Loverly Images !

New Image Website

Just a "heads up" on my new website I've been working on over the last few weeks to complement this blog, the site contains high resolution images from the birding world along with wildlife from my travels.

The main front page shows a selection of images located in the galleries, or if you prefer, just click "Galleries" to view individual bird groups.....go check it out !

Website....paulsamuels.smugmug.com

Link.........https://paulsamuels.smugmug.com

It's a Bit Chilly

Cleeve Hill, Gloucestershire - 30.11.21

Whilst down in the FOD I was interested to note a Snow Bunting is regularly visiting a small pond at Cleeve Hill which towers above Cheltenham, a new location for me and with it only being twenty or so miles away I thought why not a visit.

It's an early start not wanting to get caught in commuting traffic arriving just before sunrise hoping to get there before anyone else waving cameras about, well I'm not the first by any means with several dog walker already ploughing off through the snow out into the darkness.

I'm sat in the car the sky red as the sun starts to appear, then the fog rolls in...would you believe it ! Not wanting a wasted trip I thought I'd leave the gear in the car (did I say that !!!!) and at least have a look to see if I can locate the bunting.

Heading of into the fog in what I think is the right direction I find the small pond the bunting has been frequenting...nothing ! Now just gone 8.30am and the sun is in charge the fogs departed and it's turning into a great morning but still no sign of the bunting, chatting with another birder who seems to have accepted it's off somewhere else he trudges back to his car, then at distance I see a bird on a post flicking at the snow which I'm sure is the bunting, and it is !....giving the bird a wide birth it's back to the car for the gear.

I'm back the bunting content hopping amongst grass heads poking through the snow occasionally taking in the scenery from a post or the wire fence. It's not long before I'm joined by other camera wheelders some taking more liberties than they should and the bird flys off lucky only to circle back.

A few more images and it's time to call time and head back eager to see the images I've managed, I usually have a hit rate of 1in 50 !....so fingers crossed, always learning !

Snow Bunting

Another Fish Diver !

Watergrove Reservoir, Wardle - 22.11.21

Every winter one of the divers usually puts in an appearance on some inland lake/reservoir in the region, this time it's a Red-throated Diver and no more than five miles travel distance ! the only issue is Watergrove is a fairly large reservoir but it's so close to home it's got to be worth a look.

It's a cracking day and full sun but that's ok as viewing the diver is generally has the sun directly behind. Already there's a few birders on site, the diver easily seen with the neck a dazzling white highlighted by the sun, better watch I don't over expose the whites !

Loads of waiting around as the diver is tending to remain loafing around in the centre of the reservoir, but as the diver starts feeding it can appear anywhere and not where you expect up to thirty meters from where it originally dived. Then I spot what I initially though was a Cormorant close to the wall..."oh no it's not"... it's the Red-throated Diver ! the closest so far, it's only on the surface maybe thirty seconds managing some images and it dives only to resurface back towards the centre of the reservoir. 

And that's it, the low light and the diver way off in the distance time to call it a day.

Red-throated Diver

Visit 2 - 23.11.21

As the light was still pretty good today I thought I'd have another couple of hours to see what's on offer. Arriving at the wall side the diver couldn't be further away on the far side of the reservoir never coming near so I decided to take the long walk round to the side towards the moors. 

The diver is in the bay I'm waiting for in to come a little closer, then boom it pops up right in front of me the closest its ever been so I freeze not wanting to spook it, it dives again and my chance to get to water edge, disappointingly it resurfaces further away managing a few shots with the 2x extender on board, not great quality, but hey ho at least I got some images !

Fish Divers !

Undisclosed Site - 3.11.21

I'm back on the road this morning for another session with the photogenic Kingfisher but this time....diving Kingfishers !

Now at my destination still quite early the fog still lingers, no matter as the light is still not good enough to achieve the shutter speed needed for these lightning fast birds, time to take a break and take in the autumn sights and sounds of the lake water fowl and the occasional skein of pink feet heading south in search of their next meal.

This morning I working with the mini tripod mounted Canon R5 using the electronic shutter at 20fps and a couple of PocketWizard radios, I'm using a iPad connected to the camera via Bluetooth to review and edit the images "on the fly" which appear after a few seconds, this way I can delete unwanted images as the number of images can soon mount up.

Still a learning curve regarding the best settings for low light and not "blowing" the whites, and most frustratingly trying to guess when the Kingfisher will take to the air and dive. Not the best images which is mainly down to the low light conditions resulting in a high ISO (image quality) but work in progress. Looking forward to the next time !

Kingfisher 

Just On Holiday

Alexandra Park - 17.10.21

Having seen a report and a few images of a North American male Wood Duck in a local park I thought it was an opportunity not to miss as seeing these "feral" ducks is an uncommon sight around the UK.

Not unlike the Mandarin Duck but less common the Wood Duck popular in wild fowl collections with escapees breeding in the wild that's assuming both male and female manage to find each other, the only place I know currently being one of the valleys in South Wales.

It's a couple of years since my last encounter with this species so I know exactly what I'm looking for, a quick circumnavigation of the lake and it's found associating with a female Mallard, very approachable and not at all fazed by a park run and generally people out for a walk, all thats needed is little patience for the duck to move to some nice coloured water and it's job done.

Although not accepted on the official UK breeder list it's always good to catch up with something more unusual especially if its not brown !

Wood Duck - male

Tufted Duck -female

Also present were a few Tufted Duck

Some Time With The Kingfisher

Undisclosed Location - 13.10.21

It's some weeks since I was last out for a full day with the camera so itching to get back what better than to spend some time with one of the most photogenic of subjects...the Kingfisher. 

Most times all you see of this king of the river is a flash of iridescent blue as it flashes past never quite stopping long enough to get images, but today I've arranged to visit a favoured fishing spot, fingers crossed for some images.

I've deliberately chosen this day as the weather forecast is for bright sunny overcast conditions exactly what your after to enhance that iridescent blue of a bird you would think more suited to the tropics and not that seen commonly in the UK, and would you believe it, it's drizzle, grey and even some light mist but I'm hopeful conditions will improve.

Male Kingfisher

Female Kingfisher

Distinguishing feature being red colour on the lower mandible

Back Again !

Blacktoft Sands - 22.9.21

So I'm back to Blacktoft to try and improve on my previous images of the White-tailed Plover as the forecast is sunny intervals, on my previous visits the light had been poor, overcast and grey producing very drab images so fingers crossed for a better outcome. Now into the fourth week the Plover's seems content moving between the scrapes/ponds, surely it will soon depart ! so one more visit before I call it a day and move on to something else.

As you can imagine most people have now seen this visitor from eastern Europe, no queuing in the hides always getting a seat, but where's the plover ?

 
Two hours later the plover is found on Singleton, but it never a clear shot as the wader is sticking close to the waters edge obscured by vegetation, with a little patience I manage some shots in some nice light, I'm not going to post a load more, just this one

White-tailed Plover

James Bond Duck

Rochdale Canals - 15.9.21

Over the last few weeks I've seen reports of a drake Goldeneye normally a winter visitor around our region that appears to be spending the summer months of the canals of Rochdale, now normally I've had mixed results with this northern breeder keeping its distance, but on a canal ! you got to be able get near.

It's a short walk to where I need to be and low and behold flying towards landing no more than twenty meters away is the Goldeneye not at all bothered by my presence. Now you ask yourself could this be an escapee, well looking at the images there's no leg rings present so maybe it a lost wild duck.

The light is harsh in fact its full sun so I don't hang around deciding to return later that afternoon. On my return the sun is still belting it out but at least in behind me. Now with all the images than I need a couple of dog walkers decided to feed the Canada Geese next to me and all hell breaks out....shoot over !

Goldeneye

Blacktoft...but at Distance !

Blacktoft Sands, East Yorkshire  - 30. 8. 21

So there I am sat in the Forest of Dean and up pops a report up on Birdguides that around midday a Black-tailed Lapwing or Plover had been found at Blacktoft Sands and as usual I'm at the opposite end of the country. It's not long before images start to appear later in the day from the usual local suspects, maybe it will stick around until the end of the week ?

Black-tailed Lapwings are to be found breeding in central Asia to Iraq wintering in east Africa and India so way out of their normal range to the UK

Now Monday the Lapwing is still present, thinking it's going to be quite on a Monday my wife reminds me it's a bank holiday doh !...having already set my mind to a visit I decide to go anyway and set the alarm to arrive just when the hides open at 8.0am. Pulling into the carpark it's full, at the hide it's also full, with standing room only with just a short wait Im sat and set to go.

The WTL is only showing occasionally spending most of the time behind a large island, when it dose show it's distant never coming within range for a decent image, now Blacktof isn't one of those locations where you are going to get a close view but the R5 have good cropping capabilities just so long as the light is good and today it isn't...hey ho as they say, 

Just a few reasonable images on the day, I will add a few more if there's any worth posting, I might even try again next week as the forecast looks a little better.

Black-tailed Lapwing / Plover

Common Snipe