Wild Boar photo makes BBC Springwatch Picture of the day

Hey guys and girls, 

I forgot to mention that I had a nice surprise last month. My boss walked in one afternoon and said "Steve, you're famous!" I didn't have a clue what he meant and then he showed me the BBC Springwatch page and there was my photo of a Wild Boar, which made photo of day on their website. It appeared on the BBC wesbite and their Twitter page which I thought was pretty cool. 

The photo is of a Wild Boar sow. It was taken in the rain and luckily came out pretty good. I liked the photo when I saw it but didn't imagine it getting photo of day from Springwatch! 

    

Few New Photos From The Past Few Weeks

Hey everyone, 

Sorry I've been a bit quiet on the old photography front but I'm back now and can't wait for this amazing British sunshine........................... hopefully! 

So I recently bought myself a new lens. It was about time that I upgraded my lens to something faster and sharper and it's certainly is that! I let a good friend of mine buy it first to give it a test run then I went and bought myself one or maybe I saw the amazing quality it produced and wanted me some of that! 
The lens in question is a Sigma 120- 300mm APO DG OS f2.8, it's big and heavy but I love it! Problem is my ball head broke so now I have to spend more money to support the brute so watch this space for what I buy next. 
For now here are a few photos from the past few weeks and they have all been taken with the new lens. 
If I can be bothered I'll write up a review on the lens or you can just look at the photo's and judge for yourself if it's good or not ;) 

www.sjpwildlife.co.uk

 

 

Ospreys of Blagdon Lake

This has to be one of the best moments I've had photographing wild birds.
This female Osprey is one of three that have arrived from Africa and taken up temporary residence at Blagdon Lake in North Somerset. They will each go their separate ways very soon, as they go on to their breeding sites but for now we were lucky enough to watch them much closer home.
This Osprey (Ochre Z/T) hasn't been seen for a number of years so it's great to see her back in the UK fit and healthy. 
She was ringed in 1998 near Bridge of Cally in Scotland and that was the last time she was seen so let's hope she finds a mate and will produce some chicks this summer.
I'm not sure I will ever get this close to a wild Osprey again, it was a great day with great company.
I could have easily cropped this photograph really tight but I love seeing her in her habitat, I feel it adds to the photograph.

 

Beautiful Cornwall

Hey everyone, 

Sorry for the lack of blogging action recently. I've been extremly busy of late and haven't had much time to do anything! But I have managed a couple of trips to the forest (when my back is feeling up to it! That's another story....) so watch this space for a few new photographs. 

For now here is a photo I forgot to publish from a trip to Cornwall.

The north Cornwall coast has to be one of the most stunning areas in the  United Kingdom. This was taken back in January on a lovely evening. The sun had virtually set and the colours were stunning. This is probably my favourite photo from Cornwall, so far, but I'll be going down there a few times this year so hope to get plenty more opportunities to photograph this amazing county.

Enjoy the photo.

Trip to Doñana National Park

Hi everyone and a happy new year as it's my first post of 2013!

After a difficult start to the year, me and Michelle went on a great holiday to Seville with my parents. Flying from a frozen Gatwick airport and landing in 20 degree heat was a bit of shock to the system but one we happily accepted!

While the girls went shopping for a day me and dad headed down to Doñana National Park.

Doñana is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. It is an immense area; the parque itself and surrounding parque natural or Entorno de Doñana (a protected buffer zone) amount to over 1,300 sq km in the provinces of Huelva, Sevilla and Cádiz. It is internationally recognised for its great ecological wealth. The park is one of Europe’s best known conservation areas and has been designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve, a Ramsar Wetland Site, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. One of World Wildlife Fund’s first projects was the 1969 purchase, in partnership with the Spanish government, of a large area of Guadalquivir Delta wetlands to help create the park.

More than half a million bird’s winter in the park each year and perhaps half of Europe’s bird species can be spotted here at one time or another. This is one of the main reasons we decided to go to Doñana in the winter and it didn't disappoint!

I've been visiting Doñana for four years and always use Jose at discovering donana, top bloke and really knows his stuff! I can't imagine anyone having more passion for Doñana then Jose; it's a joy to have someone like him show you such an amazing place.

We headed into the forest early in the morning to be greeted by herds of Red and Roe Deer. I have seen the deer numerous times in the cork oak forest but never this close. They were not bothered by our appearance and carried on their daily routine.

         
Further into the forest we saw the tell tale sign of Wild Boar and their 'gardening' on the forest floor. I still haven't seen the Boar in Doñana but I'm sure I will one day. I didn't think I'd see the Lynx but last year we did so I'll keep the faith. Jose stopped us in one of my favourite parts of the forest to show us a mushroom...... not any old mushroom I hasten to add! Jose says it grows back every winter and has done for as long as he can remember. The giant shroom stands about 5 inches tall and is about the size of a dinner plate! I was fascinated by it! I call it 'it' as I don't know the correct name sorry.

This area has always been good for Kites and as we started to speak about them flew over head. The light was stunning and they flew around long enough to get some nice shots, just a shame I couldn't get both in the same photo.

On our way to Isla Mayor, Jose spotted some movement in the reed bed. We pulled over and waited to see what it could be and then a small bird appeared on the seed head. Straight away it was obvious what it was, plucking the seeds from the reed and watching them drift away. I was a Penduline Tit, a bird I have always wanted to see and I doubt I'll ever see them this well again. The light was a little harsh for photographs but regardless it was great to see this stunning bird.

After lunch we headed back to the marshes in search of the Cranes. We found a group about fifty strong but unfortunately at some distance. It was a shame but still great to see these stunning birds through the scope.
When we were parked up looking at the Cranes we didn't realise that there were five Short-eared Owls flying around! Of course when we noticed them they started to fly but luckily not that far and two of them happily posed for us. This was the closest I had been to a Shorty and I loved it! I could have watched these guys all day but unfortunately we had to head back to El Rocio. 

 

On the final stretch of our drive back to El Rocio we came across more Deer and with the sun setting the light was stunning. One Red Deer stood under a Cork Oak tree and made a stunning picture. Donana is a stunning natural wonder and I will always return to this magical place.

I would highly recommend anyone to visit Donana. The vast array of flora and fauna is astonishing and it's no wonder this area of wetlands was the World Wildlife Funds first secured site back in the 1960's and probably the main reason the WWF was created.

Hares, Kestrels but no owls...

I've been a bit quiet on the ol' photography front but did managed to have a productive weekend last week. I met up with a good friend on mine to try and photograph the Short-eared Owls at Aust but they only showed once in the three hours we were there and they were to far away for any shots. But the Kestrel did put on a good display and gave us some good opportunities to photograph her. The weather was perfect and the sky perfectly blue.

After Aust we moved on into the Cotswolds to a great location for Hares. Ben had been there before and wanted to show me around the place. The area was typical arable farming landscape and ideal for the UK's fastest mammal with the shelter of woodland on the edge of the fields. We walked around the woodland first in search of Roe Deer but they were nowhere to be seen. We headed out to the fields and walked along the hedgerows hoping to see the Hares. The light was stunning and a Robin followed us along the Cotswold stone wall so I felt obliged to take a photo in the gorgeous Autumn sunshine. 

As the light started to fade we began to loose hope on seeing the Hares and headed back to the car. The sun had now set but as we walked along the woodland edge a Hare suddenly ran along the field in front of us! We crept up on it and found another two in the distance. One hadn't noticed us and we slowly walked closer to try and get a closer shot. It was great to be able get so close to these amazing animals. We had a few minutes with it and managed a few (noisy!) shots which I was very pleased with in the end. 

The Hare eventually followed the rest of his group and we headed back to the car much happier! We have planned to focus purely on the Hares next March and I'm pretty sure we're going to get some cracking results! I can't wait, 2013 is looking a good year for photography projects. 

Autumn Wonderland

Went to Westonbirt Arboretum yesterday with Michelle to see what the autumn colours were like and we were not disappointed!!

I've been going to Westonbirt since I was a little boy. Getting up early with my dad, on a frosty morning to see the amazing colours whilst carrying his (HEAVY!) Benbo tripod was always great fun. I have seen the amazing colours of Westonbirt for about 20 years but this time I was blown away at how vibrant the colours were, it's simply amazing! We went later in the day to try and miss the crowds and I'm glad we did as the hoards of people leaving was mental!

We walked through the trees looking for the acer colours and it didn't take long to find them. The colours were crazy, we couldn't believe it. We didn't have as much time as we'd like there but it was still great.

If you get a chance to go to Westonbirt this week then head down there because it looks brilliant.

Isle of Mull, Scotland.............. probably the best place on earth!!

Me and Michelle have recently got back form an amazing week on the Isle of Mull and WOW what a place it is!
I must admit I wasn't looking forward to the 7 hour drive to get to our stop-over location in Scotland but it went surprisingly quick! and only one stop on the on the way! It was great driving through the Pennines and watching the scenery change quite drastically as we reached Scotland. It was difficult to carry on driving and not pull over to take photo's of the landscape. So, after a loooong drive to our Premier Inn, just outside Loch Lomond, we headed to the pub for some food and had a right laugh! Good local people and great food. At one point an old lady passed out at the table and it was quite concerning as she didn't move for some time. They put her in the recovery position after getting her out of the chair and it wasn't looking good! The paramedics arrive and all of a sudden she bolted up, put her coat on and headed out the door!!!!!!!! No  concern on her face that there was three paramedics and a number of people trying to help, no she was off, straight to the next pub!!!! WHAT DO THEY PUT IN THE WHISKY!!!! We were in shock then burst out laughing looking for the camera crew thinking we'd all been punk'd!!! Brilliant way to start the holiday haha!

So the following morning we headed to Oban to catch our ferry over to Mull. The drive up the west side of Locmond and across to Oban was breathtaking, even in the rain and heavy cloud! Our first wildlife encounter in Scotland was a group of Red Deer near the side of the road, unfortunately there was no where to pull over. After an hour or so we reached Oban to board the ferry. The short trip across to Mull was over in a flash but we did manage to see some Common Seals playing in the water and a group of Guillemots and an Arctic Skua chasing the Terns.

Once on Mull we headed up to the B&B in Tobermory (www.sunartview.co.uk). The B&B was great and the room was huge! and the bed was to die for, I now need a memory foam mattress in my life!

The following day we booked a wildlife tour around the island with Pete from www.mullwildlifetours.co.uk .
This gave us a great insight to island and places to re-visit throughout the week. Pete was a fantastic guide and highly knowledgeable. He took us to several key locations for Golden Eagle and White-tailed Eagles and they all showed well (even if it was an overcast day). Pete picked out a juvenile Golden Eagle sat on a cliff over looking Loch Na Keal and I don't how he spotted this amazing animal! Even though the Goldie is huge bird you could not see him with the naked eye. Luckily Pete had his trusted scope and we got some superb views of the youngster calling for his parents to bring in lunch! Throughout the day we saw even more White-tailed Eagles and a huge variety of birds. The Red Deer didn't want to play ball and kept their distance from us but the scenery where they were grazing was stunning and made up for them being so far away.

Balmeanach, Isle of Mull.

Near the end of our day we got lucky and managed to watch a female (Ring-tail) Hen Harrier hunting over the marsh land. A bit further down the road we also spotted the male with it's stunning pale grey feathers and black wing tips. These stunning birds are sadly on the verge of extinction in the UK, with shockingly low breeding numbers and decades of persecution this was a very moment but also a sad one. These beautifully majestic birds of prey need serious help.

Female Hen Harrier.

Check out the RSPB website for more info on what you can do to help them

 RSPB - English Hen Harriers hang in the balance

The following day we headed down to Craignure looking for Otters after a tip off that they had been seen the past few mornings. We stayed for time looking for the Otters but no luck unfortunately but we did get some cracking views of an Arctic Skua harassing the Common & Arctic Terns. The Skua is such a powerful and agile bird, I just wish it had come a bit closer to have it's photo taken. Whilst sat on the rocks waiting for the Otters we did have a comical group of Oystercatchers running around in front of us. I do love these birds but usually they are my nemesis when photographing waders or sea birds. They always give me away when sneaking up on a subject with their loud cackling when they see me! But this time they played nicely and even posed in the sunshine for some photographs.

Oystercatcher.

Later in the day we headed over to the west coast of Mull to see the waterfalls called Eas Fors. The name is tautologous: eas is Gaelic for waterfall, and fors or foss is also Norse for waterfall, so "Eas Fors waterfall" means "waterfall, waterfall, waterfall." The weather had turned by the time we got to the falls but I managed to get a few long exposures before the rain came down.

The falls are split up into three separate waterfalls. The photo above is the highest waterfall or the first depending on how you look at them. This is a different angle compared to a lot of photographs you see of this section of the falls. There is a tree that overhangs a lot of the waterfall from the right hand side which I didn't want in the photo so I got my feet wet and waded across to the other side. If you do this then be very careful, it's slippery and quite a drop behind!

This is the middle waterfall and my favourite. It's a stunning waterfall and a great view across to the island of Ulva behind. These waterfalls also gave me an opportunity to properly use my new B+W 10Stop filter and I just wish I had longer to use it at these falls! The rain came down with an almighty force not long after this photo so I didn't get a chance to get down on the beach to photograph the final 100ft waterfall. There's always next time.

The next day was the day we had been looking forward the most, our boat trip out to Loch Na Keal.
We set off on our journey to Ulva ferry port. We used Mull Charters for the trip, Martin and Judith Keivers are great hosts and really know their stuff! We met three other photographers on the boat Pete Walkden, Pete's dad and Ian Cook, all with an aim to photograph the UK's largest bird, check out their websites for some amazing photographs of wildlife. We headed out after trying to photograph the Mink running round the harbour.  It didn't take long before a flock of gulls were following the boat and making us more visible to White-tailed Eagles. We headed towards a part of the loch which was in line with the Eagles nest. Within minutes of stopping the boat the gulls suddenly dispersed and the female White-tailed Eagle flew out of the trees towards the boat. These birds are huge, their wingspan can exceed 8 feet and it's pretty obvious why they get the nickname of the the 'Flying Barn doors'. She circled the boat for a while before soaring down to catch a fish of the surface of the water! It was over in a flash and my first attempts to photograph the eagle were, erm, of the loch haha! But never fear the male made an appearance so we now had two Eagles in the sky. It didn't take long for one of them to shoot down and grab another fish, this time I got my shot!! Adrenaline pumping like never before, to the point I almost fell over after forgetting we were on a boat!

The Eagles flew around for a while before returning to the nest. It was an unreal experience and one we will never forget.

Back on the main land we all headed to a location back up the loch to photograph the Eagles from a different perspective and it wasn't long before they put on a show again. Both adults headed back out to the loch and flew straight over us. We watched and photographed them for over an hour and I could have done it all day. These birds are truly amazing.

 

The following couple of days were spent in the car, in the rain unfortunately. We kept looking for Otters but no luck. We did however get to see the Hen Harriers hunting again and the Golden Eagles. Whilst near Loch Na Keal the rain eased a bit and I managed to get a nice photo across the loch.

Loch Na Keal.

On the way back to the B&B I managed to get a couple of photographs of the Common Tern and Gannets fishing in the Sound of Mull. It was great to watch these birds diving into the water at such close range. The Arctic Skua was about again causing havoc, just a shame he didn't come close enough for his mug shot.

 Common Tern. 

Gannet.

The Isle of Mull is an amazing place and somewhere I will keep visiting and who knows, maybe live one day. The landscape, wildlife and people are superb. I would highly recommend you visit Mull, you will not be disappointed! We are already planning our next trip and can't wait to get back there. Our week went so fast and we saw so much but there is still so much more for us to discover.

P.S. Make sure you go the Tobermory distillery ;)

Isle of Mull update coming soon......

Hey everyone, 

So we're back from Mull and I haven't stopped since getting back!!!! 

I will give a full write up of the trip with new photographs very soon but for now here is a teaser of what we saw.....

World Photography Day 2012

As it's World Photography Day here's a photo from today. 

Sleeping, Cleaning, Watching, Dreaming.