HOWARD'S BIRDSPOT: October 2011

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Good results from my 10 days off.

I had some very pleasing results from photos taken during my last 10 days off. My Treecreeper photo from the 18th of October was used on TV during the ITV weather forecast. My Goldcrest shot taken on the 20th October was used on TV on thursday in the Autumwatch red button photo gallery. Then the same photo won a Notable photo award on the birdguides website. Then the Marsh Harrier shot I took during the spring is featured in a web article about a competition in which I entered the picture. A link below will take you to that article. Also a link below to the goldcrest picture on birdguides. Not bad all in a weeek.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/879216-stunning-images-show-life-and-death-in-shrinking-wetlands

http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=322786

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Another Goldcrest fom today. 20.10.11.

Goldcrest Regulus regulus at Far Ings 20.10.11.

Hundreds or hours went into obtaining this image, Why did I put so much time into it you might ask? simple, because its not an easy subject. Despite the fact that this is a relatively common bird, you just don't get a photo of this species of this quality every day. Many a day I've gone home without a single shot after trying for nothing but this species all day. I've also deleted many average quality images of the species over the last year or so before settling on this one. I enjoyed the challenge involved in getting it. If you've ever tried photographing Goldcrests, then you know how difficult they are to find and get into the viewfinder with all the conditions right. Unlike many more glamourous looking species, when you do manage to find it you don't get many chances of obtaining a decent image. I hope you all enjoyed seeing it as much as I did getting it. Click the image to view a larger version.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

My photo featured during the ITV Yorkshire Calendar weather forecast

The treecreeper image posted below featured this evening during the weather forecast on the calender evening news. Not bad since its the only picture I've ever sent in.

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

Treecreeper.Certhia familiaris. Far Ings. 18.10.11.

A close up of a Treecreeper. Not often they get this close. Taken at 500mm. Due to the partly cloudy conditions today constantly changing the light from bright sun to very dull, I didn't attempt to use the convertor. Tempting as it is with these small birds to gain the extra reach. This bird put in a very brief close pass resulting in a pleasing shot with more detail than I am used to getting. Well worth the effort today in very difficult conditions of high winds and squally showers.
Click on the image to view a larger version.

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Far Ings 16.10.11.

Sunday at Far Ings, another Goldcrest and a Long Tailed Tit.

Click on an image for a larger version.

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Goldcrest.Regulus regulus. Far Ings. 15.10.11.

This is one of my favorite little birds. A joy to watch as it skittles through the tree tops picking tiny morsels like spiders, moth eggs and other small insect food. Never easy to photograph as they move very quickly rarely posing for more than a split second. Its a bird I enjoy deliberatly trying to locate and photograph. I only managed a single bird today which was dissapointing for me! It did show in the light quite well though. That made up for seeing several and ending up with no shots, which can often be the case with this species.

Mute Swan. Cygnus olor. Far ings. 15.10.11.

A rather regal looking Mute Swan I think.

Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca. Far Ings. 15.10.11.

Another go today at the Ferruginous Duck. A struggle even with a 500mm to get a detailed image. But at least very nice light today. Oh how us photographers moan about the conditions or our subjects. we're never happy!

Friday, 14 October 2011

Ferruginous Duck. Aythya nyroca. Far Ings 14.10.11.

Had a couple of hours on the patch to try to photograph this bird today. Not great results but got a few shots which is a start. The bird was mostly distant and when it did start to show well it was spooked by a lad with two dogs on the far bank. It flew west and that was that. I decided not to go after it as it was late afternoon and light was fading. I may get another chance at it in the next few days.

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.

To view a larger version of any photo double click on it. Images on this blog are protected by copyright ©. Images may not be reproduced without my consent. If you wish to use any of the images, please contact me with your request. The files uploaded here on my blog are small jpeg files. This is to speed up post updates and to prevent reuse of the original large files.