I have been lucky enough over this time to have had some wonderful close encounters once again with different wildlife, the Short eared Owls are still very much around, hunting in the late afternoon sunlight.  They normally stay at sea level until around late February to early March, but with the warmer temperatures they may just disappear at anytime. They are also very nomadic out of the breeding season and once a food source has dried up in the area that they are staying in they just leave without warning and find another vole rich habitat in which to spend their winter months before returning to their spring breeding grounds.

A Kestrel hovering right above me in the first rays of dawn light was one such magical moment. I got into place just before dawn, hid myself away along a natural gully and waited, as the sun’s rays began to warm me I heard Magpies and Crows calling which can give you your first clue wildlife is around. In most cases they call when there’s a bird of prey around hoping their calls and mobbing behavior will somehow move that bird on. I watched this Kestrel, hunt, then back track on itself, covering the ground in a sweeping motion, doubling back on himself to cover every inch.

He carried on coming forward, searching in vain the grasses and reeds below him, those same reeds that were sheltering me. He then hovered right about me, and in the still of the morning I could just make out his faint wing beats as I watched and captured that moment with my camera. We made eye contact, watching each other which always has a deep impact on me, a powerful feeling I cannot explain. Those briefest of moments are captured here with these images shot with my 1.4 converter on. He stayed for around 15-20 seconds then went. He’d heard me and as I am writing this blog I can see him looking down at me, remembering that moment as though it was seconds ago, that’s the power of nature.

Barn Owls are without doubt though one if not my favourite UK birds, and I have enjoyed lovely moments too over the last several days with these beautiful owls. Only recently I have read with great interest a report on how they hunt. Having been fascinated with this bird from childhood I’ve learned a lot about them and their feather structures having taken them home with great interest having found them on the ground. The way in which they hunt or quarter and their heart shaped faces have always amazed me, the heart-shaped face works in a similar way to humans outer ear , collecting and directing sound toward the inner ears which helps this amazing hunter do what it does best, slightly glide over land hunting in almost pure silence.

The report has found that each of a Barn Owls ears is a slightly different size and shape, and one is higher on the bird’s head than the other. The owls can analyse the differences in the sound received by each ear to automatically calculate the exact position of that sound-source. Which means that they can detect prey below them in pure darkness and hunt with great effectiveness and stealth. In most parts Barn Owls hunt in the dark so visual information is not possible, so their hearing really is their lifeline. Flying in silence helps them listen for movement, prey that’s moving.

Most if not all of the owls plumage is covered in a dense covering of feathers, those feathers produce more lift with each beat due to their shape and design, having a high curvature. This design allows the air to pass through and they offer little turbulence, reducing friction noise between the feathers. The end result is one of the most prolific hunters within the natural world. And the report suggests in time the structure of the Barn Owls wing may provide a guide for the design of quieter and more efficient airfoils for the aviation industry. Proving yet again that so many designs of man-made products are derived from the wonderful world of Mother Nature.

Barn Owls are amazing and they are just so wonderful to watch and photograph, the following slide show shows images taken over the last three years, from several different sites, showing these amazing birds of prey hunting and flying on the wing, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting these images together.

Thank you to my two clients, Mike and John for your company on your one to ones within the beautiful Peak District. I will continue working on my subjects and fingers crossed I’ll have some wonderful images to post on my blog in the coming months.

I am very fortunate to have found over the years several good sites in which these animals live and breed in. Watervoles are one of my favourite mammals, with their enduring character and cuteness, making them a lovely subject to watch and also photograph. They are legally protected in Britain and sadly their numbers continue to plummet. Due to its small size and the fact that it lives both on land and in the water, Watervoles are prey to numerous predators wherever they appear to live.

Mink, Weasels, Foxes along with Adders are the most common predators on dry land, with Owls and other birds Of prey hunting them from the air. Large fish such as Pike are known to hunt these mammals also. Their vast reduction in numbers in recent years however is not just caused by this high level of predation, the loss of much of their natural habitats has had a much more drastic effect along with the destruction of bank side vegetation, and pollution playing a vital part of their declining number on our shores.

I have been very lucky over the years in finding sites when I’m out and about, often there looking for another subject, when suddenly I’ll see gnawed nuts, shredded bark and cut grass leaves, all clear indicators of their presence around me at these new sites. One such site I have been watching for some time now, in-between my one to ones/workshops and other projects, I have captured them going about their lives along this very healthy river system in a beautiful and secluded part of the UK.

They share this space with a family of Little Grebes and I managed to captured the fully grown fledgling floating effortless on the dead calm water here, learning the skills his parents had taught him over the last several weeks.

On this day in question I got into place at dawn, settling into place, there was little wind, as Watervoles have an incredible sense of smell. I stay as low as is possible and become part of the riverbank, hiding away using the natural cover afforded to me from the reeds and bank side vegetation always mindful not to disturb these animals with my presence. I never enter the water around where they live or breed as I personally feel that this is a step to close, the welfare of any animal comes before any photograph, something you must be aware of with every living animal you photograph.

Much of the time when you are waiting for a wild animal to turn up you never know where, how or if your chosen subject will turn up so during this period I always become tuned into my environment, listening and watching for anything that indicates life, movement and the possibility of a different image or a new site or subject appearing. This approach is time consuming but greatly rewarding when you witness or see something for the first time, or even learn a bit more about your subject or that of any other living creature that may show up during your time at a certain place.

Without warning though I heard a slight rushling noise coming from deep inside the reeds as I witnessed the tops of the broad reeds moving, like someone was passing through underneath them if that makes sense. The next thing I saw was a Watervole climbing out on a very narrow branch and trying to reach some leaves at the end.  I just could’nt believe what I was seeing here.

Using his tail and hand as he balanced himself at the same time slowly and carefully moving along the branch, a few times pausing in an act to just steady himself. I didn’t know what to do first, laugh or stop and ask myself was I really seeing this, a wild animal doing a behaviour I’d never seen or even heard of before.

As the Watervole neared the leaves he would gather one and just casually sit there, suspended above the water beneath him and eat a few more before climbing back down to firm ground and a place you are normally accustom to seeing Watervoles live and feed in and around.

I feel privileged to have seen this behaviour on this day, really underlining you just never know what will happen as you watch wildlife and by being ready with your camera, constantly watching your subject you will, with luck be able to capture such events that would be hard to explain outside of a set-up image.  Not long after this he carried on feeding on the ground, a little out of shot, then disappearing into the dense undergrowth, where I didn’t see him again that day.

I’ll be going back soon hoping to see this pair and over the summer months my Watervole workshops have helped many of my clients not only to see this wonderful mammal in the wild but they have been able to take some wonderful images also. If you would like more information on these days then please click here and scroll down to the bottom of my workshops/photo tours page.

I had a lovely surprise over the weekend with one of my favourite Spring Tides at Norfolk images published in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, the image can be seen above and the link here. It was taken on one of the Spring Tides that really start in earnest on the lead up to Christmas now. I focused inside the flock as half of the birds, which are called Knot, started to take off, leaving a queuing system on the ground as the other Knots waited to join them by taking off and returning to the mudflats of the wash in Norfolk.

If you would like to witness this amazing event, I run one to ones/workshops there concentrating on these spectacular days in the morning, then throughout the rest of the day we visit many other amazing sites around the North Norfolk coastline, finishing at one of my Barn Owl site there capping off a wonderful day of wildlife photography, for more details please see my link here many thanks.

In October I will be running a two day “Beauty of Wildlife” workshop in conjunction with Calumet Photographic, one of the leading photographic suppliers in the UK. It will be the first workshop of many planned with this leading camera supplier company.  The first day will be based at their Manchester branch, where we I will go through camera settings, compositions, setting up of each person’s camera and sharing/passing on my knowledge in order to improve individuals photography.

I will also show you some slideshows, touching on the various different skills needed for wildlife photography, use of light, what to look out for, fieldcraft and lots more. Tea and Coffee will be provided during the day and I’ll answer any questions in regard to wildlife photography that you may have in order to improve or move along your own existing skill level. I demonstrate to everyone that attends my one to ones and workshops what works and cut through all the ‘minefield’ of what’s best and what should I use, which mode etc that can drag people down.

I will replace all of that with a usable workflow that works on the ground, the same as I use, with no secrets, no hidden settings. Once clients have seen this I feel it gives them a more relaxed approach to their own work, knowing full well they weren’t really doing a lot wrong in the first place. I am self taught with over 30 years of knowledge of wildlife, which is the real key to wildlife photography.

The second day, unlike the first which will be classroom based will be in the beautiful Peak District. As a wildlife photographer the great outdoors is my office, a place in which I capture the beautiful images I am blessed in seeing. The beauty of photographing wildlife is that it is always changing and evolving, encountering the unexpected. In this environment the photographer must learn to work with these changing environmental conditions and behaviours, and the result cannot always be predicted.

My images represent an event that occurred in the wild, something that I witnessed and recorded with my camera. Learning to get close to wildlife without disturbing the life of the animal is the key to my work and this approach enables me to get close enough to capture the animal’s beauty and behaviour which both feature strongly in my style of photography, showing a wild animal within their natural habitat being the foundation to my work today.

Fieldcraft is the most important tool in a wildlife photographer’s box I believe, because if the animal is not use to human contact, isn’t tame or use to you putting food out, then they will be very difficult to get close to in the absence of hides.

Learning fieldcraft skills will improve your photography, as a subject going about its life, free from human contact always makes for the best photographs. I feel you cannot learn real and true fieldcraft from anything other than a wild animal, in the wild. I have never worked with captive or tame animals as their behaviour is too contrived for me and is as a result of contact with man.  I will show you simple and key elements to fieldcraft on the second day where you’ll greatly benefit from the wonderful wildness that is the moors of the Peak District and its wildlife.

Many clients who attend my workshops all go away with a better understanding of photographing wildlife, where it’s not about what you have but how to best use your equipment to obtain those lovely images you see with your eyes. Things change very quickly in the wild and I will give you ideas and a workflow that empowers you to capture and improve your own work. Seeing an image takes time, this skill can be learned by watching your subject and understanding its behaviour.

The Red Grouse by nature is a very elusive bird, always hiding away and making best use of the habitat in which to disappear, as shown in this wide angled image of a Red Grouse hiding, blending in very well.  They will see you long before you see them.

We will start early to capture the beautiful wildlife as the sun rises against the backdrop of the Peak District which will make for some amazing images. During our day in the Peak District we will be concentrating our efforts on Red Grouse among the autumn/winter landscapes and Mountain Hares, the only place outside of Scotland where there is a healthy population of these mammals.

We will also have the opportunity to see Short Eared Owls and many other birds which stay in this area all year, and don’t migrant like alot of other birds.  You will need to provide your own photographic equipment or alternatively you can hire equipment from Calumet Photographic, Manchester and we will meet in Buxton train station car park.  It will be a great day, where you will learn alot more about the ‘wild’ in wildlife photography, capturing images that will be around you, gaining subject awareness which again is key to capturing a wild animal’s character and behaviour.

So if you would like to book onto this wildlife workshop then please click on this link, which will take you to Calumets website. If you would like to hire any camera equipment for the day of which I will help and go through with you on the first day then again just ask at your time of booking. I look forward to seeing you in October and should you have any questions or queries don’t hesitate to contact myself or Calumet Photographic Manchester.

Over the last seven days I have had four one to ones. Two in Norfolk photographing Barn Owls and Waders -thank you Ian and Daniel.  Then travelling onto the Peak District for two days of one to ones photographing Red Grouse, Dippers and Watervoles with repeat customer Andrew, many thanks for your company gents. The weather was testing at times but I hope you all got everything and more from your one to one days with myself and look forward to seeing you all in the future. Many thanks.

Reaching the plateau the ascent levels out a little, it is a welcome sight and what greets you is miles, upon miles of rocky outcrops littering the moorland.  Its home to specialized animals that have evolved and adapted to living in this hostile environment.  They live through the most testing weather conditions that Mother Nature can through at them.  On this day though the sun was rising over the valley below, slowly warming and filling the place with light. With that nature awakens, birds begin to call, distance calls, close calls echo around the place and for me it is truly the best time of the day as everything begins to wake up around you.

It’s one of the best times to photograph wildlife as the light is softer, less harsh and adds so much to an image. The wildlife can be more trusting at this time of day and you must never betray that trust in order to get an image. If you use your fieldcraft skills, watch and listen and respect the subject, they will settle once that trust is gained. You then can carry on always mindful of your advance and approach and the welfare of the subject. If the subject shows signs of distress, is defending their territory at your presence then you’ve gone to far.

Once the sun had come up, the colours of the moorland popped out, turning a black and white landscape into a colourful one, blooming with colours all warmed by the sun.  I saw a few Grouse in the distance, their bubbling call so unique within the bird world. In the distance I saw a lone Mountain Hare, feeding in their brown summer coats. With the onset of winter these hares change to their white winter coats, which makes them almost invisible within this landscape. This is very important as there are many raptors that patrol these areas, so they have perfectly adapted to their habitat with the changing seasons and different weather, how wonderful nature is.

Between myself and the hare there was open ground, so I used the lay of the land to advance. The wind was in my favour, blowing away any slight noise as I placed my feet down on the ground, at the same time blowing my scent away.  Hares have an amazing sense of smell and hearing so the pursuit of such animals is fruitless if your fieldcraft is poor and you don’t use what’s around you to your own advantage here in the Peak District.

Once I was happy, I managed to see two, as the other was hugging the ground feeding, I let a few shots off and they stood up on their hind legs to see. I stopped everything, turned myself into a low-lying bush, and this image below was that first contact I had with these two hares. They had heard my camera noise but just couldn’t make out where it was from, I took a few more slow, single shots and they settled and carried on feeding. While this was going on I could hear the distinctive calls of Red Grouse in the distance so I said goodbye to the Mountain Hare and advanced towards the calls.

I always try to move slowly, all the time watching and listening as I always say that nature will let you know what’s around you, she can also be your first indication that something is wrong as alarm calls can ring out at any time, letting other animals know there is danger around, more so you’ve been spotted, if so stop, go to ground and wait. I did that here behind this set of rocks when this Red Grouse came from nowhere. I watched, perfectly still, hoping my slight movement hadn’t disturbed this Grouse as I was really close.

I captured the bird yawning, it made no sound what so ever, unlike their call.  Afterwards the grouse came from the protection of the rocks and picked away at the heather shoots. The light was amazing and lit up the colours of these beautiful birds really well, the background was the valley below, some 600m beneath me. With such close encounters involving a wild animal going about its life you feel your heart rate greatly increase, you go into auto mode, trusting the settings and routine you’ve practised many times before along with the element of luck on your side.

I stayed put among these large rocks and within no time a whole family of Red Grouse came out from cover. Mum, Dad, and several excitable youngsters.  Mum and Dad were constantly on guard, watching for any sign of predators, then they’d disappear back to the safety of the stones and rocks.

I had a privileged ten minutes watching this family, the youngsters all happy to be out from cover, their tireless energy on show, up and down on these rocks, flapping and exercising their wings building strength and confidence. It was really funny to watch at the same time very enduring to witness.  They all started to walk off, coming down from the high vantage points of the rocks, they slowly disappeared from view and that was the last I saw of that family.

A beautiful encounter among this stunning landscape, where you can see no one the whole time you are there, giving you a sense of true wilderness, something I love to be among, photographing the beautiful and stunning wildlife.  Sometimes that beauty is hard for me to put into words.  I hope this recent slideshow of a few beautiful moments I captured in the wild, put together and arranged alongside the tempo of this music will help.

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.

Making judgments with a narrow field of vision really makes you come alive, carefully placing your feet and focusing using the light from the moon, aided with the head touch that illuminated our path, we watched the frosty morning chill begin to warm with the upcoming spectacular sunrise.  Reaching the summit at nearly 2000 feet as the sun breaks the horizon, bathing the whole place in a warm, orange glaze.  Making you feel as though you are standing on top of the world with the mist and clouds beneath you sheltering the population from this hidden world you must work at to see.

My client Matthew from Wales wanted to see the Red Grouse in its natural habitat and I have several different sites with different levels of approach. The route we chose meant the ascent was in the dark using the moons light to illuminate our path alongside our head torches, carefully making our way to the summit as the sun came up. In all the years I have been visiting the Peak District I have rarely witnessed such a beautiful morning, the crunch of the morning frost under foot, the air chilled from the over night frost and the Red Grouse were everywhere feeding on the tender shoots the sun was thawing out. Their constant ‘bubbling’ calls echoing down the valley with the morning mist adding great drama.

As we made our way through this amazing landscape of Heath/Moorland the colours of the place were stunning and apart from the odd walker we had the whole place to ourselves which left a silence you’d only know if you find somewhere remote within nature and watch the world go by. I went through fieldcraft techniques which for me is a key competency in wildlife photography.  If you are to get close to a wild animal you need to watch and look for clues, behaviour, listen for calls, which vary in different pitch to suite the subjects mood, progressively getting higher in pitch once they see something they perceive as a threat. Breaking a animals virtual horizon is the key-  shape, shine, silhouette, you can look like a bush but approach without respecting the forementioned and off they go.

Red Grouse are very comical and display many different behaviours you rarely see from a distance when passing them on the narrow walkways carved into the landscape from years of walkers pounding these routes through this breathtaking landscapes.

The heaths and moors of the Peak District are an eerie exposure of peat covered moorland sitting about 600m (2000 ft) above sea level. Large wind carved eroded rocks sit among vast plateaus and rock formations supporting a healthy population of these amazingly hardy 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, where the only time you know they are around is when you stumble upon them when you are walking as they explode from the ground, taking flight with a unforgettable distress call.

I take everything with me on these One To One/Workshop days, packed lunches, large flask, cold drinks, first aid, in fact everything bar the kitchen sink is placed on my back in preparation for any event mother nature should throw at us in these changeable environments..

One of my favourite images from the two days with Matthew was this lone male Red Grouse below, perched on this prominent rock, his call echoing down into the valley beneath him, a truly beautiful picture to see and one I was privileged to capture with a wide angle, as I had crawled forward for some time to get closer, then all of a sudden he popped up onto this rock and began singing. 

A real mixture of luck, fieldcraft and timing coming together in one of those rare moments you are afforded within wildlife photography from time to time. We had some other lovely encounters with these beautiful birds I am very fond of, so a big thank you Matthew and I’ll see you in a few weeks on my Winter Waders  workshop at Norfolk. I have many One To Ones running throughout the Winter months now on the lead up to next years Spring/Summer time just have a look on my website under Workshops then click on One To One and take a look or send me an email should you wish me to meet you at a place of your choosing.

I will be presenting 3 x45 minute Wildlife Photography workshops at this years North West Birding Watching Fair at WWT Martin Mere .  Whatever the weather this Festival is an enjoyable and informative day out.  I will be going through simple techniques that I use, showing you how to improve your own photography accompanied with a few slide shows and a brief practical session going through anything you wish.  So if you are free on the Sunday please pop by to say hello many thanks.

The image above is of the hard to capture/see female who looked in stunning condition,perched on these large rocks that litter this beautiful landscape, the weather was good to us in the morning but in the afternoon the weather changed and at 570m ( Altitude-meter in my watch) above sea level you get a real sense of the environment  as you look to the sky and see the changing weather approaching.Neverless Gary and myself had a great day and I was pleased  for gary as he managed some lovely images and learned alot about the Grouse,approach,what to look for etc.

I managed to capture a male Red Grouse up on a stone wall walking up and down, like something of the famous ‘Red Grouse Whisky’ advert where he is seen posing and performing,very funny to watch,seen below in this image

The Red Grouse is one of those beautiful birds that live a quiet and shy life,a very jumpy bird I have found over time and the secret is just simply to get into place with as little disturbance to the bird as possible and wearing camouflage clothing,make sure the wind is blowing towards you as this will take your scent away and just wait for them to show up,they often fly around alot and take some time to settle.I run Red Grouse In The Peaks workshops, where throughout the year I have certain dates where I take up to four people to the best site at that time of year or like Gary I can do a One To One at one of these site’s also. It’s all designed to get the best images for the client as I can and a better understanding of your chosen subject using my proven fieldcraft techniques and other simply tips I teach and showing people the beauty of nature.

And the male turned up just before we left and posed for us and I managed this portrait of this beautiful bird, a great day was had by all,thank you for your company Gary and a Merry Christmas.