Back Out After 13 Weeks

Scottish Photography Hides   18-20th, November 2022

After a long career in amateur sport requiring some parts replacing I'm finally back out after 13 weeks of inactivity and to celebrate the occasion I've arranged a three day trip up to Galloway at the Scottish Photography Hides, three days and three night hides sessions and likely to be full on for the entire weekend.

Day one consists a combined day and nigh session concentrating on Kingfishers in a hide aptly named the "Kingfisher Hide" and later in the evening Otter. Located right next to the river Tarff...no not Taff that's in Cardiff ! it's ideal placed for both target species.

Photographing Kingfishers in this location in my opinion cannot be bettered due to the uncluttered background way off in the distance with some great colours provided by the green field and autumn gold bracken, all that's required now is...Kingfishers.

Appearing every hour sometimes staying for a minute other times five minutes gives you ample opportunity to change the shot, some shot arrangements you've seen before others you may not. After many visits all too soon it's 3.0pm the light fading under the grey clouds signalling time to change the gear over ready for the Otter night shoot.

Kingfisher

Otter

On may last visit a Otter family comprising a female and two cubs were visiting, now my understanding is the female was killed on the nearby road and the cubs chased from the territory by the now large single male....gear ready....I'm ready. 

The male regularly visits around 5.0pm and true to form at 4.50pm it turns up. I spot the Otter as it climbing the ramp on to the pool, sticks it's head into the water then shaking it's head in a halo of water droplets.

After about ten minuets of action...is all over, but there's always tomorrow.

Sparrowhawk

Day two, I'm at the "Sparrowhawk" Hide probably Alan's most well known hide that's featured on BBC's SpringWatch, today I have all four hides all to my self, take your pick !

On previous visits I've found the species can vary dependant on the time of year, daytime Tawny Owl, Red Kite and Buzzard have all been visitors but with nothing of note reported the highlight will undoubtedly be the Sparrowhawk pretty much a guarantee. I've waited maybe an hour and a male Sparrowhawk turns up around midday, it stays for maybe 15minuets which gives me plenty of time for a couple of hundred shots...more editing !

Now around 3.0pm with the light fading I call time and make my way up the the Pine Martin located in the blackest of black....Caledonian Forest...ooow !

Pine Martin

Pine Martin a species where you have to be quick to get the shot, I've missed many in this hide but I'm getting better. Alan's change the set since my last visit at the beginning of the year and as before the LED lights have gone in favour of a superior flash system. Now the wait which be be long, very long ! 

Out of the backness the mustelid appears, jumps straight up onto the log to retrieve it's prize, this process goes on three times given you a more chance to get a better shot, then along the stone wall investigating for anything edible, then it all over like all these hide sets, fast, furious and quick.

Badger

Day three, I'm back in the Kingfisher Hide again taking the opportunity to change the set after each Kingfisher visit, more of the same as you would expect always trying for that next best shot.

Late afternoon it's now time for the night session with Badgers, on my last visit I managed just one shot before the Badger got spooked disappearing never to return, here's hopping for better successes.

It's a long wait before I get any action, the Tawny Owl makes a quick fly in visit, and was quick, less than a second, in and out in less than a second ! 

More wait, then I detect low frequency noise and a Badger appears, not three as seen in other images. Nose down never giving a great shot permanently sniffing and feeding the free offerings, then gone. As it's now 2 degrees and I'm happy to call time and head back to the car to thaw out.

Until the next time.

Back Over The Boarder

Dumfries & Galloway - 6.3.22

Earlier this year as I hadn't been up to the Scottish Boarders I though I'd treat myself to a weekend away now that restrictions were ending, and what a better way to blow the cobwebs off than three days of hectics photography.

Friday is always a late night starting with a couple of hours hopefully with Badgers, in reality after a long wait it was only the briefest of visits as something spooked the Badger never to return, hey ho !

Saturday was a long session starting around 9.0am with Kingfishers but little else, a location in previous years where Buzzards could be photographed on a deer carcass across the river but no longer. Loads of chatting helps pass the time with some visits evert 45 minuets or so until an evening session with an Otter family. The Otter session being the highlight of the weekend and most looking forward to having been to this location many times, the images below only gives so idea what an experience it was.

Now Sunday with blue sky's the light is very harsh and not really conducive to getting any decent images but I make the best of my time. Now late afternoon it's a time to say hello again to the Pine Martin but this time using flash rather than LED lamps which are more difficult to get the correct exposure, two visits and it's all done, time to the road and a long drive. Until the next time.

Badger

Female Kingfisher

Otter

Male Sparrow Hawk

Blue Tit

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Red Squirrel

Pine Martin

What A Cracker

Ringford - 12.11.19

Work in progress....

Sparrowhawk - male

LED Charged Sparrowhawk

Galloway - 13.10.19

Over the course of the weekend up in Galloway I took the opportunity of a night session in one of Alan McFadyen's hides trying for images of Tawny Owl that visit after dark that requires being in the hide early to avoid any potential disturbance, as Alan is setting up a couple of LED lamps to illuminate a post he says to keep an eye open for the Sparrowhawk that often makes an appearance at dusk....under lights !

Shooting with LED lamps is a new experience for me and a technique that doesn't always make sense...well to me it doesn't. In the low light, light rain conditions the camera is bumping 12,000 ISO with the lens wide open at f4 and a shutter of 250-320/sec, but add a couple of LED lamps and the ISO drops to a manageable 6,400 further more it seems to pull out some incredible detail you would not normally get in general cloudy conditions. I've also noted the LED's don't create that unnatural look in the image you so often see with conventional flash something I'm going to try in the future in my own garden.

It's all quiet the silence only broken by the odd squeaky chair as we fidget about trying to get comfortable, light rain is falling and normally a little too dark to get any decent images, but this is where the LED lamps come in to their own.

Bang !...the female Sparrowhawk appears almost out of nowhere, not surprising they are the stealth hunters of the woods, the "bop" just sits there for an age as thou looking around for any free offerings....then it's gone.

The female Sparrowhawk is an amazing sight, far more impressive then the more colourful male, and using LED lamps is another first just make sure if you are using auto iso to dial in some negative exposure or better still go fully manual......WOW !

Sparrowhawk - female

Something Special

"Anticipation"

There were a couple to target species I had in mind for this weekend and one of them was a Sparrowhawk...and a male bird would be even better. Waiting, waiting, there's plenty of woodland bird action but not the bird I'm after, surely with the amount of Chaffinches and tits around the feeder it's only a matter of time before this super fast "bop" zooms in try's to grab some unsuspecting individual.

After what seems like an age a bird flashes in from my left initially in too quick to recognise, its a Sparrowhawk and a a male at that...wow !...don't panic Mr Mainwaring. It lands on a post, now it's just lucky that I'd change the camera lens seconds before to something more suitable, the camera shutter goes off...bang in silent mode grabbing all the action sequence.

With several camera's shooting all at once the bird is aware of our presence but is more interested in something on an adjacent post and hops over to investigate, after no more than a minuet the Sparrowhawk is off and would have been so easy to have missed the action, in fact looking back at the entire weekend this would be my only encounter with a bird that would be on most peoples bucket list.

With a bag full of images I'm pretty happy, time to relax at a more leisurely pace...Target number 2...tick

Sparrowhawk