Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

The male Ruff is such an extraordinary looking bird that I wanted to attempt some shots that did justice to its elaborate plumage. I concentrated, then, on the ruff that gives it its name. This captive bird helped by being the perfect model…

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, 250mm at ISO 640

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/2,000 sec, f/6.3, 400mm at ISO 640

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

Once a much more common sight in the hedgerows of southern and central Britain, the Turtle Dove is now in serious decline, thanks largely to intensive agricultural practices throughout Europe. This captive bird  – one of a pair – was remarkably tolerant, allowing some intimate shots at very close range.

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,000 sec, f/6.3, 400mm at ISO 640

Canon 1Ds MkII, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,000 sec, f/6.3, 400mm at ISO 640

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

Introduced to Britain in the 19th century, the Little Owl is now widespread throughout southern and central England and Wales, with the estimated number of breeding pairs put at up to 11,500. This juvenile bird is almost fully grown and – hand-reared since hatching – was almost tame in the hand. I was most struck by those piercing blue-grey eyes; simply mesmerising.

Canon 1Ds MkII with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, 380mm at ISO 400

Canon 1Ds MkII with Canon 100-400mm lens, 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, 380mm at ISO 400

Bearded Tit (Panurus biarmicus)

I was really keen that this Bearded Tit move a little to the side so I could get in the full majesty of its long tail. Eventually it did and I was also rewarded with the most glorious of reflections of this fabulous little bird as it struggled with a string of stubborn weed.

Canon 1Ds MkII with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, 400mm at ISO 640

Canon 1Ds MkII with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, 400mm at ISO 640

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)

I saw this jackdaw walking along a low wall and liked the contrast of the bird's intricate shades of blacks and greys against a clear background. The shot was exposed to retain this contrast and keep the bird very much the centre of attention.

Canon 1Ds MkII with Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/500 sec, f/8, 400mm at ISO 400

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

These elegant birds are a photographer's dream. Raucous and argumentative yet tolerant of humans (especially those throwing bread for the ducks), they also wheel, whirl and hover at a very convenient height for those of us armed with a camera. In these two shots I have attempted to concentrate as much on capturing the light as the birds themselves.

Canon 1Ds MkII with Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,000 sec, f/11, 400mm at ISO 400

Canon 1Ds MkII with Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/1,000 sec, f/11, 400mm at ISO 400. Note the water droplets.

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

As promised, here's the second round of shots from today's session, showing adults and juveniles…

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

I took a couple of hours out in the hope of finding some water voles on the banks of the stream that snakes its way along the North Norfolk coast between Cley and Salthouse. None showed their face, but I did spot a tell-tale slipway carved into the muddy banks by repeated use by something small. I made myself comfortable a short distance away and waited, passing the time by shooting black-headed gulls and jackdaws (those posts to follow later). Patience is not one of my virtues, but after an hour or so I was rewarded with the sight of something moving in the tufts of grass sprouting from the bank. I locked on the camera and was lucky enough to capture an adult brown rat sniffing the air to see if it was safe to venture out with her infant offspring. If you scroll down, you'll see that in the second image I've enlarged the scene to focus on this very cute pair. From that point, I was able to track which runs the rats were using to navigate the banks and later got some decent shots of another adult on the other side of the stream (again, look for future posts).

Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

Not my usual sort of thing, but I saw these solitary poppies in a field of barley during my dog walk this morning and was struck by how beautiful they were in their splendid isolation. The gently fluctuating Norfolk hedgerows in the background also lend the shot a natural framing.

PS: The second shot is for Toffeeapple (see Comments)

Canon 1Ds MkII with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/3,200 sec, f/5.6, 400mm at ISO 400

Canon 1Ds MkII with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/80 sec, f/14, 100mm at ISO 400

Just because…

I love the feel of these shots and the way the late afternoon sun fell on the tit as it began to sing.

Both Canon 1Ds MkII body, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, 400mm at ISO 640

Male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

I spotted this chaffinch on the grass in front of me seemingly struggling to cope with a whole peanut it had retrieved from the bird table. The nut was side-on in its beak and refused to dislodge as it moved its head from side to side. When, eventually, the peanut did drop to the floor, the bird's expression seemed almost to say "nobody saw that, right?"

All Canon 1Ds MkII body, Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/320 sec, f/6.3, 370mm at ISO 800

Male Blackbird (Turdus merula)

I was actually focused on a blue tit when it flew off with a start as this handsome chap landed on the same shrub. I missed the commotion, but was pleased to get this image of a much-underestimated bird that I think is really quite dashing. The yellow beak and the ring around the eyes are, I would contend, quite striking.

Canon 1Ds MkII body with a Canon 100-400mm IS USM lens, 1/50 sec, f/5.6, 370mm at ISO 500

Up close and personal

I have taken delivery of a new lens that allows me to get a little more up close and personal with my photographic quarry, even our smaller garden birds. And so – like all keen photographers I know – I took the first chance I had to mount it on to a camera body to give it a quick road test. Here are just a couple of shots I particularly like from the latest piece of kit's first outing…

Canon 1Ds MkII, 1/200 sec, f/5.6, 390mm at ISO 640 

Canon 1Ds MkII, 1/250 sec, f/6.3, 370mm at ISO 800 

Feel the sunshine

These are posted simply because I love the optimism of these shots – it's possible almost to feel the warmth coming through.

Chaffinches and tits

A quartet of images from my attempts today to get some shots of our most common garden birds out of the branches, off the feeders and on to the ground.

Female blackbird (Turdus merula)

I spent hours this afternoon lying on my stomach in the garden in an attempt to capture some of our common garden birds where they like to spend much of their time – on the ground foraging. I was rewarded with this beautiful female blackbird taking a well-earned drink. The water droplet was an added bonus.

Canon 1Ds MkII, 1/250 sec, f/8, 400mm at ISO 640

PS: I've now learned this is, in fact, a juvenile male.

PPS: I've also now added two further shots of what I believe is the same bird taken a few days earlier.

Competition at the bird feeders

I was sitting enjoying today's glorious sunshine and watching the birds at the various feeders in my garden when this chap decided the avian diners shouldn't have it all to themselves…

Canon 1Ds MkII, 1/125 sec, f/8, 336mm at ISO 800

Feeding time for juvenile Blue Tits

In a previous post I uploaded images of a juvenile blue tit being fed by one of its parents. Today – on almost the same branch in my garden – I was lucky enough to witness the same event, this time with a pair of young tits demanding attention. The action went like this… One of the young birds was first on the branch, noisily demanding to be fed. It's difficult to ignore the demands of an infant and, sure enough, the parent responded by joining its offspring on the branch. It looked like it was about to hand over the scraps of fat and seed when, suddenly, a second juvenile tit appeared on the branch and, for some reason, the parent decided to feed this bird instead. As you can imagine, this did not go down well and – before all three birds flew off – the young tit not given something by its parent gave the adult bird what I can only describe as a quizzical look…

Bumblebees

Blessed with a glorious day here on the North Norfolk coast, it was back to another of my favourite subjects. There were red-tails and white-tails on the flowers in the garden in considerable numbers, but that doesn't make capturing them in flight any easier. I find the trick is to up the ISO to at least 640 and – light permitting – open up the aperture as wide as possible. These two together allow for the most important factor – as fast a shutter speed as you can manage. Then, I find it most effective to focus on a mid-point petal (my eyes and hands are not up to focusing quickly enough on a moving bee), crop the image in the viewfinder so that there is space to one side of the shot and – with one eye looking through the viewfinder and the other looking for approaching bees – let the motor drive rip as one picks out the flower you're concentrating on. If it all comes off, you can end up with some great shots of a most charming creature.

All Canon 1Ds MkII, 1/5,000 sec, f/4 at ISO 640
For more on bumblebees, try this resource 

Fledgling Blue Tit

I spotted this fluffy blue tit sitting on a branch behaving a little strangely. While others of its kind busied themselves on the feeders below, it stayed put, noisily protesting. When it was joined on the branch by a another tit all became clear. The insistent cries were a signal that it was hungry and wanted feeding. The other tit – presumably its parent, although smaller and dowdier – offered up scraps of seed and fat from one of the ball feeders and the young bird greedily snatched up the late lunch, taking its parent's beak deep into its own. But – as seems clear from the last image – some youngsters are never satisfied…

All Canon 1Ds MkII, 1/640 sec, f/8, 400mm at ISO 800