October 2024
Lower Hide is now closed at Leighton Moss so I've spent more time in other areas of the reserve. The bearded reedlings/tits have been showing well on the grit trays and there are a number of great white egrets around.
I had 5 days in the Cairngorms at the end of the month and there are a selection of photos above. I have 3000+ pictures to sort through and I'll add a full gallery to the Field Trips page when I've finished.
September 2024
Some years I don't get out at all in September, just too busy, but I've managed to get a few hours at Leighton Moss every weekend. The ospreys and most of the swallows have left but new birds are arriving. A hobby was hanging around during the warm weather earlier in the month and there have been plenty of great white egrets and the occasional bittern. The old Lower Hide is being dismantled in October but I did see an otter on my last visit.
Flooding at Mersehead
We booked a week in a cottage at RSPB Mersehead but high tides and heavy rain flooded the access road. The warden helped us get in but we were then stuck on site for 3 days. There are worse places to be trapped and we had the reserve to ourselves.
August 2024
We've had strange summer weather but enough dry days to get out and about. Leighton Moss has been very quiet, as it often is in August, but ospreys have been regular visitors and the great white egrets seem to have increased in number. I still haven't managed to photograph an osprey catching a fish but a gw egret did oblige, and then dropped it.
The lizard and toadstool pictures are my first attempts at focus bracketing and then stacking in Photoshop. The lizard was shot hand held so it is far from perfect, but something to build on. Hopefully there will be more fungi around in the autumn.
32 degrees in the New Forest
July 2024
I've had a few weekend trips to Leighton Moss, mostly to the salt marsh pools. There are a few avocet chicks about, a spoonbill catching crabs and ospreys are still visiting. Most of photos were taken with my new RF 200-800mm lens. The bright summer light has meant the narrow aperture isn't a problem but I don't think it will get much use in the winter. Images can be quite soft at 800mm but no worse than the 100-500mm with a 1.4x teleconverter. I try to stay at 600mm and f/8 most of the time.
June 2024
I drove up to St Bees at the start of the month not really knowing what to expect. I'd heard bird numbers were low after avian flu but was pleasantly surprised. There were no puffins or black guillemot but all the usual birds were present. The light was very bright, which is tricky with black and white birds, but good for fast shutter speeds and flight shots. I've been to Leighton Moss a couple of times but not seen much. The spider wrapping a damselfly in its web is the only highlight.
My Canon RF 200-800mm lens has finally arrived so I'm looking forward to trying that out next month. I want to compare the R7 + 100-500mm with the R5 + 200-800mm. They should both give the same focal length but which will give the best image quality and auto focus.
May 2024
Mostly photos from weekend trips to Leighton Moss. The pools on the saltmarsh are very busy with little egrets and herons disturbing the black-headed gulls and avocets, ospreys have been regular visitors in the mornings, a little gull has been hanging around for over a week and young tawny owls have fledged in a similar spot to last year.
April 2024
Two galleries this month.
The first is from a family holiday in Grantown-on-Spey. I managed to get out for a bit of wildlife photography; an evening in a hide, a couple of mornings by the river and an afternoon on the moors. The other photos are from various walks in the forest, on the mountains and at the coast.
The second features pictures from the usual local places. Otters have been scarce but the ospreys have arrived along with lots of other summer visitors.
Top 12 Images - 2023
