Hop, skip and a jump

Another early morning start. With the absence of the Barn Owls on the previous mornings, I decided to go looking for the other raptors in the area. The Kestrel was on a distant telegraph post so I carried on up the hill through the village in hope that one of the Buzzards may be close enough to shoot.

The light wasn’t great but one of the Buzzards was just the other side of the hedge. I spotted a gap in the hedge and managed to creep up to it with out spooking the Buzzard. It was a little difficult focusing through the hedge but the composition was quite nice with the disappearing fence line.After a couple of profile shots I decided to move on as I had a line of very tall trees behind me so it would be quite a while before I got any better light.

I hadn’t seen the Hares since the hedge laying had been done so I decided to try some of the smaller bridleways to search the other fields near by. My luck was in as I turned into the first bridleway and one of the hares ran across the track. I pulled the car up as far as I dare and waited.

My arrival and presence has sent two hares charging across the field towards the direction of the sunrise. The hares stopped almost opposite the car and the light from the sunrise gave a lovely glow around one of the hares and I managed a few shots showing them in their environment.

One of the hares then doubled back and ran across the track in front of the car into the next field but the other one carried round in a circle heading straight for me.

The Hare seemed almost curious and came quite close to check out what and who I was. The Hare came right back to the track and walked straight down toward me.

He seemed quite a character with half an ear missing and doing a hop, skip and a jump every few steps. I managed some lovely shots of him before he tired of me and went off into the next field.

On the way home I spotted a Common Gull at the end of the sea wall in the early morning warm sunshine at Freshwater Bay and it made a lovely shot to finish the shoot.

Blackcap

This Blackcap has been a welcome visitor to my garden for a few weeks now but I have been struggling to get a clear shot of him away from the feeders.

The Cave

Saturday 6th March 2010

A nice early start again and I went straight for the little spot down the lane in hope of seeing the Barn Owls. The sunrise was amazing and started with the most vibrant of colours but as the clouds moved in the colours turned to more subtle pastels.
With the clear night sky with a very bright moonlight it looked like I wouldn’t see the Owls. The air was so still and it was lovely listening to all the birds waking up but it made me realise that I needed to learn more about the different bird songs so I could identify them. As I took a few shots of the beautiful sky a Buzzard came into view which made up my mind to move on.There was not a breath of wind and the water was so still, it was a magical morning. Having recently hung some of my landscapes at the Sandpipers Hotel, one image in particular had been getting more attention than others and this morning was going to perfect for capturing it in a completely different mood.The tide was low and I knew I would be able to get some great shots from the cave at Freshwater Bay. The sky was a nice deep blue as was the sea which was like glass. As I walked to the cave the clouds above me were wonderful in the early morning sun. They were not quite where I would have liked but still making for some nice images of the Bay.When I got into the cave with only slightly wet boots, I realised that a huge chunk of rock had fallen into the opening of the cave which was not there on my last shoot there. This made it more of a challenge to frame Arch Rock from inside the cave.It was very eerie being in the cave that early in the morning and it suddenly dawned on me that no one knew where I was. With this in mind I decided to spend as little time as possible actually in the cave. The puddles in the opening of the cave were like mirrors and I could have spent hours trying different compositions and exposures.
It turned out to be a really magical shoot and I actually ventured back into the cave for a second time as I couldn’t resist trying out a couple of different compositions after checking my initial shots. Those soft low clouds that put an end to the sunrise gave me a lovely diffused light for some wonderful shots of Freshwater Bay.
I’ve been hoping to do shoot from the cave at the Bay for some time but for most of the year you are sat in a very dark cave shooting directly into the sun. I would like to do it with the sunset but it is only lined perfectly with the cave in the middle of winter and you very rarely get the tide and the weather at the same time.
The top off the shoot when I got back to the road where I live a Red Squirrel ran out in front of the car. We had two Red Squirrels that are often seen at the end of the road but sadly one of them was run over recently. It was good to see that this little chap was still looking healthy, although still running in front of cars.

Changing The Guard

With my lens back from Sigma I’ve been itching to get out again. I checked the met office forecast for this morning and it was looking good. I got up nice and early, made a flask of tea and set off. When I got to the car and saw the ice I knew it would be a few minutes before I could go anywhere. With the heaters on and a cup of tea, I sat listening to the birds waking up under the early morning moon light. The temperature outside was minus 4.

I was hoping I might find the Barn Owls before the sun came up and get an idea of where they were hunting. I’ve had a couple of tip offs from locals that they seem to hunting regularly where they were last winter. There is a spot along a hedge row where they hunt, where I can hide and they often fly right over my head.

Unfortunately this morning there was no sign of the Owls. Not long after first light a Buzzard swooped over the top of the car and landed in the field. It is extremely rare that I see the Barn Owls about when there is a Buzzard near by. I could also see two Kestrels on top of telegraph poles not far from me so I didn’t think I would see the Owls today.

A little way from the car I could see a male Pheasant sitting on a wooden gate. I thought it made quite a pretty shot and good opportunity to test the lens especially in such low light conditions. With iso 6400 set I still had very slow shutter speeds but I took a few shots as the Pheasant stretched up and flapped his wings. You can actually see the Pheasants breath in the shot.

I started to wonder if I could get high enough up the lane to achieve a shot of one of the Kestrels on the Telegraph pole with the beautiful orange glow of the sunrise behind. This was going to be difficult as I knew I would need to walk or drive past the Kestrels to get that side. I decided that by driving I would be least likely to spook the Kestrels and it worked. As I parked the car further up the lane I decided to take a couple of shots first in case he was easily spooked. I had just set up the camera when the Buzzard decided that it was time to change the guard and chased the Kestrel off the post and took his place on the pole.

It was a really beautiful morning with a rainbow of colours from the sunrise. I had a quick walk around to where the Hares were, but since the hedge laying course was done in the field they seem to have moved on.

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