Sun, Sea and Sanderlings

I’ve barely been out so far this month.  A combination of dull, windy, damp weather that seems to time itself for the weekends and the general feeling this kind of weather, at this time of year can bring.  This weekend, although more of the same was forecast, I was determined to get out, if only for a walk and exercise, so I got up before sun-up and headed for the Northumberland coast around Cresswell.  By the time I got there it was a sunny, clear day with a heavily layer of frost on the ground and clearly much colder than the forecast predicted which soon left me regretting not putting on the extra layer I would have normally have done with temperatures at around zero.  I spent the first hour and a half inland hoping to see Barn Owls, but after loosing contact with my feet and only seeing flocks of Geese and some Lapwings, I decided to just go for a walk along the beach.

The coastline from Cresswell to Amble is part of Druridge Bay, an expanse of sandy beaches with sand dunes and at this time of the year, comparatively empty of people and it has a number of wildlife reserves.  It’s a beautiful place just to go for a walk and clear ‘the cobwebs out’ despite the usual ‘dog problem’, it was very relaxing - just what I needed and by 11:30am, with the sun still shining brightly, it felt quite warm , helped with little wind.

Southern Druridge bay looking northwards

Along the way I came across a small group of of around seven Sanderlings so decided to set up my camera and see if I could get any images of these small birds.  Conditions were ideal with the bright sunny light I was able to get 1/1000th and above to try and freeze their constant movement and darting backwards and forwards.   Unlike my experiences at Whitley Bay, the passer-bys were thoughtful enough to kept behind me, so not disturbing the birds which also might explain why they seem to keep in front of me, going form one side then turning around and coming back but never straying very far from my location.

After about an hour I decided to head back as it was becoming more overcast and when the sun wasn’t out, it was noticeably colder, at least when sitting still.  I walked a bit further on before heading back to Cresswell and then home.  After finally getting out this month, I’ve managed to recharge my batteries despite being a little disappointed at still missing seeing and photographing any owls.

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Slow start for 2011

Finally, after three weeks I’ve been able to get out and about this weekend.  I didn’t get out for the sole purpose of taking photographs, rather than to stretch my legs and get some exercise after such a while of inactivity.  The weather is back to ‘normal’ – cold, damp and grey.  I think I prefer the snowy weather, for some reason it didn’t feel so cold. I basically decided to walk around and photographed whatever was about – which wasn’t much as seems to be the case at this time of year.  The few animals that were around were less timid than usual so I could approach them quiet closely which is just as well as I didn’t feel like doing my usual hanging around and letting them approach me.  Lots of Pheasants around sun up – ten at one time – but it was too dark to take decent images of them, only managing one who stayed still and posed for me as did the only one Grey Squirrel that came down from the trees. Where I walked, it varied between sheltered areas still covered in snow, to heavy frost to open areas which were just wet and icy.  All areas of still water were frozen over though the river was still flowing, which is were I came across a Heron which I approached slowly and managed to get closer than I would have at any other time of year, but it didn’t seem too bothered by me as it continued to preen, stretch, yawn and the occasional alertness when it must have seen or heard some possible prey. Despite getting quite close I still had to put a converter on the 500mm lens and, although on a monopod, the lens was shaking quite badly as I was shooting in an awkward position due to having to shoot through branches trees which prevented a clear view and which the auto focus focused on so had to manual focus.  I also had to use spot metering and exposure compensation due to the lighting conditions and light plumage of the Heron.  After about an hour of obliging me with photographs, it eventually flew a hundred metres upriver and, although a better viewpoint for me, I decided to leave it in peace and called it a day.

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End of Another Year

With my being laid up with the Flu over the Christmas period, I’ve not managed to get out and about, but instead had a go at revamping the look of my blog.  It’s become traditional at this time of year that television channels create cheap programmes by re-hashing what’s happened over the year, so unashamedly, I bring you 2010 through my Camera. It’s actually been a disappointing year for me, especially from a photographic point, with many of the opportunities and sights available to me in previous years, not happening this year.  This may have had something to do with the weather as the year started off colder and snowier than normal effecting the survival of many wildlife.  With temperatures below freezing, Grey Squirrels were more approachable and very photo generic.

As usual, the beginning of the year was slow but I did get my first opportunity of seeing and photographing Barn Owls, unfortunately these were lost when my hard drive crashed before I had backed them up and no future sightings of this beautiful owl were seen. Around the same time I made my biggest photographic purchase – a Sigma 500mm lens.  A second hand copy came up at a bargain price and after initial doubts I took the plunge and haven’t looked back, it’s a great lens and does everything I could want of it going past my expectations.  Since then, lenses, even second hand, have gone up so I was lucky to get it when I did.  It’s opened up new opportunities for me allowing me to get that little bit closer to wildlife and yet not be too heavy that I can’t walk about with it.

A nice surprise in spring was to see Red Squirrels again on Tyneside.  It had been a few years since seeing them last as the Greys slowly move northwards replacing them.  Unfortunately, this was the only time I did see them this year with sights in Northumberland also becoming rarer.  It seems inventible that it will become extinct from mainland UK.

It felt like I spent the first half of the year waiting for summer or at least some decent warm, sunny weather.  With the end of May and beginning of June being promising and with ‘experts’ saying the last time we had as colder winter as we did was back in 1976 then if was followed by a hot summer, it seemed this might be a good year, but no sooner than the good weather came, it was gone again -  back to a ‘normal’ June.

Despite being a little cool and often overcast, I made the most of the days I could with the coast being especially productive despite the endless stream of dog walkers ignoring signs and the enjoyment of others.  Unlike other years previously, opportunities for photographing certain wildlife seemed scarce, particularly Foxes.  I had particularly hoped to get the iconic image of Fox cubs playing outside their den and had the previous year, found out a quiet location.  Unfortunately after spending many a mosquito ridden hour waiting, it was obvious that the den was no longer in use. However, one Fox encounter I did have was very memorable when one came up within close distant and, despite my being in plain sight, it didn’t see me and eventually went on it’s way.  It was one of those times where just watching was more important than trying to photograph wildlife as using my camera would have scared it away.

With the summers breading season well in swing came opportunity of photographing this years young including one of my favourite places along the river Tyne where Sand Martins nest.

While still waiting for summer to arrive, spring came!  With this came plenty of chances of colourful photographs and, for the first time this year I was finally able to photograph some Kingfishers.  The last and best time came a week before the big freeze when a Kingfisher unexpectedly came within metres of me, but unfortunately had my converter on and was almost too close making a good sharp, clean shot difficult, that and having a slow card in my camera which soon had the buffer filling up.

Winter came early this year, ending 2010 much as how it started with record low temperatures and amounts of snow.  I seem to be one of the few people around who actually has enjoyed the snow.  However, it’s easy to forget how bad this can be for the wildlife not used to these kind of conditions.  No doubt it will have a negative impact on the coming year, already owl sightings are down and no doubt Kingfisher numbers will suffer again.  Plans for the coming year?  I think I will spend more time with my landscape photography.  Wildlife wise I’m hoping to photograph Short Eared Owls if they make a come back as well as Little Owls and Barn Owls.  Foxes will be on top of my list as usual, especially cubs.

Hopefully, 2011 will bring new opportunities as well as a bit of good fortune.

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Momentary Respite

After over two weeks of snow, I got up early today to find most of it suddenly gone, just some compact icy parts which I had to navigate over without slipping and breaking my neck as I made my way in the dark down the street.  It seemed strange to be able to plant my feet on real terrafirma instead of snow.  It was almost a clear sky and a cool 3 degrees though still quite dark when I reached the coast and the sky was turning a beautiful orange colour as the sun started to rise. I never get bored with watching the sun rise, there’s something special about it – the colours and you can actually see the sun rising.  With the view I had I thought I would set up my long lens and try and photograph the sun close up, something I have never tried before, obviously making sure I didn’t give my eyes some ‘laser treatment’.  As I waited for the big moment I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and swung my lens around just in time to see a Fox bounding across a patch of short grass into some bushes.  Unfortunately, my camera set up was for a small aperture in readiness for the bright sun and so I could only get a 1/40th of a second shot off in the gloom, before it disappeared. Back to the sunrise, I was able to take a few images before the light became too strong, with the last perfect timing as some birds took to the air.

With the sun now well and truly up and the light improving I headed down to the waterline.  I wasn’t expecting much as I new the tide was going out which is not the best time to photograph shore birds as they will be moving away from you, however, after settling myself down a few Oystercatchers and Redshanks came into lens range. After a while I headed back to where I had seen the Fox in the off chance it may return, and had a sandwich to eat which attracted a Robin.  I broke off some bits for it and left them close by which it soon came for though it was too close to photograph.  The Fox didn’t return not surprisingly.  Looks like I’m not going to get a decent shot of one this year.

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