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Bird & Wildlife Photographs


mick
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 05/03/2022 at 01:21, Clay Mills Junction said:

How do you get the wildlife to stay still long enough for you to take a picture?...

You need lots of patience!

I've taken some nice photos when Dippers have been active like that but I suppose it all depends on what equipment you're using to take the photo. The biggest problem I find with Dippers is that they're usually in the shady areas of the river or stream where there's not a lot of natural light. They obviously feel safer there and don't usually bother about you being in close proximity. If you see them out in the open where there's better light then they tend to retreat as soon as they see you approaching.

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  • 1 month later...

Just a few photos I'd like to add.

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'Little Owl'. We see this Little Owl regularly in this particular location and it's always nice to get another photo.

But you don't have to venture far to get interesting photos as the next two were taking from the back garden, within the 'Worsley Dale' circuit!

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This Kestrel is frequently seen hovering above the garden, presumably because we have a bird feeder.

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And I've noticed this Red Kite on 3 occasions now but have yet to get a really decent photo. It always seems to have passed over by the time I get the camera pointed up in the air and all I get is a rear view.

An this one isn't really a wildlife photo but I just like it. It was taken in Skipton Castle woods and it's the reflection in a small lake.

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This Kestrel was taken from the garden yesterday morning. It looks very similar to the one in the previous post but that one was taken 10 days ago.

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I've had the camera close by all day today and seen nothing apart from a distant buzzard.

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  • 2 months later...

Apologies for the long read!

I haven't posted anything here for a few weeks now and although I've managed to get some great photos during that time I would like to jump right up to the present day because I've just spent 3 days, or rather early evenings, trying to capture a specific bird.

We went out for a walk last Wednesday morning along the Leeds & Liverpool canal near Gargrave and Pam spotted a Barn Owl a distance away on the other side of the canal. It was too far away for a decent photo but it's the first time I have actually been able to stand there and watch one flying around. I wasn't aware that they were even active at 9.30am! A (very friendly) farmer was tending his sheep in the field next to the towpath and he was curious as to what we were trying to photograph. He told us that the Barn Owls were nesting in an old Ash tree which he pointed out to us but it isn't in a location that is easily or safely accessible as it was alongside the main A65 where there is no footpath. Anyway, I was determined that I would try to get a photo.

Two days later I went alone along the canal armed with my camera. I decided to go in the early evening so it was approximately 7pm as I set off along the towpath. There was no sign of any Barn Owls so I continued walking to a spot where I had previously seen Curlews and Brown Hare's in the hope of getting a picture of some sort before turning around and making my way back. Not far from where we had previously seen the Owls 2 days earlier there was a moored narrowboat and the gentleman onboard was looking through his binoculars. As I passed I asked if he had seen anything interesting as I was going to mention about the Owls and would you believe it, he was actually watching a Barn Owl which he pointed out to me. Yes, there it was, on the towpath side of the canal on the far side of the field where the farmer had been speaking to us earlier.

I managed to focus on it but it was by now getting very dull with some dark clouds looming overhead. It dropped to the ground and came up with a mouse before immediately heading back towards the Ash tree. It then diverted slightly and began heading directly for me, looking me in the eyes before swerving its way around me. I couldn't have positioned myself better if I had tried. Wow! I just kept snapping away but the photos were very dark and although I couldn't have wished for better poses, the quality was somewhat disappointing.

The following day I tried again but there was no sign of the Owl and, to cap it all off, after standing there for almost 2 hours the heavens opened and I got soaked to the skin before I could make it back to the car.

Undeterred, the following evening I was back for another try with a slightly brighter sky and I was feeling optimistic. I paced up and down for 2 hours, snapping away at anyting that moved but although I had a great view of the Ash tree the Owl hadn't made an appearance. One last look before I called it a day (or night!) and wait a minute, there was just a small speckle of white. Looking closer it was a Barn Owl just about to emerge from a cavity in the tree, which it did a few seconds later. I was hoping it would come across the canal again but instead it stayed on the opposite side, across the road, and across the field. But then it turned and flew directly towards me just as it had done 2 days before. I was standing right in front of a small tree so was well camouflaged and I got a number of photos before it eventually set eyes on me and went on its merry way. I continued to watch it at a distance for some time afterwards as it hunted for prey.

So the pictures...well as I said, the earlier ones were very dark due to the conditions but luckily modern photo editing software is capable of rescuing them to some extent so here is the Barn Owl on that first evening with its prey.

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The second night was in slightly better light

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And although I clipped one of its wings in this next photo, I decided to crop it slightly and focus attention on the face as it closed its eyes

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They are just 5 from well over 200 photos I took over those 2 nights and I must admit that it feels worth all the standing around and all that soaking I endured.

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ick what wonderful photos, you should be very pleased. With have Red Kites over every day and nearly all day . However trying to get a photo is hard. We spend plenty of time watching them as they are so graceful in flight.

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Thank you Ken. Now that I know where to fnd them I'm sure I'll be having another go at photographing them before not too long. I'll have to take note of weather forecasts and choose an evening that's first of all dry and secondly has good light which is key to getting better photos.

Red Kites appear to be venturing further afield as this year is the first time I've noticed them flying above our home. I've managed to get a few photos but usually by the time I notice them and grab the camera they're already passing over and I'm left with just the tail end shots as in the one a few posts above.

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Back for a third session, I didn't think I'd be able to salvage this one but it hasn't turned out too bad

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And this is the closest shot I managed to get as the owl headed towards me.

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  • 4 months later...

I've taken many, many photos recently, mostly while out walking George and the following photos of an Osprey were taken within walking distance of home.

Walking alongside the river we noticed it perched some distance away across a small area of water and were able to watch it for several minutes.

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It eventually dived down but unfortunately I wasn't high enough to be able to photograph it entering the water though I did manage to capture the initial dive.

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A few seconds later it emerged with its prey

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Neither of us had ever seen an Osprey before and I never expected for a moment to be able to see one so close to home.

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I'd never seen so many Kingfishers in my life until we started getting out and about. It seems they're everywhere once you start looking and taking more notice of what's around you. I've taken loads of photos of them and these are just a few examples.

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And swans are commonplace but I purposely waited for this opportunity to grab the following photo at a local country park.

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Edited by mick
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  • 1 month later...

On Xmas Day we took George out for a walk along the river down as far as the lock. On the way we heard some noisy chattering from the top of some tall trees and a couple passing by told us they were Parakeets. As any photographer will tell you, whenever you venture out without your camera it's odds on you'll come across something you would have wanted to photograph. When we arrived at the lock there was a Kingfisher fishing and we watched it for a good few minutes as it grabbed fish just to rub it in!

Today we walked the same route down to the lock and the Kingfisher was there again in the same spot as before. I managed to take a few photos of it as it watched for prey before diving down into the water but it was too dull to use a shutter speed fast enough to capture the dive.

While my eyes were focused on the Kingfisher there was the same chattering we'd heard on Xmas Day and when I looked up into the distance there was a pair of Parakeets flitting between the branches. I managed to take half-a-dozen photos before they disappeared further into the distance but at first glance they appeared too dark to make anything out but back home I was able to lighten them and bring out some of the detail.

Ring-necked Parakeet

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Those of you further down south will most likely be familiar with them but it's the first time I have seen them up here in the north though it seems they've been here for some time now.

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  • 3 months later...

Since January, when I last posted in this thread, I've taken literally hundreds, if not thousands, of bird photographs so I'm only able to show a small number here.

If you've been following along then you'll probably be aware that I have a soft spot for Stonechat's and although we no longer have our caravan in the Dales where I had a favourite location for these little birds, I was fortunate to come across one, a lone female, much closer to home and be able to photograph it over a number of weeks before it eventually moved on.

The following two images were taken on 22 January with a bit of snow on the ground

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And this one was taken just a couple of days later

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I took hundreds of photos of this one single bird over a period of 5-6 weeks.

A bird I had never photographed before, this is a Scaup, again a lone bird but mixed in with a number of quite similar looking Tufted Ducks

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This one below is a close up of a male Tufted Duck

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Lapwings are always great to photograph and it's another bird that I've photographed many, many times in the past

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I was lucky to come across this pair of Great Crested Grebes performing their 'reed dance' which was great to see

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And I also managed to capture a single Great Crested Grebe stretching out its wings

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