Showing posts with label Magpie. Show all posts

Sunday, 7 July 2019

The Fox & Rabbit II

It’s not often I will go back to a successful shoot at a location in the hope of replicating the success again as it rarely turns out that way, but at this time of year it’s a great time to see and photograph foxes as this years young haven’t left for their own territories so you have a number of foxes in one place some of which haven’t yet learnt to fear humans.

With that in mind I returned to the same location as before. Conditions were different. Instead of dull, damp weather there was sunshine and, out of the wind at least, a little warmer. However this time the wind was coming from a different location so my previous ideal position now had it coming from behind me, making me upwind from their location. This and the lack of rabbits feeding may have been the reason that, after two hours, little was seen.

Eventually, the mobbing calls of a couple of magpies caught my attention so moved to a different location to see what the fuss was about. The new place was more sheltered and what little wind there was now came towards me. Unfortunately, for the first time in a number of years I was hit by a bad case of hay fever, maybe because of the lack of wind but it was very sudden and my eyes were itching like mad and starting to stream.

Just then a fox came out of nowhere and across my front. At this point I could barely see never mind try and focus on a moving fox through long grass. A couple of shots is all I managed, mostly out of focus or largely hidden by the vegetation. The rabbits further out, although alert to its presence, didn’t seem overly concerned until, after initially disappearing from my view, it sprinted out out after them. It was all over in seconds and again, I had nothing but blurry images due to the problems of trying to focus in the long grass.

With my hay fever moderately better, after a couple of anti-histamines, decided to go back to my previous location despite the problems with the wind direction and being colder at least I had a more open view and it was where I had the previous weeks success. Again, after another hour and nothing happening it had to be my being upwind that was the issue and after, once again hearing the mobbing of the magpies, moved to investigate.

As I approached the noise I kept coming up to rabbits, frozen. Normally they would be off in a flash with someone approaching them but they clearly they thought I was a lesser threat than presumably the fox or foxes ahead. Each time I chose not to make, what must have been an already stressful time for them any worse, so gave them some space and went around them. One rabbit I stumbled across, I was so close I couldn’t even focus that near so had to back away just to get a photograph.

Despite the obvious presence of foxes, I wasn’t able to get closer due to the ring of clearly fraught rabbits around the area, so returned back to my original location.

I know there is a lot of photographers who shoot wildlife to whom getting ‘the image’ is all important and I don’t think they realise the impact they might have. I remember reading once how, for wildlife, it’s a day-to-day struggle for survival it it did make me think. I don’t chase after wildlife and if I think my presence will cause unnecessary stress, I will back away without an image.

There has been so many times I have had close encounters with an animal, particularly foxes and deer, where I stumbled across them without their knowing of my presence. But because I was so close, rather than ‘get the image’ and inevitably give the animal a shock, I have stayed quiet and let them pass without knowing I was there. There is a certain satisfaction in being within metres of a wild animal, unaware of you and simply being able to watch it rather than it see you and run off.

Same Time, Same Place…

by Frank Anderson

…different results. As is so often I’ve found, you can rarely ever re-create the same success previously achieve, as was the case on this occasion. I wasn’t going to bother posting this as the images aren’t good and are few and far between but I did think it was a good example of how unpredictable wildlife, and particularly photographing it, can be.

I went to the exact same location at the same time with even the weather being the same, sunny, warm condition, in the hope of achieving the same success as before in seeing and photographing some young Foxes. Result? Completely different.

As with a couple of weeks earlier I waited quietly in the same place and again, after a couple of hours the Magpies started to make a noise suggesting a predator was about but I only got a quick glimpse of a Fox.

Certainly the Rabbits were on high alert, obviously due to the Magpies activities. The grass was a little higher than last time making any sighting harder to photograph, so when a particularly loud commotion came from my right, I went to investigate. I stopped at a good vantage point only to see a Fox sprint across after one of the Rabbits. Ironically, had I stayed where I previously was, I would have hand the perfect view!

The Fox, obviously unsuccessful in its hunt walked back the same way, spotted me, out in the open having not settled down yet – took one look at me and was off!

The Rabbits remained wary for a while but eventually settled back into their feeding. The Magpies continued excitedly back and forth for a while but I didn’t get any further glimpses.

As I said, I wasn’t going to bother posting this due to it not being particularly exciting. The Fox images were fleeting snaps and the sun was bright and in my face – and so behind the subjects making exposure difficult and way too contrasting. Still, a morning spent in the warm sunshine is always a good thing.

A bit of hit and miss

by Frank Anderson

3:45am and I’m awake. I had set the alarm for 5:30 for an early start with my planned visit of the weekend. I could either try and go back to sleep and when the alarm wakes me I would probably feel really tired and unmotivated to get up, or I could just get up now and feel the effects of the lack of sleep later. I choose the latter. At least the forecast’s for sunny spells, although the brief mild weather is gone getting colder again.

Arriving on location by seven in the morning at my favourite woodland location, I planned to photograph Roe Deer. I’ve been doing so here for about six years and have come to know the area well and, in particular, the habits of the small local population of the Deer that live here. I have ‘my spot’ where I like to sit which is at an intersection of three routes used by the Roe coming in from their early feeding to their day time lay up. There are two routes I can take to get there – the direct one which is usually uneventful or the longer one which is where the deer themselves follow or at least cross over in sections. I decide on this route. To make an analogy, it is like following a bus route. The bus is only going every, say twenty minutes but stops every now and then. Time it wrong and you might just always be behind (or ahead) of it and not see it. Of course Roe deer are not a regular service (mind you nor are our local buses).

If you are quiet, move slowly, and you're lucky with the timing, you might be able to come right up behind one or more of the deer who have stopped to feed on route. Some of my best images were gained using this method and my small 300mm f4 lens. Carrying a bigger lens as I was today, can be too slow and clumsy as you need to be quick and agile.

It wasn’t long before I came across the first one but the recent strong winds had blown a lot of twigs and branches onto the woodland floor making stealth difficult, so it heard me before I saw it and, although wasn’t too alarmed by my presence, moved away. Believing that was probably it for a while and because the part of the area I was moving into now I’d rarely seen any deer in the past, I sped up, taking less care. Within a minute I stumbled across a male Roe who I hadn’t seen behind the tree ahead, metres away. I don’t know who got the bigger fright! Needless to say it ran off, making that barking sound that Roe do when alarmed. Magpies and then it seemed every other animal in a mile radius joined in the alarm chorus. My ‘stealthiness’ was definitely blown.

No more sightings and I reached my planned location, made myself confortable and waited. Because this was an intersection of three routes, I sat so that I could clearly see two of these either side of me with the third behind where they would cross by me either to my left or right. With my back against a tree and netting draped over me I had to choose which direction set my camera up to point and I chose right. After about fifty minutes I thought I had heard some noise behind me and turned to my left. A big mistake as two Roe Deer were metres away and my movement alerted them to my presence and like my previous encounter both legged it. Had I just stayed put and let them walk pass, I would have been in a better position to have photographed them. Annoyed with myself, I decided to give up and move on.

Later I was able to photograph some smaller, but more obliging critters so the day wasn’t a total miss.

Classic Nuthatch pose – both landscape and portrait

Blue Tit

The idyllic and loveable Robin

Another Blue Tit pose

A not so glamorous Brown Rat

A Great Spotted Woodpecker makes an appearance

As does a Magpie

And another Rat

It’s a ‘Tree Rat’

Not welcomed by the Woodpecker

And so beats a hasty retreat

Making sure it’s gone

Back to normal

Newcastle City Wildlife

by Frank Anderson

Preferring to spend most of my photography time out in the rural or countryside, it’s easy to forget that there’s wildlife all around us. Apart from the obvious birds that live around the houses here, within a short walking distance there are some very accessible wildlife which can be seen and photographed up close having become accustomed to the presence, noise and the hustle and bustle of human city life.

There are two notable locations in Newcastle – the nesting colony of Kittiwakes on the Tyne Bridge and Leazes Park.

The Tyne Bridge

At this time of the year a large colony of Kittiwakes nest on Tyne Bridge and walking across you can be within a few feet of their nests without realising it, with the noise of the traffic it’s easy not to hear the loud shrills of the birds nesting by or flying over head. Apart from the two main bridge pillar supports they were also nesting on the various ledges and nearby buildings, particularly on the Newcastle side. Currently, they seemed to be on their eggs while the partner brought in food for them or more nesting material.

A 400mm lens was enough to get some close up shots of them both on the bridge and flying back and forth. I’d hoped to get an image of a flying bird with a background of the bridges but the difficulty of tracking and keeping them in focus them with a constantly changing, cluttered background and with few opportunities of their obliging me by being in just the right spot at just the right distance, made this attempt unsuccessful though I was able to get some other decent images.

Snoozing in the shade

Bringing in nesting material

Regurgitating a ready meal for his mate – very appetizing!

Watching the passer-by's

View from the Tyne Bridge

Leazes Park

A short walk from the Tyne Bridge is Leazes Park, a city park though not particularly large has plenty of birds (surprisingly no Grey Squirrels yet) that can be approached up close. The council has done a bit of work on the place since my last visit, most noticeably the creation of some small islands with wire mesh around which have attracted some nests, one of which had a Moorhen with some fledglings. A Heron was also on one of these man made islands – the first time I’ve seen a Heron, normally a shy bird, in the park.

As you would expect in a park, people were feeding the birds, mostly bread which isn’t particularly healthy for them. Worse, the Moorhen was taking chunks of this white bread back to feed its young. What with last week a Robin feeding its young with my pasty left overs!

Of course all this freely available supply of food meant no shortage of photographic opportunities. First to take advantage were the Canada Geese and of course Pidgins and Mallards but also swooping in and out as was the Moorhen and more timid Tufted Ducks. A very territorial Crow also came down for the unhealthy snack on offer. Magpies were also present, though, like their country counterparts, were still a bit wary of people.