Toad in a pond

I am currently house sitting for a month and I am surrounded by cool and interesting wildlife, on the first evening I saw a deer in the garden (which had gone by the time I got the camera). My most recent trip resulted in this photo.

 

f/6.3

1/250

1250

400mm

Finally ! A kingfisher !

Having spotted the kingfisher on a few early morning outings i was aware that one was around. So yesterday afternoon as i was rather excitedly trying (and failing) to get a good photograph of the notoriously hard to spot Snipe, i heard their unmistakable call. So, i positioned myself where i could see several posts (possible perches for fishing) and waited. After about an hour i saw a flash of blue, and was able to see this little guy for about 30 seconds. Then he was gone. I would say is worth it, i have never seen such intense colour on any animal.

f/8

1/2000

ISO - 800

500mm

Guess the bird reveal !!!!!!

Today is tuesday, so as promised here is the photo of the mystery bird. A jay ! Some people did guess correctly so well done if you did :).

f/8

1/1600

ISO - 1600

370mm

Curlew

When i got my first Digital SLR and new very little about photography i went down to my local nature reserve and by chance photographed a bizarre bird flying past (quite badly photographed). A couple of years on and i realise that that sighting was very lucky and for it to be the first bird i ever photographed was even more so. So it was nice the other day to get a photograph of this rare and impressive bird, the Curlew.

f/6.3

1/1000

ISO - 640

500mm

Black tailed Godwit

Another photo from my time at pagham yesterday. Things like this can often surprise you. Pagham has godwits such as this one all over the reserve, all in places that are hard to reach and get close enough to take a photo. However on my way home after three hours in what i thought was a good spot i saw this little guy relatively close and was able to get this photo.

f/8

1/500
IS0 - 320

500mm

Little Egret

Today i cycled down to pagam harbor nature reserve at about 6:00 am. It was worth the early start as whilst there i saw Redshank's, Lapwing's, Curlews, Godwits and even my best ever view of a kingfisher. So more than happy with the sightings any "good" photos would be a plus.

When i arrived home i was very pleased to find that i had managed to take a photo of a white subject without over exposing it and ruining the image (something  had been trying to do for at least a year). This was the end result (Plenty more photos to come from my morning at pagham).

f/8

1/500

ISO - 200

500mm

Razorbill

When taking the boat out with Ecoventures to see dolphins i got to see a wide variety of sea birds including razorbills like this one.

f/8

1/2500

ISO - 2500

500mm

Canada goose take off !

Another photograph from lakeside. This goose was one of many being bullied by a male swan which has gained a reputation. This photo was taken as it was trying to take off and escape.

f/8

1/1000

ISO-500

500mm

Great crested Grebe

Been after a shot of this Grebe for a while but until now it had always been to far away. The quality isn't superb but i am pleased for now :). Hopefully in the next couple of weeks i will get a photo of them performing their famous dance :).

f/5.3
1/200
ISO - 400
500mm

Turnstone in flight

Today i got to use my new camera and lens for the first time. It is a steep learning curve as i was expecting but wow what a difference, worth every penny. Im still getting used to RAW formats and converting them to JPEG amongst other things, but this was one of the better photos from the day.

f/7.1
1/2000
ISO - 400
439mm

Welsh River

During my first year of my diploma we took a week long study tour to the north of Snowdonia national park. It had some stunning scenery and amazing wildlife. The rivers seemed to be the controlling factor in the landscape so i used a slow shutter speed and a low iso in order to try and capture the movement and power of a near by river.