Mandarin Duck

Can there be a more elaborate pattern of avian colours outside of the rainforest and the outrageous Bird of Paradise? The male Mandarin Duck's patchwork quilt of hues reminds me a little of a child's drawing of what a duck should be like or a jigsaw puzzle of elements drawn from elsewhere. By contrast, of course, the female is a little more subdued, with grey-brown body feathers and distinctive white eye ring descending down toward the nape of the neck. She is almost a negative print of her partner.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/160 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 200

Goldeneye

Usually confined in the UK to the lochs of the Highlands of Scotland (the only area in which it breeds), the north and the west, this Goldeneye was shot much closer to home at Pensthorpe nature reserve in Norfolk, where there is a healthy population. When the light is right (and it wasn't on this day) the green-black head of the male is stunningly iridescent. The female has a chestnut brown head, white neck and grey upper body, with the same brilliant yellow eyes.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/320 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 500

Who'll be first?

While it's impossible to say with any accuracy which garden bird individuals regularly visit the feeding station I have set up outside my office window, it is fair to say it has a limited catchment area. I was fascinated, then, when I initially put out this tube of fat and seeds, to see which species would be attracted to it first. It was always a safe bet it would be a Blue Tit – they're more numerous and more gregarious and they need to eat often – but would I be proven wrong and how long would it take. Well, it was a Blue Tit, but the surprise for me was how long it took for the new food source to be 'accepted'. It hung for two days surrounded by offerings of peanuts, sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, apple slices and nets of fat balls before luring in its first diner. The other interesting observation was that the Great Tits showed absolutely no interest in being first, simply flying past seemingly preferring the reassurance of their smaller cousins going in ahead of them. Front that point, of course, it became something of a free-for-all.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/200 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 1,000

Greenfinch

I'm not a fan of an anthropomorphic approach to wild animals, be they mammals or avian species. Wild birds, for example, do not have personalities. What they do have is traits. In the frenzy around a bird table or feeding station, an individual Blue Tit may seem the more confident, perhaps even aggressive. I have seen plenty barge a Great Tit out of the way to get to a string of peanuts and a Blackbird (a giant by comparison) will usually give way to a smaller, more strident bird. But that is not personality; rather, it is behaviour borne of necessity (perhaps the little tit hasn't fed for some time or has a nest of screaming infants at home) or a genetic blueprint over which it has no control. Having said all that, I am now going to risk contradicting myself by going all anthropomorphic over this Greenfinch, which seems to me to be decidedly cross as if it has been disturbed mid-meal. I adore how the combination of the glaring eye and crossed beak working hard on a sunflower seed combine to lend it a rather grumpy demeanour.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/60 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 800mm

Long-tailed Tit

This shot – taken after what had been a very harsh December, with heavy snow and prolonged sub-zero temperatures – illustrates well how the Long-tailed Tit's body shape alters during the seasons. Here, this tiny bird's body is almost perfectly globular, resembling a small ball of feathers attached to that oh-so extravagant tail. As the ambient temperatures begin to rise, however, the Long-tailed tit's body shape will become much more slender and seemingly longer.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/200 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 640

Time to buy a reference book

I need to add to my library of bird and wildlife books. While I'm good on British mammals and OK on most common avian species, my knowledge of ducks and waterfowl is not great and certainly doesn't extend to rarer ducks. I also come up short when it comes to identifying the male or the female of a particular species. So, I'm off to buy a reference book that should help plug the gaps. In the meantime, here's one of the reasons why…

Nice weather if you're a duck

I missed the focus on this shot – I would have preferred the depth of field to have allowed the beak to be sharp – but it was raining and dismal and the ISO was already approaching noisy levels. I've included it though because, strangely for an animal at home in the water, you don't see that many images of wet ducks. This one had been frantically diving, surfacing and then shaking, and then doing it all over again. The oil from the duck's preen gland is repelling water so effectively, with perfect droplets rolling off the folded wing feathers. The second shot's included simply because I like the composition and the duck's dance-like posture.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/320 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 640

Pink Flamingo

Just because these improbable creatures are such fun.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/640 sec, f8, 376mm at ISO 500

Questions, questions

What makes a picture compelling? What is about an image that repays the time spent trying to capture it? And why do some images leave one feeling indifferent – quickly skipped over in favour of something else – while another continues to give pleasure? There is nothing special technically about this shot; there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of shots of Chaffinches out there that are in every way superior to this shot. This picture is a current favourite of mine and yet it may leave you cold. Is it that I enjoyed the time spent waiting for the songbirds to come into the copse in which the hide was situated and the picture reminds me of that time? Is it the simplicity of the composition or the stillness it evokes? Or is it simply mood – today I like it but tomorrow, perhaps, another will take its place. From a photographer's perspective, it is, I think, an interesting thought: do we tend to appreciate the images taken most recently or will there always be special shots we go back to again and again.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/400 sec, f10, 400mm at ISO 640

Black-headed Gull

Sometimes – often, in fact – the small details can make a big difference. This was one of a number of shots of this Black-headed Gull in non-breeding plumage perched on a fence post and not up to very much. A number of images where the bird was looking forward or skyward were rejected in favour of this one. The reason is the bird's apparent concentration on something at its feet. The small gesture, I think, adds something of a narrative to what might otherwise have been a pleasant but unrewarding shot. And then (second shot) the gull decided it had spent long enough posing…

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/320 sec, f8, 376mm at ISO 500

Falcated Teal

The light was poor for this shot of what I believe is a Falcated Teal. I say 'believe' because the body feathers don't have the tell-tale marbling/dotting and the head isn't showing the rainbow of colours associated with the species. I persevered, though, because the light on the water is fabulous and the reflection still works well.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/125 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 500

White Storks

...don't come back without all the information needed. I took this shot during a visit to Pensthorpe nature reserve in Norfolk. I liked the symmetry of the shot. This, however, is not a bird with which I'm familiar and I'm now kicking myself for not having noted down the species from the numerous information boards that surround the lakes and enclosures. Time to do some research…

PS: Thanks to Faith 'Fay' Jordan for helping me out – these, she tells me, are White Storks.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/1250 sec, f4, 180mm at ISO 500

Northern Pintails

My knowledge of ducks isn't up to identifying this pair with any certainty (they look more Scaup than Tufted to my untrained eye), but I just loved the composition. Everything appears so delicate: the long, thin grass, the gossamer reflections in the water and the ducks themselves.

PS: thanks so much to Frank at 'The Early Birder' for putting me right – these are, he points out, Northern Pintails.


Canon 1DS MkII, 1/640 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 500

Low-light conditions

I'm tempted to think photographers (at least in the temperate UK) share something with farmers – for both, the weather is never quite right. For the farmer, it will either be too wet or too dry; with the photographer, it's either not light enough or it's too bright. I find myself craving the longer days and clearer skies that spring will bring. Winter can, of course, be wonderful – those bitterly cold days when the sky is a glorious blue and the light is crystal clear (T. S. Eliot's "mid-winter spring") can light up natural subjects in all their glory. Grey days, however, can render everything flat and lifeless. Happily, however, there are occasions when failing light or an overcast sky can produce images that are gentle and subdued, with subtle tones that are somehow right for the season. By contrast, I do find some of the most perfectly 'staged' avian photography – pristine backdrops (often literally backdrops), vivid colours and an almost total absence of any context – a little, well, too much…

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/100 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 800

Chaffinch

The male Chaffinch is such a beautiful little bird, the rust browns, the smokey greys and the flashes of vivid yellow are a stunning livery. This one seemed content to queue behind Blue Tits, Coal Tits and Great Tits before availing himself of a beak full of sunflower seeds. Ideally I would have liked a more appealing bokeh in these shots – the backdrop was a mix of branches and water and f8 was all I could open up to with a x2 extender mounted – but I still think the shots work nicely enough.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/320 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 640

Long-Tailed Tit

Spent much of the day holed-up in a hide, making the most of a rare burst of (milky) sunshine. I'm a big fan of Long-Tailed Tits, though I find them tricky to photograph. They're tiny, skittish and seem to hate dwelling for any length of time in one place. But those outlandish tails – simply made for fun photographic composition.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/200 sec, f8, 400mm at ISO 640

Blue Tit

Such a miserable grey day here, so I'm at my desk shooting tits on the feeders outside. ISO bumped up, the aperture as wide as I can get it and – despite all that (perhaps because of that – a faster shutter and the lovely wing pattern would have been sharp) – a decent shot of a Blue Tit coming into a ball of seeds and fat.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/160 sec, f8, 400mm at 1,000 ISO

Turnstone

This Turnstone – as is their wont – had been searching everywhere along the banks of a small creek at Salthouse in North Norfolk, flipping over pebbles, litter, leaves and pretty much anything that might have been hiding a tasty morsel. And, like so many Turnstones, this one showed little timidity, quite content to scurry around at my feet.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/400 sec, f4, 200mm at ISO 640

Juvenile Mute Swan

Swans are, of course, beautiful birds, but somehow images of the whole bird can struggle to convey their their true elegance. Luckily I think this one does capture that typical swan serenity.

Canon 1DS MkII, 1/125 sec, f11, 200mm at ISO 640

Mallard

Lighting conditions can make such a difference. I saw this mallard duck preening itself in a shallow creek on the North Norfolk coast; its drake partner was doing the same alongside. What made the picture, however, was a low sun just catching the colours and textures of the mallard's feathers, while the water remained largely in shadow. I love happy accidents.