Hedgehogs Night 2

I have just got back in from my second attempt of photographing Dorset's Hedgehogs. It was an awesome experience. I might not have got the best images yet, but it was amazing to see these animals living so close to my house. I sat still and quiet for a few hours and sure enough as the sun started to set I could here the quiet rustle of hedgehogs in the bushes. After about an hour a small young member of the group appeared on the grass which my lens was pre focused on. Light was gone completely and I used a very high ISO. I experimented with flash also. The Hedgehogs were completely oblivious to my presence and after I had been watching them for half an hour or so, I quietly left the area so they could go about their night in piece!

New Projects

Im back in Dorset for a couple of weeks, and I have set my self some hard tasks.
Firstly, I am attempting a wide angle landscape shot, that happens to contain wild red fox, (a tall order but its in the making) Also I have recently discovered a nest of hedgehogs that has two young. I attempted to photograph them for the first time tonight. So the image below is of poor quality. The light was gone completely and the only photo I achieved was taken at 9.48pm, with a 6400 ISO! Hopefully I will be able to use flash to aid this issue and also possible a wide angle lens.

Peregrine Falcon - 3rd Attempt

Today I had a bit more luck with the Peregrines! As I walked up the footpath about 200m away from the nest, one of the adults flew past within the range of my 300mm. Although I would have preferred to have more warning and not be carrying a tripod at the time it was nice to see one in flight at a nice range. Also a buzzard at very close range. I need to experiment with different compositions for birds in flight. Does any one have any suggestions???

Peregrine Falcon 

Common Buzzard

 Common Buzzard - Attacked by Gull!!

Peregrine Falcon - 2nd Attempt

I popped back to watch my recently discovered nest of Peregrine Falcons. It was interesting today because I was testing out different lenses and seeing which worked the best. I had with me a Sigma 800mm from uni. This was not a good lens to use as it was very soft and really did not give a good result. I then tried a Nikon 300mm with a 1.4 teleconverter. This was still not great but for the distance it is the best option. I am still having trouble with the lighting and need to find the best time of day to get the light at the right angle. Hopefully however this should be sorted in the near future and I should be able to post so averagely nice images.

 Chick- preparing for first flight 

Adult Feeding Chick 

Adult Feeding Chick 

Peregrine Falcon - First Attempt

Ok, So before you look at these images and hate them, I need you to know that this is my first attempt at this subject and I have a long summer ahead of me which will be partly devoted to getting better images of these beautiful animals.

I have identified a nest of Peregrine Falcons, which contains one chick. This chick has much of its adult coat of feathers through, apart form a small patch under its left wing which still remains as white fluff. I observed the adult pair returning to the nest a few times however each time not bring with them any food, for the chick.

I also observed what I believe is practise flight, I guess as in order to build up the muscles required for the first important flight, from the nest.  The chick stood on the edge of the nest and violently flapped its wings until it basically fell out of the nest. It then panicked and managed to clamber its way back in to safety. I think that this chick is ready to leave and will be doing so very soon.

In the next few weeks I am hoping to achieve better images of these incredible animals and also start a small project on the Dipper. I will post more images soon.

Chick - Defending its self from local fulmars 

 Adult Female perched above the nest

 Adult Male perched above the nest

 Chick, standing on cliff edge outside the nest 

Practise flight - The young chick running though the motion of flapping

Goonhilly Downs

Below are a a few images taken while on a shoot on Goonhilly Downs in Cornwall. There is a large nature reserve and a therefore a large expanse of land to explore. I did not have too much luck as it was too windy for macro and very wet. 

A few from the Week

This week I went home to Dorset and only had a day to go out and shoot. However this day was good and the weather was nice. I went to the Arne - RSPB reserve and spent a few hours walking around the reserve looking for reptile species, also Deer in the area and any birds that passed by. Below are a few of my images from the day. 

Seals

After a really nice night staying in a B&B/ Gypsy caravan in Cornwall, I decided to try and find and hopefully photograph some grey seals. I was actually really successful and was able to spend a large part of my day photographing many different individuals. One particular youngster had a tag on its rear flipper, this means that is was once a resident in the seal sanctuary in Gweek. I have sent some images to the keepers there and hopefully I should be able to find out who this individual was and find out some information about her/him.

Female Stone Chat

 Canada Goose 

Razor Bill

 Oyster Catcher 

 Juvenile Grey Seal 

 Female Grey Seal 

  Juvenile Grey Seal 

A day on the North Coast

Today I went for a shoot on the North Coast of Cornwall. It was a wet day but the sun came out just as I arrived. I also spotted a few lizards but was unable to photograph them. Below are some of my images. 

Common Blue 

Common Blue 

Small Skipper

Gannet in flight 

 Starling 

Male Stone Chat in Flight 

Godrevy

Yesterday I went on a shoot to Godrevy, on the north Coast of Cornwall. The area is owned and managed by the national trust and contains some awesome wildlife. below are some of my shots from the day. 

Shag 

Turnstone 

Male Kestrel 

Over the Weekend

Over the weekend I traveled home, to Dorset. I spent a small amount of time photographing a lot of species and really need to go back to make the most of the sun and biodiversity of the county. However I finished it off in Cornwall this morning photographing Seals, and any other species that passed by. Below are a few of the photographs captured over the weekend and I will try and upload some more soon.

Radipole Lake - Great Crested Grebe

Just a quick post to show a shot from my trip to Radipole lake in Dorset today. I spent a few hours around the RSPB reserve in Weymouth Dorset, and was able to photograph a variety of different species. Great Crested Grebes were what I spent of of my time photographing and was able to photographing some nice behaviour. There was a pair feeding young and proving food to each other. While I was watching the female was carrying the chicks on her back and the male was hunting for food. Below is one picture from my shoot, I will post more when I have some time.