Latest pictures
All my photographs are now uploaded to Flickr. Please click on the logo to view my latest pictures.
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My favourites
That Flickr gallery is all well and good, but 500 pixels isn't much in today's money. So click on the two pics below for a selection of my favourite bird and macro pictures, with a bit more size for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy looking through them!
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My stuff
Since 2004, I've been through various Canon cameras and lenses, including two EOS 20Ds, an EOS 30D, an EOS 40D, an EF 400mm f/5.6L, an EF 300mm f/2.8L IS and various other lenses, before arriving at the following which I use at the moment:
EOS 7D
EF 500mm f/4L IS
EF 1.4x II extender
Kenko 1.4x DG extender
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 APO DG
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4
Speedlite 550EX
Macrolite MR-14EX
...plus sundry other gubbins.
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A-Z index
If you're looking for something specific, please use the index below to take you to that species' page at my Flickr site.
I've uploaded most of the British stuff, but most of the foreign birds can still be found at the links above. There's still a fair old few that still haven't been processed, and I could have sworn I've done a lot more passerines than this!
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Lots more rambling on at my main birding site...
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MONDAY 28th DECEMBER 2009
Cheddar Res
News of a Black-throated Diver at Cheddar Res saw me over in proper Somerset first thing (or as 'first thing' as I could be bothered to get up), and after an unnecessarily long walk, I eventually caught up with it. What a smart bird - and really tame, too. On some occasions it would surface just a few metres from where we were standing on the bank. That said, with the low sun there were only a couple of places around the perimeter where you could get it in some full-on decent light; all of the shots below are layered composites of three RAW conversions for each picture to keep the brightest highlights and darkest shadows.
Sadly, it was found sat on the concrete embankment looking a bit peeky on 29th; it was taken in to care but died shortly afterwards. Aparrently it was very underweight.
More of this bird at my Flickr site.
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SUNDAY 27th DECEMBER 2009
The friendly Goldeneye
Goldeneye are normally impossible to get anywhere near at Chew, so it's nice to see that the male that spent last winter feeding in the channel at Herriott's Bridge has returned. Nice views of Tufted Duck, too. More from today at my Flickr site.
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SATURDAY 19th DECEMBER 2009
Water Pipit
We've had our first proper cold snap this week, and a lot of the shallow margins at Chew are frozen. Luckily the cold weather has also brought with it some clear skies, which makes a nice change after all that dreariness at the beginning of the month.
The water level is now just the right height to bring a couple of Water Pipits right up close in front of Stratford hide. Good job there was some decent light as they never kept still. They were usually amongst the dead reed stems as well, so I struggled to get anything decent at all. The same went for the close-in Snipe too.
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WEDNESDAY 2nd DECEMBER 2009
Cuba
Finally finished processing/tarting about with my Cuba photos from earlier in the year. Please click on the poorly-exposed Bee Hummingbird to see them.
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MONDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2009
Tomorrow morning
Still there - hooray!
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SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER 2009
Pom week
I've never had anything like a decent view of a Pomarine Skua, and after having missed one at Chew last weekend (a proper rarity at the lake with only one accepted record), it seemed like a good idea to pop over the estuary and look at one which had been lingering about at Beachley Point, just the other side of the Severn Bridge.
It was feeding on a minging old sheep carcass in the saltmarsh, and gave us some really good views. Shame about the weather though, which was shocking all day - just rain and awful light throughout, which meant that getting any decent flight shots was next to impossible. The photo of the bird sat on the seaweed below was taken at 1/80 sec at f/5.6 with the camera set at 800 ISO.
I thought that it would have been the same sub-adult bird as the one I saw at Severn Beach last Wednesday during that ill-fated petrel dip (a whole day of my life which I will never get back). But this was a different one - in worn adult summer plumage (except there are a few fresh winter plumage black and white barred feathers appearing on the flanks and lower scapulars).
Just as I was driving away from the site, Derek Angel phoned. It's always a worry when he does that. He'd just found a Pom Skua at Chew, which was busy killing a Common Gull in the gull roost. What are the chances of that? Bugger. I just managed to get to Nunnery Point at dusk, in time to be shown a brown blob three-quarters of the way across the lake. They were the worst views of any bird I've ever had anywhere. Perhaps it'll still be there tomorrow morning...?
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You can see some of these pictures a bit bigger on my favourites page.
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SUNDAY 8th NOVEMBER 2009
Crappy light 2
The weather forecast on the internet said that this morning's cloud and rain would clear in the afternoon, and I would have a few hours of splendid sunshine in which I could take some nice photographs of the Red-throated Diver at Chard Res. What bollocks. It cleared for about ten minutes whilst I was on the motorway and then clouded over again, probably for the rest of the year.
Still, I did get some nice close views of it and a few ok-ish high ISO shots which would later pose a severe test for Messrs Photoshop and Neat Image. I even quite liked the one of it in the reflected sunset, in the end...
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SATURDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2009
Crappy light 1
On the one hand, winter gives us plenty of wildfowl, seagulls, Starling roosts and all that, and on the other it gives us about half an hour of decent light per week. Chris Stone phoned to tell me there was a Black-necked Grebe at Barrow, close to the wall which might be good for some photos. It was nice and sunny, so all should have been well.
When I got there, a big grey cloud came over and it pissed down with rain. After the shower had passed and the sun came out again, the only place I could photograph the grebe from was looking right into the evil low winter sun. Still, I did manage one or two photos which didn't go straight in the bin. Not as nice as the ones I took at Cheddar last winter though.
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SUNDAY 25th OCTOBER 2009
Jack Snipe
Last week saw the arrival of the first Jack Snipe of the autumn at Chew. Luckily, they've taken a liking to a patch of dead vegetation right in front of Stratford hide, where up to five have been seen. They take some finding though - it's not exactly Lower Moors. One of them came a little closer than usual in the gloom this afternoon, but even so it was still a fair way off for photos, as can be seen by the noisy massive crop below. That said, the pictures didn't tidy up too badly for the web. There's another one on my logbook page.
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SATURDAY 17th OCTOBER 2009
Brown Shrike
Unexpectedly, the Surrey Brown Shrike was still present for the weekend, so off I went down the M4. Usually when I go somewhere to see a rare bird I'm lucky to end up with a series of photos containing 'background' which happen to have a bird in them. Today was no exception, but views through the scope were rather fine, which has got to be the main thing. The Azorean Yellow-legged Gull was still at Appleford too, so it would have been silly not to. There were loads of Red Kites between the M4 and Pangbourne/Goring/Didcot, including about a dozen scavenging around the landfill site. What splendid birds they are.
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SUNDAY 11th OCTOBER 2009
More garden moths
I should put the moth trap out less often; there was another first for the garden in there this morning - Red-green Carpet. I think that puts the list on just over 580. A two-garden tick weekend then, or three if you count the Black Redstart that appeared on nextdoor's roof this morning.
Both the Red-green Carpet and Angleshades below are stacks - the former about three or four frames to get the thorax and legs in focus, the latter was a seven frame stack (both using Helicon Focus). Unfortunately the carpet loses a lot of definition in resizing; you can see all the scales in the full-size original. There's another shots of the Angleshades at my Photostream.
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SATURDAY 10th OCTOBER 2009
Garden moths
The first time I put my moth trap out this month and a first for the garden arrives - Feathered Ranunculus. They're common in central Bristol but for some reason they don't occur on the outskirts. Caught a Cypress Carpet as well, the second this year. The only picture I've processed so far is the one below - Udea ferrugalis - a migrant. I also spent far too long this afternoon trying to photograph some Harlequin Ladybirds; the little buggers wouldn't keep still.
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SUNDAY 4th OCTOBER 2009
Bowling about around the Parkland
Sometimes when you're in the car you can just drive straight up to things that otherwise would have legged it. Despite the fact this Pheasant could see me hanging out of the window pointing a huge lens in its direction, it was more interested in squaring up to another Pheasant than scarpering. The shot below was just about full-frame. Shame the light was so awful. I also bumped into a couple of Roe Deer along the track.
By the way, I've added a few new galleries at my Photostream (see opposite). The hybrid duck one is particularly unmissable. Click here for some more pictures from this afternoon at my Flickr gallery.
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FRIDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 2009
Chew tick!
Normally when I take week off in September, nothing turns up at Chew, but this year was different and a Long-billed Dowitcher magically appeared in front of Derek Angel. Shame it's always pretty far away, although I did manage a few record shots after a long wait for it to appear...
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SUNDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2009
Not a Glossy Ibis
After obtaining permission at CVRS to put up a small screen in a rather cunning spot to photograph the Glossy Ibis, I might have guessed that the sodding thing would leave before I got to use it. Never mind, I did manage to get some nice full-framers of Lapwing and the colour-ringed Little Egret.
Click here for some more pictures today at my Flickr gallery.
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MONDAY 7th SEPTEMBER 2009 Glossy Ibis
News that the weekend's Glossy Ibis at Chew was showing at close range in front of Stratford hide meant that another after-work trip was called for, and again, it was showing as advertised when I arrived. Shame the sun had gone in by the time I got there, but it's better than it being half a mile away on the other side of the lake!
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TUESDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2009 Spoonbill
A quick after-work trip to Chew for today's Spoonbill - it was stood in front of Moreton hide, not really doing anything. Unfortunately it wasn't particularly close - had to use two 1.4x extenders to get this shot, and even then it was pretty small in the picture. Still, doesn't look too bad thanks to the wonders of web resizing:
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MONDAY 31st AUGUST 2009 Chard Res
Decided to go and look at the Great White Egret that's been at Chard Res for ages. What an awful place to have to get to from Bristol (notwithstanding the fact I went via Chew and Greylake). I managed to get some pretty close looks at it despite the noisy twats and dog walkers that seemed to be doing all they could to boot it off. It's about time we had another of these at Chew.
Click here for some more pictures of it at my Flickr gallery.
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