As with all wildlife during this time of year their whole life depends on getting enough food to keep themselves alive during the shorter daylight and as this cold spell seems to be staying with us for a while the temperatures make it all just that bit harder for the animals to obtain food to live as everything is frozen.  As a consequence you can witness alot of different and interesting behaviour during this time of year with the onset of the breeding season just around the corner. I love working in testing conditions where you are up against the power of mother nature in all her might.

The Peak District is an eerie peat covered moorland sitting about 600m (2000 ft) above sea level.  Where large wind carved eroded rocks sit among vast plateaus and rock formations supporting a healthy population of Red Grouse. These iconic moorland birds make their home on these moors and are reliant on their camouflaged plumage to blend in to this habitat.

The weather was testing, with limited visibility alot of the time but it really added to these images where after the slow ascent and the privateness of the place you really feel you are in a very untouched environment that is the Peak District. Once we got to the top the mist came in which made seeing the Grouse just that bit harder.  Where sometimes you got lucky by seeing their long outstretched necks sticking out of the snow covered habitat, forming a perfect straight line as they observed you, an almost look of disbelief as they paused for a few seconds watching you.

However, during this weather seeing them was a little harder, hidden from view, your only knowledge of them being present was when you almost stood on them as they exploded from the ground with great force leaving a trail of snow behind in their wake and that deafening and unique call piercing your ear drums.

After lunch the weather did break a little, covering the place in a blanket of sunshine for a brief moment, warming up the whole area.  A flurry of activity began with the wildlife awakening and feeding as though their lives depended on it, but in reality the cruel truth is in a lot of cases it does. We saw the blue sky and the Grouse came out in good numbers before a decent down into the valley below us. A great day yet testing so thanks Paul & Kevin.

I have also had a few One To Ones where the clients wanted to learn more about their equipment and capture some nice images so I headed over to Norfolk on one of the days, where again the weather made things just that bit more testing etc.  I also headed up to a popular site in North Lincolnshire for Owls and raptors.  The roads were almost impossible once you pulled off the main motorways and we were unable to get close and use the car as a hide so we walked and applied some fieldcraft skills, managing to capture a few images of Barn and Short eared Owls in winter conditions.

With temperatures of -10 in the wind chill it was cold but fresh as we walked this area which is a stronghold for Short eared Owls during the winter months.  They come down from their summer breeding grounds of high moorland to lowland habitat to feed during the winter months.  It was very enjoyable as we were on the move, using natural cover to break the wind at the same time hopefully hidden from view, we hoped and prayed they’d land next to us on the fence posts that litter this place but in the end they never did nor did they come as close as we wished for, but we still had an amazing time seeing these Owls hunting over the rough grazing they love.

With the extreme temperatures came extreme colours to the sky as the sun set, the orange hue covered the whole area in a warm and wonderful colour where the Barn Owls, Short eared owls and Kestrels were all out hunting in the very last rays of light, each one mobbing and seeing the other off, such was the demand for the same prey. When the sun had passed over the horizon you got that amazing light that’s not bright or dark but a wonderful glow and we managed to captured a few images, small in the frame which I love showing the habitat of rough grazing covered in snow.

As one species would hunt and catch something the other would try are mob him of their catch, stealing the food and making off with the prize. Really sad to see as one bird put all the energy in then the other comes along and steals the food.  I briefly managed a few images tiring to portray that behaviour on this day with that amazing sky I described earlier you get at this time of year where cold meets warm air.

Here the Short eared Owl is mobbed by the Kestrel and drops the vole only for the Kestrel to be quicker on the wing, turning its wings to catch up with the vole as he falls through the air. Great to witness this behaviour and a good day all in all so big thank you to Sean for your company.

As 2010 comes to an end and another year is dawning I would just like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy New Year.  Many thanks to all the wonderful people I have met this year, the people who have attended my workshops and one to ones, where I hope that I have helped you all in improving your wildlife photography at the same time learning more about the ‘wild’ in wildlife. 

I am looking forward to meeting all the people booked onto workshops, one to ones for next year 2011 where I can promise you all some magical moments in nature where you will be equipped to capture those moments with your camera.  India, Africa, Mull, Texel, Sumatra, Shetland, Cairngorms, Finland and a few other places, it promises to be a fantastic, action packed 2011, all the very best.

This made it very difficult for the owls to hunt in,but I was really glad to see the male Barn Owl I had spent alot of time with a few weeks ago having survived the unprecedented cold spell of freezing weather we’d just endured.His two favorite stretches of land he prefers to hunt in were underwater so he was at a different spot,some distance away so I hope to catch up with him soon before both these species of owl leave and head to their summer breeding grounds around mid to late February.I was just about to pack up as an impending storm was gathering when a Short-eared Owl landed  to my right on the fence line.

He hadn’t seen me at first,so I waited for him to get relaxed as he was looking up,down and around at first,I then took a few images and proceeded forward at a snails pace,stopping as he looked my way,when he looked away or started to clean himself I carried on forward until I got about 20 foot away from him where he gave me this stare which you can see above,this was the cut off point for my advances as I read his behaviour as I entered past the ‘comfort’ zone all animals have.Not bad as I would have looked like a large bush coming towards him, he just didn’t no what I was as I moved very slowly, watching the ground where I put my lead foot down as not to tread on something that would give me away.

I have always found you must read the signs the subject will give you,interpret them quickly.eg are they going to move,or fly off,are they cleaning,feeding,resting,happy,troubled and so on, so you can get an understanding if they are agitated by you presence.This will give you valuable time to get the images you want,they may still fly off or move but its better to have done your approach this way because if things go your way you will be able to capture close up and interment moments and truly benefit from the close encounter with the subject you chose to find that day.

This Short-eared Owl went off hunting before the storm came,as it was the last I saw him,another close moment for me to treasure.If you put into place the simple techniques I have described you too will be able to get quiet close with a lot of patience,self belief and good fieldcraft, so when you get to where you’d like to be with your subject, the easy bit should be pressing your shutter button and composing your images.I will be back very soon to get some better images of both owls I hope and will update my blog.Hope the tips and advice has helped.

The images included in this article are from this new site and I really was lucky to see both Barn and Short-Eared Owls on my first visit there yesterday.The conditions were perfect with no wind or rain and dry, the only difficulty for the hunting owls was that the ground was frozen rock hard and the image above shows the small pools of which their prey live and feed in and around in were all frozen.I composed the above image to try a convey this scene,with the frozen small pools and the owl small in the frame,with the setting sun just adding that warmth and wonderful colour to the photo,at full size it looks amazing.

Most of the images I captured from the day were shot in near darkness at ISO 1000.,the image above was from early morning and one of the few chances I had until later on in the evening.The winter frost can be seem behind the hunting Barn Owl as I captured it quartering on this patch of farmland.I just love watching these birds I nickname the ‘Ghost’ as they are so silent and appear from nowhere then in a flash are gone

In near darkness this Barn Owl seen above,  turned up and started to hunt,I managed a few shots and then a Short-Eared Owl showed up seen below,it had awoken from the area they are roosting in,sat on this fence post,had a look at what I was ,then went off hunting.You wait all day and nothing shows up then within the space of 5 minutes both owls turned up.

Beginners luck on my first day I think!.Looking forward to going back with the aim of getting some close up shots of both owls. I watched both owls hunt and the paths they used, where they mainly hunted giving me a better idea of where to go,stand etc, so hopefully I can get lucky again the next time I go.I did manage to capture a Short-Eared Owl flying past me with a vole,taken with a slow shutter speed.

The last image of a wonderful day,the Barn Owl was heading back to its roost and I didn’t see him again, this image captures that as it was ‘Goodnight from Him’ and ‘Goodnight from Me’ as the famous line goes from one of my favorite comedy double acts ‘The Two Ronnies’ I hope you have the luck I had when you are out and about looking for wildlife, if you are looking for Barn and Short eared Owls remember they don’t come out in rain only in extreme circumstances ie feeding young.They like very little wind,hunt over open farmland and rough grazing,and favour dawn and dusk,good luck.