Little Grebes - Spring/Summer 2014

I am quite a fan of photographing wildlife on my own patch, I am not sure whether it’s the fact that I know no one else is going to interrupt me when I am out, or the fact that it’s only me that’s going to see birds or mammals in that particular place. I guess that makes me quite selfish, but without the lack of foot traffic and all round quietness of the stretch of River Test that runs through the village I doubt I would stand any chance of photographing the resident Little Grebes.

A naturally shy bird, more often than not they dive underwater at the first sign of any approach, surfacing in the shady camouflaged safety of the river bank edge and its reed fringe. The river isn’t very wide in this particular spot so when the birds are mid stream they are only 20-25ft away from the bank which does allow the opportunity for some frame filling photographs. I’ve found by positioning myself led prone on the edge of the bank, stationed downstream from the resident pair, sooner or later they will swim on down, whether to fish or to defend their territory.

This summer was a strange one; I spent a few hours watching the birds around the nest, careful not to disturb them in the hope of a seeing a stripy plumaged chick, alas I had no luck. Whether the rumour of several Mink sightings on this stretch of water had caused enough disturbances to prevent a hatch I cannot be sure, as I never actually saw the Mink myself. The one thing I did notice every time I watched them was that the pair would swap places regularly on the nest, the bird sitting taking time to cover the eggs over and departing for a few minutes before the other bird would take over. Did this have a consequence for the un-hatched young? A conundrum that baffled me on each visit.

As you can see in a prone position with very slow movements the birds allow some great views, here is to hoping for a big brood of young Dabchicks in 2015.

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Finally Some Pecker Action

The elusive Great Spotted Woodpecker, well elusive to my camera and memory card, although well hidden not to disturb any of the other flying visitors to my feeding station every time the GSW comes into feed he or she seems to spy me. Over the course of about 3 and a half weeks I have finally managed to gain the birds trust and although any hint of movement still causes them to disappear instantly. I've found that if I shrink myself into the back of my hide at the first sound of the Woodpeckers call I can slowly manoeuvre my lens into position and grab a few shots without disturbing these striking ninjas. These are just a few from this period throughout February. Including one rather satisfying ninja jump.

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Goodbye To The Winter Storms

So my intentions were good I promise, life has been pretty hectic so I find myself a couple of months behind already with this years Blog so here is a chance to catch up I hope. With most of the country suffering from the winter deluges a clear sunday afternoon gave me a chance to get out with the camera along the River Test and capture the departing Storm clouds.

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Dry Mornings Adventure

After a week of solid deluge across the country it was nice to wake on a Sunday morning to sunshine and a slight frost, tendrils of mist hanging atop the rivers surface and the surrounding water meadows. The swollen river is pretty quiet this time of year with water sources everywhere even the water meadows are pretty lacking in Ducks and Snipe. 

The one species we seem to have gained in huge numbers is the Mute Swan, the wintering Swan herd has grown to 26 on the last count, enjoying the shallow flood water between the two rivers. Half a dozen or so Greylags also seem to enjoy feeding on the lush grass. 

The bright glow of the morning sun and the hanging mist gave a gorgeous diffused light, highlighting a pair of Swans on the river as well as making the landscape quite eerie and dramatic.

Mute Swan Pair

Misty Water Meadow Tree

 

River Test

Misty Sunrise

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Little Grebes - End Of March 2013

A project I have been looking to get cracking with for sometime was working with the Little Grebes on the river near the house, last summer and throughout the winter there has been quite a healthy population with pairs every 300-400 metre stretch along the bank. However a problem I have encountered in the past is that they seem to be easily the most spooked bird I have ever come across.

I've tried camouflage unsuccessfully, and on several times walking tight to the edge of the woodland to approach birds I could see on the water, and every time I seem to have been spotted a good 60-100 yards before I got anywhere near level with the bird, I recall hearing that tell tale plop as the bird disapeers under the water and heads for the shadowy safety of the bankside reed.

So finally on Easter Sunday I found some time to dedicate to a pair of Grebe that were starting to defend their territory. On a nice wide stretch of the River Test, it was a relatively bright morning and as I slowly made my way up the bank to a spot where the local Mute Swans haul themselves up out of the water on to the bank, here the foliage on the water edge was flattened nicely allowing me to rest my camera and beanbag in the small gap.

With the amount of rain which had fallen over the winter, water levels in the Test where at quite a high which was quite convenient for creating a very shallow depth of field due to the low angle of my positioning and the high water level. Having seen the Grebes at this spot quite a few times without managing any photographs, I was quite happy to see them further upstream at a safe enough distance not to disturb. So I led down on the bank and waited, letting the spring growth of the reed hide my form from the water.

45 minutes on and off of listening to the distinctive Grebe shrilling call let me know that the birds where starting to come a little closer, eventually coming into view on the reed edge of the far bank. I had set my camera to Low Speed Continuous shooting in a ploy to avoid spooking the birds with the machine gun chatter of my shutter going off.

Eventually one off the birds drifted out mid stream allowing me my first real close up view of this waterborne skulker, the red plumage on the back of its head glowing in the bright morning sunshine.
I tried to keep my lens movement to a minimum to avoid spooking the bird, and it seemed to work well as one bird was soon joined by its partner.

I was really happy with my 2 hour session on the river bank, and even the annoyance felt as a Kingfisher landed on a over hanging branch 20 yards downstream didn't distract me and my time with the Little Grebes. Plans where made at the time to visit them again when the green colouring of the spring foliage was present, and to this day I still haven't managed to wangle the time to visit them again. Although I am hoping now that they have bred successfully and have a small stripy brood following in their wake.

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Misty River Sunrise - 8th Feb

Waking up earlier than normal on this particular Friday morning had its advantages, pulling back the curtains I was greeted to a stunning frosty vista across the water meadows. The sun had just started to move from behind the horizon so I quickly dressed, grabbed my camera gear and tripod and literally legged it out across the river bridges to the middle of the water meadows.

It appeared I timed it just right as the pinky orange pastel haze started to give way to the deep fiery glow of the rising Sun. The mist that covered the water meadows and nearby river only adding to the atmospherics.

Having rushed out of the house I literally only had my camera and tripod, so quickly positioned it on the river bank and started snapping away. It was nice to just use the camera settings and take some natural images, no Polarising or ND Grad filters at hand.

As I headed home back to get ready for work, I had to try for a picture of a Mute Swan pair swimming through the river mist. A truly awesome sunrise, well worth braving the cold frosty morning for and well worth missing out on an extra 45 minutes kip.

Looking Eastward

One of the Carriers

River reflections

Misty Mute Swans

PS. When processing these images all I have done is slightly boost the contrast. So you can see how vivid the scene before me was. :-)

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