Catching up with the Locals...

February 16, 2019

I just love winter, in fact it is my favourite time of the year! Along the Yorkshire Coast we are always praying for strong northerly winds to bring down some of the northern birds to our coastline. One of the best places to find some of our winter visitors is Scarborough Harbour which year after year attracts species such as divers, grebes and sea ducks. I have had the privilege to photograph many of these species in the harbour, but my ultimate bird from this list is the Great Northern Diver.

All the birds that we see along the Yorkshire Coast through the winter months are either young or adult birds in winter plumage however they are still stunning birds. You can photograph these birds from the harbour piers, but this angle is just not for me I have to be at eye and water level. To do this it is best to go down the steps or lay flat on the slipways which means getting wet and dirty but this is the price you pay to get some stunning imagery.

Time and patience is the essence to wildlife photography and the latter can test you, but the rewards are great if you persevere. I have watched the feeding habits and patterns of these birds for many years and this year they where feeding differently than previous years. They spent most of their time feeding along the western side of the harbour and very rarely feeding over on the eastern side. Previous years have shown the birds feeding all around the harbour, but this year was different. I feel this is down to the movement of food source and where the prey is more plentiful or easier to catch.

Capturing images of these birds is not all about frame filling shots, as you can see from the above images these birds look great in this environment and can look very small next to the boats in the harbour. They mainly feed on crabs. shrimps and flounders and can stay under water on the chase for quite some time.

Light conditions at Scarborough harbour is always very challenging. The harbour faces south-east so if it is a very sunny day with no cloud cover photography can prove very difficult. I prefer a soft light which then gives you the option to position yourself anywhere around the harbour otherwise you are stuck for position and angles. You can still be creative shooting in to the light and capturing backlit shots. I also like the reflections of colour you see from the boats which can add to the image.

This year we have had the pleasure of two Great Northern Divers in the harbour. One bird favours the harbour more than the other which mainly can be found feeding in the south bay.

For all you wildlife photographers out there I cannot emphasise enough about low angles, not just for photographing the divers as a solid rule for all your subjects. I can get down low it’s just the getting back up I find difficult at my age, but its worth the pain!

So I will finish this blog post by saying if you can make the visit to the Yorkshire Coast and especially Scarborough harbour through the winter months then you will not be disappointed, there is always something to find. So if you see a body laying flat on one of the slipways do not call the coastguard it will be me just trying to capture another image of these stunning winter visitors…

It's a Mediterranean Winter...

March 3, 2018

As the 'beast from the east' keeps coming our local group of stunning Mediterranean Gulls are coming to terms with the high winds, horizontal snowfall and zero temperatures. We have had up to 14 birds present including 1st winters, 2nd winters, adult winters and a couple of birds turning to near full summer plumage now showing their black hoods.

Having taken residence with a local group of black-headed gulls for many years now at Holbeck Car Park on the south side of Scarborough these super cool gulls never fail to perform. On low tide they take to foraging on the rocks below the car park and return to scavenge at the car park on high tide.

Mediterranean Gull (adult aproaching summer plumage)

We have come across a few colour ringed individuals over the past few years including birds this year that have come from Belgium, Serbia and Poland. What is really interesting is that we seem to have one bird that keeps coming back year after year.

They start to arrive at Holbeck in late July and sometimes by early autumn are in double figures. You will find 1st winter, 2nd winter and adult birds. It is great to see them at different ages. It is when they gain their jet black heads that these birds look truly special.

By mid February the adult med gulls will start to slowly make the change from winter to summer plumage gaining a smokey grey mottled head to eventually becoming a full black hood. The red eye ring, bill and legs increase in colour depth and they develop what I call an upper and lower white eyebrow.

They are known as a 'true' white-winged gull with no black tipped primaries just pure white wings and grey backs. To me they are a proper 'black-headed' gull, unlike our species which has a chocolate brown head, but yet called a black-headed gull.

We have up to 8 adult birds present at the moment with a couple of birds nearly full hooded. Give it another couple of weeks and if they all stick around then most of them will be in full summer plumage before they take flight and leave us at the end of March to make the return journey back to their breeding grounds either in the UK or back across to eastern Europe - safe journey.

A Day with the Sawbills...

December 21, 2017

Through the Winter months wildfowl numbers increase on my local lake so it is a great place to practise your photography and capture images of some of our ducks, geese and swans that make this place their home for the Winter. One species of wildfowl that drops by each year is the Goosander.

The Goosander is a member of the "sawbill" family and a diving duck of the genus Mergus, part of the Anatidae family of diving ducks. Sawbills have serrated cutting edges on their bills, an adaptation for catching and holding fish, their main food. We have two species of sawbill that breed in the British Isles which are the Goosander M. merganser and the Red-breasted Merganser M. serrated. We do have a third species that is a Winter visitor which is the Smew M. albellus.

It is always a pleasure to see these birds arrive for the Winter. Recently we have had a group of seven birds resident on the lake which included four males and three females. The images above are of a male Goosander and the image you see below is a female or as they are more commonly known as a "redhead" which I feel is just as cool as the male of the species.

I must admit these birds are very hard to get close to and it takes some serious time, patience, fieldcraft and dedication to capture images of these secretive birds. As with all aspects of photography to create a decent image it is all about the light conditions. Over several days of watching these birds I came across ever changing light conditions from dark grey skies, dense fog to bright sunlight it was certainly a challenge.

Open to public access the lake is a popular destination for dog walkers, families and cyclists and is quite open around the edges. There are a few trees you can hide your profile behind and the odd bush or two otherwise you have to get yourself down to water level to hide your body shape and be very still and quiet. I must have been in a good potion for at least an hour when the Goosanders started to come close from fishing in the middle of the lake and started to head straight towards me. They reached a distance in which I could start to get some decent images when suddenly a dog came running up to me in which through my viewfinder I could see the birds flying back out to the centre of the lake where they feel safe from any predators.

Sometimes you just have to bit your tongue, say hello to the dog walker and then start again. So after several more hours of persistence and trying to keep away from any human disturbance the Goosanders started heading back in to feed near the shoreline. I was ready and the light was pretty good all I needed was a bird to swim towards my camera. The males took the lead with two individuals who seemed braver than the rest headed in. I had one of those magical moments where it was just me and the Goosanders face to face.

I felt like I wanted to stop breathing and not moving a muscle apart from pressing the shutter on my camera I turned in to a statue allowing these beautiful birds to swim a little closer and not be disturbed. What a privilege to see them up close in which their colours of both male and female was incredible as they fished freely in front of my very eyes.

It seemed like there was nothing else in the world at that moment of time but me and the Goosanders, I couldn't take my eye away from the viewfinder and the finger off the shutter it was just me and them - perfect. As you may have guessed we didn't have much of a moment until they where disturbed once again by an innocent passer by in which one of the male birds flew straight past the camera in which I managed to capture the image below.

So I finally gave in to the cold, local disturbance and a wet bottom to head back home, but what an encounter I had and I am certain they will stick around for a while so may be another visit is in order soon...

Snow has fallen...

December 12, 2017

Finally the white stuff has fallen across the UK bringing the usual chaos and disruption on the roads, but if you can get out safely to your local woodland or park you will find an abundance of wildlife desperately searching for food in this cold Winter weather. I headed down to my local bird feeding station situated in a stunning deciduous woodland only 10 minutes from my front door. We didn't seem to have as much snow along the Yorkshire Coast as the rest of the country just a covering to give you that Winter feeling.

I put out some bird food and within seconds the birds started to come in to feed. At this feeding station we are very lucky to get five species of our British tit family with Blue, Great, Coal, Marsh and Long-tailed being regular visitors. We do occasionally also get sightings of Willow Tit and if the Crested Tit wasn't just an endemic to Scotland in the UK then may be we could get all seven UK species (in my dreams).

The regular species that visit the feeding station are Great-spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Stock Dove, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Wren and Dunnock, Sometimes we also see Siskin and Brambling through the Winter months. We have a healthy population of Nuthatch which is one of my all-time favourite woodland birds.

We have some beautiful woodland birds in the UK and to spend time with them was a pleasure and to capture images of some of our iconic bird species was just a wonderful bonus. Please don't forget to feed your garden visitors this Winter, it looks like we are going to have quite a cold spell ahead of us.

A Northern Visitor...

December 7, 2017

After receiving a message that a single Snow Bunting had been found feeding on some rough ground in Scarborough's North Bay I thought I would go and take a look to see if it was still showing. To my surprise I found the bird blending in to it's surroundings, but it wasn't long before unfortunately it was flushed by a dog walker.

I eventually I relocated the bird further along the coastal path on the grassy area of a Crazy Golf Course which was out of use through the Winter months. With a little bit of stealth fieldcraft I managed to get very close and before I knew it by just sitting very quietly the Snow Bunting was feeding at my feet. These birds are known to be quite tame if you approach them slowly and with caution not to disturb them as they are feeding. You will find that they are quite nervous birds in flocks, but if you come across individual birds like this one then you can be lucky to get exceptionally close views.

I went back to the area the following day because the light had improved and even the sun had made an appearance on this cold Winter's morning. To my amazement the little fellow was still feeding on the Crazy Golf Course so again I just sat down nearby and let the bird stroll on up to me. Once again it got flushed by a dog walker before landing on the sea defence wall with a few Turnstone before eventually flying back to the grassy area to carry on feeding.

These little beauties visit our shore late Autumn and through the Winter months from Scandinavia and Greenland and can be seen sometimes in large numbers along the Yorkshire Coast. This bird is in Winter plumage, but I think they are still stunning birds in which I just love the small yellow bill designed to nibble at seeds and to occassionally catch small insects.

So next time you visit the coast in Winter, always check the coastal paths and fields and you may just be lucky to stumble across some feeding Snow Buntings of your own.