Hunting Shorties

I have become obsessed recently with photographing short eared owls. I have taken many hundreds of images on my visits to two locations on the Lancashire mosslands where the owls have been active during daylight hours. There has been a lot of unsuitable weather of late with many dull dismal and drizzly days . Occasionally though the sun has managed to put in an appearance and the owls have responded by coming out to hunt.

So it was yesterday, when it was a lovely sunny afternoon with little or no wind.I picked up Simon and we met up with Martin at the location where the owls had been showing. Not long after our arrival the owls appeared and for the rest of the afternoon we were treated to some wonderful fly pasts as they quartered the rough grassland looking for prey. We were joined by another party of photographers and we all clicked away as the owls performed for us.

I have selected a few of the many images I took of the action and they are shown above. I have concentrated on the owls in the process of hunting close to the ground as they looked for voles and mice. I have also tried to show images where the afternoon sun picked up the detail of the birds and gave a nice warm feel to the shots. I hope my readers enjoy these images as much as I did in capturing them and I hope to return again soon. Currently wet and gloomy weather has returned and I may not get out again for a few days.

Aerial Combat

This week has seen me visiting a new site in Lancashire where short eared owls have been active. On my first visit I saw the birds but light was rapidly failing and I decided on a return visit . I returned the following afternoon when blue skies and lovely winter sunshine were the order of the day.

It turned out to be a good decision as three shorties were present and were very active through the afternoon.I took many images in the ideal conditions and was very well pleased with the results. For this posting I have concentrated on the frequent skirmishes that took place between the owls as they fought over this prime hunting area. The fights took place up above the rough field that was obviously rich in voles and mice and they gave me some nice opportunities to obtain shots of the action. I have posted a few images above of the sparring owls. None of the owls seemed worse for wear after these skirmishes and I have headed the post with an owl having a look at me after things had returned to normal.

I hope my readers enjoy these images and I will post more later when I have maybe added more to my portfolio. Currently the rain is back and it doesn't look promising for any more action until next week. Meantime thanks for looking and enjoy the weekend.

Lucky For Some

Last Friday was the 13th of the month,I am not sure but I think it is supposed to be unlucky. For me however it didn't turn out that way.I had returned to the mosslands of South West Lancs where a number of short eared owls were still around. The weather had at long last settled down and frosty nights and bright sunny days followed the very disturbed wet and windy weather that seemed to have been with us for many weeks. These conditions were ideal for the owls to come out of hiding and begin hunting again.

I joined a number of photographers present and we enjoyed what was to be a red letter day providing many opportunities for some action images.It was quiet for a while around lunchtime but in the afternoon the short eared owls came out to play.They seemed to come at us from all directions and this made it difficult to estimate the numbers present. There definitely seemed to be four and possibly five but they put on a great display and we all " filled our boots " with hundreds of images. The bright and sunny conditions meant fast shutter speeds could be used to freeze the action.

I have posted a few images from a hectic afternoon's action and hope my readers get some idea of what it is like to be in and amongst these magnificent raptors. An excellent afternoon was enjoyed by all those present and the weather ,company and action from the owls made for an unforgettable afternoon. It had indeed turned into a lucky Friday 13th and one I hope to experience again before the owls return to their summer breeding areas. Thanks for looking in and I will be back soon with hopefully more action from the shorties.

Swan Lake

The weather of late has been terrible.Most days have been wet and windy with very dull conditions and certainly not conducive to photography. I did however spend some time at the RSPB reserve at Marshside Southport, where it was more comfortable sat in the hides.The reserve was a mass of wildfowl with terrific numbers of pintail and wigeon.The very wet conditions had made it ideal for the ducks and godwits and large numbers were present.For this post however I am concentrating on the mute swan.

There were around half a dozen swans present and they provided me with some interesting photo opportunities as they preened and bathed in front of Nel's Hide.They really are beautiful and elegant birds and at times we do take them for granted.I have tried to convey some of this beauty with my selection of swan images from the day and shown above.

As I write the weather is showing signs of settling down and blue skies and sunshine have returned. I hope therefore to be out and about over the next few days as conditions are looking good for owl and wader watching. Thanks for looking in and hope you enjoy my selection above.

First Post...Happy New Year

First of all I would like to wish all my followers and readers a Very Happy New Year.The year maybe new but the weather is certainly not !! It continues in a very disturbed mood with only the very briefest of brighter spells. It has continued to pour down with rain and more violent winds have lashed the country with Scotland bearing the brunt of the very stormy weather.

As I write after a promising start it is once more very dull with persistent drizzle but thankfully the damaging winds have eased. I have for the most part been confined to barracks and have been frustrated, not able to get out with the camera.However a couple of days ago the superb male sparrowhawk above visited my back garden and I was able to hastily grab some images before it departed. It was still raining and very dull and the settings on the camera were not quite right but I was reasonably pleased with the results.

I have shown above the better efforts as the bird posed obligingly on a garden post. It did of course come looking for a meal but this time left without catching any prey as all the sparrows etc had rapidly disappeared when the sparrowhawk appeared. Hope you enjoy looking at the images of this handsome bird and I hope normal service will be resumed as soon as possible when the weather finally settles down.

Last Post

This will be my final posting of what has been an interesting and eventful year with the camera.This last week or so has seen some very depressing weather conditions.If it hasn't been raining it has been extremely windy and these conditions have been far from favourable for bird photography.I was determined however to get out to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and returned to the mosslands of South West Lancs hoping for more sightings of short eared owls.

On my first visit it wasn't too bad with less wind and dry, however there was much disturbance in the area that the owls favour for hunting.Many folk were out walking off the Christmas excesses but the major disturbance was a group of men hunting with hawks.They had two magnificent goshawks one of them was an unusual white variety. I understand they were hunting pheasants and they also had a dog to put up any birds present.The owls would be well aware of the hawks and kept hidden for most of the time but did show briefly when they had gone.

On my second visit the wind was ferocious and hammered across the site . I managed to find shelter in a belt of trees but it was still very cold and unpleasant.Mike accompanied me on this visit and his observational skills came to the fore as he scanned the area for any raptors present.Despite the horrible conditions we managed to see a variety of raptors but the hoped for owls didn't show.In total we had six different raptors as follows, kestrel,sparrowhawk,buzzard,merlin,hen harrier and red kite.The red kite was very distant but was a first sighting in Lancs for Mike and I.

I have posted images mainly of short eared owls taken on an earlier visit to this site but the hen harrier image was obtained on the second visit as described above.I have also posted one showing the white goshawk and it's owner as they walked across the rough grassland disturbing any wildlife present.The legality of use of hawks on what is a conservation area is currently being investigated. I hope to return to this location in the New Year when hopefully the short eared owls will still be around and provide a good start to another year of wildlife photography.Many thanks to my followers for looking in at my work and I hope you all enjoy a very happy and healthy 2012.

Season's Greetings

Christmas is now fast approaching and the weather at the moment is not very seasonal. After a brief frosty and snowy day or two it is now more like Spring.Temperatures are in double figures and it always seems to be raining. On a better day last Sunday Kath and I had a walk in the Leighton Moss area.It was a sunny day and was warm in the pleasant and very welcome sunshine.

We had our sandwiches and soup on a seat overlooking the RSPB reserve and it was very pleasant basking in the warm sun. We were visited throughout our stay by tits and robins coming for seeds which had been left for them on nearby fence posts.The birds came very close at times and I just happened to have a telephoto lens with me and was able to capture some nice portrait shots of the visitors.

One of the visitors was a marsh tit,a lovely little bird which I had never had an opportunity to photograph and I managed some nice shots. The robin is an ever present bird when it knows there is food about and again this symbol of Christmas gave me some nice images. Coal,Great and Blue tits also visited and again I was rewarded with some nice portraits.

Some of my better shots are shown above..a couple of the marsh tit and robin and one each of a coal tit and blue tit.I hope you enjoy them,the robin is very much a bird in evidence at this time of the year and features on many Christmas cards. I have therefore headed this post with my own little Christmas Robin and wish all my followers a very happy Christmas. Thanks for looking.