Tag Archives: nature

North Uist wildlife photography trip June 2019

North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland has been on my “want to visit” list for some years. Known for it’s outstanding wildlife I just had to give it a try and, after moving to Scotland in 2017, the logisitics of the trip became much easier – basically load the car, drive 3 and half hours to (almost) the tip of the Isle Of Skye and drive onto a ferry.

So in June of this year we did exactly that. A short ferry trip later and we were driving towards our B&B situated on the Northwest of the island near Loch Sanndaraigh. We chose this location as it’s near to the RSPB reserve of Balranald which is know for Corncrake amongst many other species.

After arriving late afternoon I had a quick walk around the surrounding area to get the layout. Instantly noticeable was the amount of wading birds (and young) that were in nearby fields. I’ve never seen so many lapwing. Also what struck me, especially in the area we were, there are lots of fenced off fields and plots of land that sandwich the single track roads. All those Snipe / Redshank / other birds perched on photogenic posts i’ve seen from this place now makes sense!

So, first morning is a really early start to try and see Corncrake along the approach road to Balranald. Hopefully that early will mean very little other traffic so we (my wife and I) can crawl along in the car with the windows open and take shots from the car. A drizzly grey day didn’t make shots easy but plenty to see and point a camera at –

 

Lapwing amongst flowers

Lapwing amongst flowers

Oystercatcher feeding in field

Lapwing amongst the daisies

The Corncrake were certainly there – their calls often heard but glimpses were frustratingly difficult. I did manage just a couple of poor images (these are quite heavy crops) of the ones we did see. Still – you don’t get great images every attempt!

 

 

So far so good though – I had never seen a Corncrake so first attempt success is always welcome! The tip is to come earlier in the year before the vegetation gets too high – then they are a bit easier to spot.

A bit more of a drive around, mostly down single track roads and spotted a visitor not welcomed by the local lapwing family.

For the afternoon we headed to a local beach, directed by our hosts. The beaches here are stunning! Mainly white sand that stretches for miles and crystal clear water. You could be forgiven for thinking it was the caribbean. The area we headed to was the mouth of Loch Phaibeil – there is a lovely deeper channel where the water floods in and out to fill the loch and looked a perfect place to spend some time working out what the birds were doing. It’s a great place for smaller waders so I laid out on the sand trying to bet images of the Dunlin as they fed at the waters edge.

Dunlin feeding at Loch Phaibeil

Dunlin Flock at Loch Phaibeil

I kept my attention on the Dunlin although there were Oystercatchers around plus Shelduck and Eiders in the channel but they kept their distance despite me being laid flat.

Our walk back to the car (through fields) earned us the inevitable escorts from worried parents. It doesn’t really matter where you go at this time of year, there are so many nesting birds that wherever you walk (sticking to established paths of course) you will be accompanied by Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatchers flying up and sounding the alarm. I try to take just a few images and move on. Even if you aren’t the object of concern, the crows and gulls guarantee there is always something to shout a warning about.

Get off my land!

Back to the B&B and still hearing the sound of Corncrake right outside the windows. My first full day is over but has made quite an impression. Day 2 report to follow shortly (when I get round to it!).

Posted in Birds, Cameras, D500, North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Photography, Scotland, Wildlife Photography Also tagged , , , , |

Springing into 2017

Half way through April and spring is well and truly underway. I guess the best way to start this post is with the most obvious sign of spring from the garden and one that many people probably take for granted – a frog chorus. Now frogs are hardly rare but you would be forgiven for thinking that in my garden. Despite having two reasonably sized wildlife ponds, it has been the newts that rule the water (newts eat frogspawn and vice versa)….maybe that’s all about to change?

After finding quite a few adult frogs at night and hearing them sing from our bedroom window, I knew that maybe this year would be a little different. My hopes were realised when one morning on my way to feed the birds I saw the first frog spawn of the year, and the first time in abundance for my pond(s).

Frogspawn clump

Frogspawn clump

Over the next couple of weeks there was a steady addition of spawn, the result being a large semi-floating mass with what must number into the thousands of eggs.

I’ve not had many chances to photograph Common Frogs so firstly out came the macro lens and my waterproof mat and I spent a session or two laid out at the side of the pond –

Common Frog close up

Common Frog close up

Common Frog Reflection

Common Frog Reflection

Despite some reasonable success they were still quite shy. What about trying to photograph them at night I wondered? A couple of remotely triggered flash units placed at 45 degress from each side and I was ready to go. This time the frogs were amazingly approachable with a little care and sat nicely for their portraits –

Smiley frog portrait

Smiley frog portrait

Floating in the dark

Floating in the dark

Common Frog reflected at night

Common Frog reflected at night

Whenever walking the garden at night around this time of year I have to be really careful of the travelling newts as they move around on damp nights –

Newt crossing lawn at night

Newt crossing lawn at night

It’s now a few weeks since the spawn was laid and my pond (the bulk was laid into a single pond) is now a writhing mass of life – everywhere you look there is a tadpole darting about, I could watch it for hours!

When the spawn first hatches the tadpoles tend to stay together and eat the rest of the jelly from the eggs, I tried to get a few images of this but any image taken into water is really difficult. Hopefully these convey what I was seeing –

Mass of tadpoles

Mass of tadpoles

Finally for the frog theme, i’m trying out a little aquarium photography. Although it’s a reasonable start, I’ll need to work out how to clear the water as the following image shows (oh and notice the hoglice in the bottom right photobombing!)

Tadpole underwater shot

Tadpole underwater shot

Bird wise the garden has been quite busy with the smaller birds being most active it seems. This Goldcrest was a welcome visitor and has been seen around regularly and not alone. Hopefully they will be nesting nearby –

Goldcrest side portrait

Goldcrest side portrait

Another lovely little bird that is definitely nesting nearby is the Long Tailed Tit. They have been picking up tiny bits from my fat feeders before zipping around finding spiders webs with which to construct their nest –

Long Tailed Tit gathering nesting material

Long Tailed Tit gathering nesting material

Long Tailed Tit with moss

Long Tailed Tit with moss

Not the best images but something I don’t often see so worth inclusion here.

They even have enough energy to manage a few chin-ups…

Long Tailed Tit chin up

Long Tailed Tit chin up

Moving away from the garden, I was treated to my first singing Sedge Warbler at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve at the beginning of April. This is a welcome sound as it heralds the reedbeds coming alive with warblers for the next few months. A small amount of time stood still and the bird was happily belting out his song close enough for some lovely portraits.

Sedge Warbler portrait

Sedge Warbler portrait

Singing Sedge Warbler

Singing Sedge Warbler

Finally, I’ve been giving access to private farmland, something I’ve been longing for to get some new space where it’s less likely i’ll be disturbed. It’s noticeable that all the wildlife I’ve spotted so far is really shy so it’ll be fun trying to get some good images.

One bird there is no shortage of is the Pheasant – this shot was early morning, low light and high ISO so fairly pleased with how it came out –

Pheasant in flight

Pheasant in flight

I also managed to find a pair of Treecreepers making a nest in some rotted wood. I’ll be keeping an eye on them over the coming weeks. I’d love to see the youngsters fledge into a huddle! –

Treecreeper with nesting material

Treecreeper with nesting material

That’s it for this instalment. Hope you enjoyed the images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Garden, Photography, Wildlife Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |