Twitter

Just a quick heads-up to let you know that I've set up a Twitter account to run along side of this blog and the main website...

If you should wish to follow and you're more than welcome to, it's @ajdixonphoto

I hope everybody has had a good festive period and I'll be back in 2012...Thanks!!

Oh here's a photo of a Grey Heron, for no other reason other than I like them...

All the best for the New Year.

Frozen Planet

Myself like many of you I'm sure, have been captivated for the last few Wednesday nights by the BBC's latest brilliant wildlife series 'Frozen Planet'.
This amazing Attenborough presented masterpiece is set in the harshest environments on earth, namely the Polar regions.

In the winter of 2009-2010, Britain suffered arctic-like conditions for long spells as temperatures plummeted to as low as -20 degrees.
During this period, I was out and about with my camera, documenting the affect the weather had on wildlife and today, inspired by 'Frozen Planet' I thought I would share a few images...

                                                                    Sheep in blizzard 

                                                                      Grey Heron

       
                                                                      Greylag Geese

Ring Rust!

Photographing wildlife as well as giving me great pleasure can also leave me with a great sense of frustration.

With this in mind, I wasn't expecting much from my first trip out with the camera in a very long time and I must admit I was very rusty!

It's easy to forget some of the basic rules when you've not been playing the game and today was a very hit and miss affair.

My predicament wasn't aided by me forgetting to take a tripod and having to get by using a 500mm lens handheld.

For this 'comeback' outing I decided to play safe and visit a small pond a few miles from home which I know is a favourite haunt of a Grey Heron...A bird that some of you may recall is a favourite of mine.

Keeping A Low Profile...

August is perhaps the most frustrating month of the year for photographing wildlife on my local patch.
Food is plentiful so birds don't feel they have to come anywhere near us humans in search of a meal and the spoils are so rich in the summer that many can pick and choose when to feed and remain out of human sight altogether.

To make things worse for the wildlife photographer, vegetation is at it's peak and finding anything to photograph can prove difficult in the lush greenery which covers the English countryside and woodlands.

During these months, the best option is to concentrate on water birds, both the wildfowl and sea varieties.
Woodland birds are a nightmare in the summer because the leaf canopy usually makes even the strongest summer light poor, so I usually choose bright leafless winter days for these birds.

One bird however, isn't a stranger to hiding in thick vegetation whatever the season and when visiting sites with reed beds, it's always worth having a good look for them.
The Grey Heron, like it's close relative the Bittern is never happier when patrolling a reed bed, but unlike the very shy Bittern, thankfully they do like to spend time in the open as well...

Clumsy Heron!

I came across this Grey Heron recently, stood on a mooring in the middle of a local lake.
I watched for a good 15 minutes while the bird waited patiently for his next meal to swim by...
After a while it looked like he was on to something...

Steady, this really isn't the time to lose your balance...

Too late, there goes his meal as well as his pride!

Derbyshire Heronry

Regular readers of this blog will know that of all the wildlife I encounter, there is one species that I have a special admiration for...The Grey Heron.

So when I was invited to visit a Herony at a location in the High Peak area of Derbyshire, I didn't have to think twice!
In fact I had made some provisional plans for today, but they were put on hold when this chance arrived.

This particular Heronry is beside a fairly remote reservoir with a backdrop of rolling hills and not too far from a river and canal network...A perfect spot for these birds to rear their young.
Although the reservoir was very low and there was plenty of 'beach' and what looked to be good crossing points over small channels, there was an almost quicksand-like mud, so we decided the best and safest option would be to walk through a wooded area around the waters edge to gain close views of the birds.

There was some early morning sunshine on arrival and at first glance the first nest we approached appeared empty...

After about 10 minutes, we might have been forgiven for leaving and assuming the nest was indeed vacant, that is if we hadn't of heard the loud calls of the youngsters from the other side of the water a little earlier.

We stood quietly and waited and pretty soon a young head popped up out of the nest...

This was quickly followed by a second head...

These two young birds, kept understandably quiet while we were around and when we saw an adult Heron circling the area, we decided to move on and give the birds chance to get a feed.

A little further on from this nest, there was another with a slightly older youngster in it who was keeping his eyes firmly on us...


He wasn't the only one keeping a watchful eye, because a couple of trees further down, an adult was also keeping us and her youngster firmly in sight.

It is very important when photographing birds near nest sites is to do it as quickly as possible and without any disturbance.

I also like to keep as far away as possible and use my longest lens.

Although I could have stayed all day and watched these magnificent birds, the actual time spent in their presence was only a few short minutes and because this particular site was in a rather exposed location with very little cover it was only fair to let them go about their business without the risk of causing them any distress.

Special thanks to Margaret, Brian and Dave for their help and hospitality.

The Egg Snatcher!

A quick trip to a small local pond that I hadn't visited for some time provided some interesting bird behaviour today.

I had planned to visit the pond to photograph Frogs, but on arrival I knew my chances would be slim because I wasn't the only visitor...

Grey Herons are notorious Frog eaters, but on this occasion at least, his luck was also out and he settled for a few Sticklebacks before making his exit...

The Heron actually missed out on a bit of a treat, because lying in the reeds only a few yards away was the egg of a Moorhen.

The egg wasn't going to survive the morning intact though and a short time later it was punctured...

Exhibit A

So who or what committed this terrible crime against the Moorhen egg?

Did the Grey Heron return?

Well no actually, the guilty party was non other than...

A Moorhen!

Strange goings on you may say and yes not something you see everyday, but not altogether unheard of.

I might be wrong but my theory is...The Moorhen in question was a male and with it being the breeding season, he destroyed the egg so he could have a (or another) go at mating with the female.

2010: The Year So Far (6)

Reddish Vale on the morning of January 10th seemed like the loneliest place on earth.

The weather was nothing short of Artic, there was hardly a soul about and far worst...The birds were suffering bad.

The large bag of food I had taken was nowhere near enough and it was heartbreaking to watch as the birds fought it out in a desperate struggle for the scraps.

Most of the Geese had left the frozen lake and taken a little respite in the river.

By the riverbank, I could smell the unmistakable scent of a Fox which must have been stalking the wildfowl, so I decided to bait the area with a generous helping of Turkey (which I had brought just in case) and lie low on the embankment.

Well the Fox didn't show yet again, but I was more than delighted to see that the bait didn't go to waste...

In fact given the conditions, I don't think I could have wished for a more worthy recipient than this young Grey Heron...

2010: The Year So Far (2)

On January 2nd the bright sunshine of the first day of the new year had given way to a rather heavy looking sky as I left the house.

Things were looking ominous so I decided to postpone a planned trip to the Dee Estuary and instead drove much closer to home and to one of my favourite local patches Reddish Vale.

No sooner had I arrived, the heavy looking sky gave way and the first snow of the year fell.

95% of the lake at the Vale was frozen and hundreds of wildfowl were contesting the remaining unfrozen water.

Reddish Vale is probably one of the less visited nature reserves in Greater Manchester and contains all the very common species of wildfowl, however there are some gems to be found here from time to time and this day proved no exception when amongst the usual suspects I was treated to some very close views of this lovely little Shoveler...

Far from the madding crowd and perhaps contemplating how he was ever going to get any fishing done stood this very fine looking Grey Heron...One of three of it's type present, I would become very familiar with this individual over the next week or so....

Frustratingly the day also provided my first photographic disappointment of the year after I spotted a glorious looking Fox trekking through the snow in the woods only yards away.

Try as I might, I couldn't move myself into a position where I would have been able to get a clean shot and it was only a matter of time before I was spotted...

Oh well, there will be other days...