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Hello and welcome
I have always had a keen interest in wildlife and the great outdoors;
I was an Angler for over 30 years but gave it up a few years ago to
concentrate on photographing wildlife. I lived in Runcorn; Cheshire a
short distance from the M56 that gave me great access to the Wirral,
Northwales and Lancashire, with some great countryside on my doorstep
I didn't have to travel too far in search of wildlife and photographic
opportunities.
Some of my wildlife photographs range from as far afield as Cuba,
Antigua, Saint Martin, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Tuscany ,
Corfu, Turkey, Spain, Portugal.
I now live in the Charente area of western France.
Goldcrest at Moore Nature Reserve
Had a short visit to Moore Nature Reserve and spotted this Goldcrest.
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More later
Bad Hair Day
African Grey Crowned Crane having a bad hair day at Martin Mere
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Whooper Swan
Whooper Swan taken at WWT Martin Mere
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Tawny Owl
Tawny Owl resting up during the day at WWT Martin Mere.
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With it being deep undercover it’s difficult to get a good shot.
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Peregrine Falcon hunting over the fields at Martin Mere
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Some more Goldcrest shots
Last of the Goldcrest shots taken in the garden
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Cold and Ruff
Very cold and windy at Martin Mere yesterday and more to come this week.
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More in the folder
Avocet at The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Martin Mere
Avocet taken at Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Martin Mere using Canon 430EX11 flash
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Fill Flash
Today was the day I decided to try and photograph the Sparrowhawk that has started to visit my garden again.
With the lack of light I decided to dig out my Canon Speedlite 430EX11 and use some fill flash.
After setting everything up all I had to do was sit and wait. One hour later I noticed some movement around the base of the tree.
Not the Sparrowhawk that I was expecting but something much smaller.
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It’s a Goldcrest searching for insects, a dangerous place to be as the Sparrowhawk could appear at any time.
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I find it difficult to get the balance right when using a flash (due to my lack of skill) but I am reasonably happy with the results.
Zoo Days in Tuscany
Early on in the year we had a holiday in Tuscany, we hired a car for the two weeks so we could explore the region
We followed the wine and scenic routes from Volterra, to the island of Elba.
On one of the days we visited a small Zoo. However the living conditions of the birds and mammals could only be described as poor.
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Home alone
Not much action on the photographic front so I decided to stay at home and see what turns up.
It’s been very quiet in the garden for the last few weeks but some birds have started to reappear. Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Nuthatch and most of the Tits, that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the local Sparrowhawk.
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It visited the garden three times in the last hour. Still didn’t manage a shot (next time I will be ready).
Meadow Pipit on Frodsham Marsh
It’s been ages since I last visited Frodsham Marsh, I had a run down to see if I could get any Fieldfare or Redwing feeding on the Hawthorn berries but that didn’t work out as I couldn’t get near enough to photograph them.
However a small group of Meadow pipits turned up on the fence line next to the roadway so I was able to get some shots from the car.
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Curlew
Going through old folders and found these Curlew
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Curlew at RSPB Leighton Moss
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Carrion Crow
I found these Photos of a Carrion Crow feeding on a dead Squirrel as I was going through some old folders.
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The Kingfisher is back
It’s been a few weeks since I last photographed the Kingfisher, despite calling in most days I haven’t seen them and according to local birders they haven’t been seen.
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I thought that may be it until spring next year, however on this mornings short visit one female Kingfisher turned up and I managed to get a few shots before it disappeared from view.
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