More Puffins

As promised I am posting some more of the many images I obtained on my visit last month to the beautiful Island of Skomer.It was an adventure traveling to this remote part of Wales to photograph what must be one of Britain's most photogenic birds.They are most obliging in posing for the camera and were at times too close.I found them most difficult to photograph in flight and I will have to return next summer to sharpen up my reactions to these very fast flying birds.
I was however pleased with the many images of the puffins with beaks full of sandeels returning to feed their youngsters. It was a wonderful experience to observe and photograph these super little birds at such close quarters and I can't wait to renew my acquaintance with them again next year. I hope you enjoy more images from Skomer and thanks for looking in.

Skomer Island..Puffins

The main purpose of my recent trip to Wales was to photograph puffins.I had chosen a settled spell of weather when the boats would be able to make the crossing to Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast.I had seen odd puffins before at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire but had not seen them in numbers or in their classic pose with beaks crammed with sandeels.The reports from Skomer were promising so I made the long journey via the red kites at Gigrin Farm in central Wales as described in my previous posting.
After a sleepless night in the car at Martinshaven,the departure point for Skomer,I joined the early morning queue for tickets for the first crossing at 10am.I was on the first boat and just after ten I landed on Skomer Island.After a brief introduction from one of the wardens we had the beautiful island of Skomer to explore.Puffins were everywhere but I made for an area known as The Wick which is the place for photographers.There was plenty of action with puffins coming and going from their burrows.They were nesting very close to the path and it was at times difficult not to get too close to the birds.Cameras were clicking away and most of the photographers would have gone away with lots of wonderful shots of these very photogenic birds.Some of my efforts are shown above and I hope you enjoy looking at them.There will be more in my next post.Thanks for looking in.   

Gigrin Farm..Red Kites.

At last I am getting back to normal following my trip to Wales.I have processed the many images I took and have selected a few more for publication.This post concentrates on the red kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm near Rhayader in central Wales.This is a location well known to bird photographers as it provides wonderful opportunities for images of these magnificent raptors. All the kites which visit daily at Gigrin Farm are native Welsh birds which are the product of many years of protection by dedicated ornithologists and conservationists.There is now a very healthy population of native red kites in central Wales and birds from up to fifty miles away visit Gigrin farm daily throughout the year for guaranteed supplies of meat

It really is paradise for bird photographers and there are so many birds present it is difficult knowing where to point the lens.There are a number of hides and for a modest fee of ten pounds I enjoyed an exciting afternoon's photography using three different lenses to capture the fast moving action.Gigrin Farm is one of a number of feeding stations in this part of Wales.If you are able to visit you will be guaranteed an exciting afternoon's viewing of these magnificent raptors.From Gigrin farm I moved on down to south west Wales to visit the island of Skomer to photograph the puffins and this will be the subject of my next posting. Thanks for looking in and enjoy the current wonderful weather which looks set to last for hopefully the rest of July.

Kites and Puffins

This week I have enjoyed a mini break in Wales.While the weather forecast was good for the beginning of the week,I decided to visit Gigrin Farm to photograph red kites and then on down to Skomer Island for the puffins. It was a long trip but was very worthwhile and I returned with some excellent images for the portfolio.I will go into more detail later when I have finished sifting and sorting the many hundreds of images I took.For now I am uploading a few images to be going on with and hope you enjoy this small selection.My next postings will show more of these delightful birds and the lovely areas of Wales where they can be found.Thanks for looking in.

Leighton Moss...Gulls

This week I paid a long overdue visit to Leighton Moss. The weather was settled and warm and there was always something to see and photograph.Most of the activity centred around the Public and Lillian's hides where I spent the afternoon.The black headed gulls were very busy attending to the many young birds that had now left the nest and were very photogenic as they posed in front of the hides.Apart from a fly by from a couple of marsh harriers it was generally quiet with most birds attending to their young.A quick visit to the Allen hide on the marsh found few birds apart from more gulls and a lone little egret.It had however been a pleasant interlude and images from the session are shown above.This next week I am hoping to venture into Wales to photograph red kites and puffins.I should hopefully return with some memorable images, so watch this space and thanks for looking in.

Bowland Mix

The weather has been more changeable this week with showers on most days.I have still managed a couple of trips into Bowland with one being early morning.There was plenty to see and photograph with the usual upland waders,curlew,lapwing,oystercatcher and redshank being in good numbers on the moorland areas.They would appear to have have had a successful breeding season with numbers of fledged  young about.Shown above are more images of curlew and lapwing together with images of the chicks.I have also included in this post images of oystercatcher, snipe and redshank which were posing nicely on the walls and roadside fences.Again all images were taken from the car so as to cause minimum disturbance to the birds.Also shown  is an image of a brown hare posing for the camera in a lovely meadow full of buttercups.Hope you enjoy this week's selection and thanks for looking in.