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Minsmere wildlife photography…

After a week spent watching the amazing seabird spectacle of Bempton Cliffs, we then headed down the coast to Minsmere – another popular reserve that I had not been to previously. Time to rectify that.

Our accomodation was to be a lovely cottage that backed on to the reserve and had a populated Barn Owl box in the back garden. I had my hide with me and was hoping for those elusive close ups of a Barn Owl, preferably with a feed for the chick(s). After a pretty straight forward drive I couldn’t help but quickly unload the car and walk to the reserve (without my gear) just to get a feel for the layout. It was soon clear that although the reserve is technically within walking distance, it’s actually quite a way and when carrying 2 stone of kit it’s going to be too far to walk each day. No problem, one of the other things I like about RSPB reserves is that you can get in at any time even if the visitor centre was closed, and Minsmere is no exception.

The reserve is some size and has lots of different environments from reedbeds, woodland, scrapes, heathland and beach. I just knew this was going to be a successful week.

Heading back to the cottage and the light was already starting to drop, a quick look out of the bedroom window revealed the Barn Owl coming in with the first feed of the evening. Lovely views!

A quick scan of the weather showed that despite it being June, and alledgedly summer, the very next morning looked like the only good sunrise to be had for the forseeable future. Argh! Plans were made for a very early start.

At this time of the year the alarm has to be really early to catch that sunrise and so I was up and on my way for 4.30am and after the short drive was unsurprisingly the first person to arrive. I had decided that I would head for the East Hide so that the rising sun would be behind me and would bathe the scrape in lovely golden light. Once you start walking through the reserve the thing that really struck me is just how tame the rabbits are. Great place for kids as you are guaranteed to see wildlife of some kind.

My first encounter was to be after heading across the North Wall and going through the gate to the beach / dunes. As I had the sun rising behind me and there was barely a breath of wind, when I spotted a Red Deer hind feeding in the long grass on the bank, she had no idea I was there. I slowly levelled the camera and let her approach…

 

 

 

Red Deer hind feeding

Red Deer hind feeding

 

I’ve been told that the deer here can be quite accommodating but not having any experience in this area I was being careful – no sudden movements or noises. The shutter noise barely received a glance.

Red Deer hind chewing

Red Deer hind chewing

This hind really had no idea I was even there and was getting closer and closer. It’s a perfect start to have a willing subject like this so I made the most of it and took plenty of images. Eventually she was so close I could only fit her head into the frame and she finally realised that “something” was there ahead of her but still couldn’t work me out. Alot of sniffing and staring ensued –

Red Deer hind alert to possible danger

Red Deer hind alert to possible danger

Finally, after a fantastic experience, her waryness got the better of her and she skipped over the top of the sea wall, stopping for once glance back as she went.

Carrying on towards the East hide, there were swallows and Sand Martins flitting over the sand and the air was alive with birdsong. Mornings like this are a tonic for the hassles of everyday life, I could happily lose myself in this moment for hours an hours (and frequently do!). I spotted a recently fledged family of Cetti’s Warblers in the scrub just outside the hide but was not able to get a single image. Shame but lovely to see.

The East hide (like many on this site) are in two storeys. I chose to sit low down to get the best angle and was greeted by a scrape full of life. I would class my home patch as Rye Harbour in Sussex and, although there are now a healthy population of Avocets at breeding time, they do seem well spread out. Not so here at Minsmere, they had gathered into a large feeding flock and were in a sifting frenzy –

Flock of feeding avocets

Flock of feeding avocets

Avocets are a bird you just can’t help point a camera at. They are elegant yet feisty and full of character and always give something of interest to photograph.

Feeding Avocet

Feeding Avocet

Avocet in flight

Avocet in flight

Even just a side shot with that fantastic beak is worth photographing!

Avocet side portrait

Avocet side portrait

But where they really excel is protecting their young. They won’t tolerate ANYTHING near them and will vigorously defend against all comers regardless of size.

Avocet parent attacking a Little Egret

Avocet parent attacking a Little Egret

Trespassers will NOT be tolerated

Trespassers will NOT be tolerated

It’s an interesting situation that two birds that have struggled greatly in the past are now cramping each other’s style. Great to see them both thriving.

It’s always worth keeping an eye out for other activity too as birds are always coming and going and often it’s easy to miss opoortunities by not being prepared. This fly past from a Barnacle Goose was a good example. I watched it coming from some distance and grabbed some shots as it dropped down over the edge of the reedbed and descended onto the scrape at a distance. This isn’t a bird I often see on my home patches.

Barnacle Goose flying in

Barnacle Goose flying in

Redshank aren’t scare by any means but getting a flight shot is normally quite hard – this time of year (juneish) when they have young they will fly and alarm call so listen out for the advance warning.

Redshank in flight

Redshank in flight

Redshank alarm call

Redshank alarm call

For now I’ll leave you with a closeup of a Little Egret, a bird I’ll be returning to in the next update, along with Spotted Redshank, Bearded Tits, House and Sand Martins and a close but no cigar shot of a Bittern encounter. I’ll also let you know how the Barn Owl opportunities were.

Little Egret portrait

Little Egret portrait

Hope you liked. Thanks for looking.

 

Posted in Birds, Mammals, Minsmere, Nikon D7200, Photography, Wildlife Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , |

Bempton Cliffs bird photography – Part 2

The accommodation that we chose was situated in the village of Buckley, just along from Bempton. Just along the road, next to a pond is a lane that goes up through farmland and eventually leads to the cliffs. The lane is mainly lined with thick hedges and was great for farmland birds. Every walk was accompanied by Linnets, Yellowhammers (mainly distant) and more Tree Sparrows. I didn’t spot Corn Bunting but I’m sure they must be here. There is also a small cut-in on the left as you walk up the first part of the lane which allows a great view over the pond and surrounding meadow and fields. I was told that a Barn Owl hunts here in the evenings. I’ll come back to that….

My first walk up the lane was without any gear on a windy and drizzly day (hooray for reliable British summers!). I knew I was getting close to the cliffs when I started seeing the graceful Gannets drifting past a few hundred yards away. As this isn’t actually part of the RSPB reserve it’s actually possible to walk right up to the edge of the cliff. Disclaimer time!! – I’m not suggesting you go close to the edge, you are entirely reponsible for your own actions – use your common sense!

The sight that greeted me at the cliff edge was amazing. I could just sit and have Razorbills and Gannets almost hovering in front of me. The strong Easterly wind meant they were having fun landing on the ledges and so faced the wind to “back in”. The light was awful but I knew I’d have to come back in the afternoon to try my luck.

Flying Puffin

Flying Puffin – Yorkshire Coast

It’s not often you get a chance to photograph flying birds from above and, even though there were plenty of subjects, it’s still really difficult. I found the method that worked for me was to watch a certain area, catch your subject early and follow it in, hoping that it would get close enough. Certainly made my arm ache!

Kittiwakes mid air dogfight

Kittiwakes mid air dogfight

Puffin - mid dive

Puffin – mid dive

Sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time and an opportunity presents itself. A bird that I’d often hoped to see but have never managed to photograph suddenly spiralled up in front of me. I had an idea it was coming as all the Kittiwakes flew straight out from the cliff face, a sign I was to see a few times over the week. And there it was…..having a good look at us to see what we were up to – a Peregrine Falcon –

Spotted by a Peregrine Falcon

Spotted by a Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon checking us out

Peregrine Falcon checking us out

A fantastic experience and by far the best views of this stunning bird for me (and first photos). During the week I did spot the pair once or twice, normally because the Kittiwakes gave them away. It was then just a game of spot the dark flying bird amongst hundreds of other flying birds!

I found taking images of the Gannets rather addictive. I have so many flight shots I’ll really have to cut them back to just the best as I’m sure I’ll never end up using them all. One last example for now –

Gannet in flight (from above)

Gannet in flight (from above)

Earlier I mentioned the Barn Owl. I really wasn’t expecting to get any Owl shots from Yorkshire, but, as one of my favourite birds, I just have to try to get a few images wherever I can. I’d like to thank the visiting RSPB volunteer who advised me to try at the viewpoint in the lane in the evening. I did spot the bird on 3 seperate nights but for 2 of those it was staying over the other side of the road or was distant in the fields. As always though, persistence pays off and with a sun setting behind the bird I managed a few shots.

Barn Owl over golden field

Barn Owl over golden field

I was really hoping it would settle on the nearest post with the sun to backlight it. Instead it chose an ugly alternative with fencing in view…..

Perched Barn Owl

Perched Barn Owl

Despite the number of times I’ve taken images of Barn Owls, it’s actually the perched shots that are more difficult. The bird has to feel very comfortable to perch close enough for decent images and that often means you have to be hidden / in a hide / taking a leaf out of the sniper camouflage book. The irony of getting a decent perched shot but with a background and perch that detract from the image. Oh well…next time!. On the plus side I did get a close fly past with some lovely evening lighting –

Evening fly past from a Barn Owl

Evening fly past from a Barn Owl

I really enjoyed my visit to bempton and the surrounding area, it’s somewhere I would definitely go back to. Following our week here we then dropped down south a little to Suffolk and stayed just on the border of Minsmere, which will be the topic for my next post. Hope you enjoyed.

 

 

 

Posted in Bempton Cliffs, Birds, Nikon D7200, Photography, Wildlife Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , |