting, and I hope you enjoy viewing my pictures. Please feel free to contact me with regard to using any of my images. I rarely refuse, but do like to know where my images are being used. I don't sell my images in print format due to the fact that I don't have the time at the moment as I am in full time employment. If you have any questions regarding my photography please contact me via email.