New site

I've been very lucky indeed today.

A friend showed me round 'his' site, which basically consists of uninterrupted access to a farm, it's buildings and the surrounding land.

Bob - you are one lucky bloke !

There are so many opportunities at the site for mini projects, I hope I will be able to join Bob throughout the coming months to see what we can plan and execute.

First up today was this super Little Owl - a bird, that until this year, had eluded me.

I'm very much looking forward to working on this new site and I'll be reporting regulary on my progress.

As for other things that I'll be doing - well, I'm off to Norfolk for the day tomorrow for seals.

Watch this space for a report on that trip.

Badger update

So, what's been going on with the badgers recently ?

Answer - not a lot I'm afraid.

I spent a few hours at the site with my good friend Calum last night. It sure made a change to arrive in the dark after the clocks changing, and to set up in the gloom.

Aside from Tawny's calling territory, a solitary Little Owl in the distance, we heard and saw nothing.

I think perhaps it's time to call it quits for 2010, and await the spring when hopefully, cubs will be born, and we can get that long awaited shot.

We've spent dozens of hours at the site and a small fortune on gear - 3 flashs, stands, remote triggers, STE2, night vision, IR lamp.

We've had some great encounters - deer, hare, rabbits, owls, peregrine, sparrowhawk and of course, the badgers themselves. Only the one shot though after all of those hours.......

Next year, we'll nail 'em - we've got the equipment afterall !

Back Again

Hello everyone and sorry for not posting on a regular basis recently. A quick catch up on what's been going on...........not a wildlife post this time.........

My broadband service crashed 4 weeks ago, and it took an age for my normally excellent service provider (BE), to diagnose that the issue wasn't at my end but at the exchange.

After getting a fix sorted, BT called out of the blue and offered their Infinity service, which is being rolled out across the country.

At 40meg down, 10meg up, their fibre optic broadband is great for instant browsing, downloading and gaming.

Normal service has resumed............

Hermaness, Unst.

I will never, for as long as I am fortunate enough to walk this earth of ours, forget the moment I first laid eyes on the cliffs at Hermaness nature reserve.

The walk in, or rather up and through the reserve is via a board walk - a steep initial assent followed by a slow upward drag - which carrying my MKIII, 500f4l, 70 - 200 f2.8l, 24 - 105 f4l, tripod & wimberly, water, food and clothing for all weathers was a bit of slog.

When I arrived at the 'top', visibility was around 20 yards or less. I could tell the sea was quite a way off as I could hear faint sounds of breaking waves.
I could hear plenty of birds too, but I only caught glimpses as they came through the gloom.

I was a bit knackered from my walk, so I decided to sit down, listen and hope the air cleared.

Half an hour went by - no people, just an overiding sense of isolation and calm.

45 minutes later, and the fog lifted to show me this view......



An incredible scene - towering cliffs, raw weather and a remoteness I've rarely experienced before or since.

Thousands of gannets, fulmar, skua, puffin and many other sea birds, all sharing the cliffs and surrounding seas.

That day, I spent 5 hours on Hermaness. I saw 2 other people.

At times the sun shone, at others, it rained and at others, the sea mist blew back in, but all times I feel in love with this utterly wild and unspoilt place.

I walked back into Hermaness a further 5 times during my week on Unst and in the end, I enjoyed the walk - even with all of my kit !

to crop or not to crop.......

............well, that was a question raised on NPN a couple of days ago, and boy did it create some interesting views from posters to that forum.

Now I only post my images on NPN - it has a massive audience, some of the best nature photographers and always provokes lively debate.

I'm not going to name names here, but one very well respected wildife tog (IMO the best we have in the country at the moment), made some sweeping and pointed comments re cropping, baiting, stacking, HDR etc.,.

Now re cropping, I've done it, if cropping has let me get that lovely shot of a subject that was just out of reach, then I've taken advantage - along with the other tools in PS that allow all images to be manipulated to a larger or lesser extent.

I do think though that cropping is something that most newer togs will grow out I hope, of as their skills develop - that's my experience in any event.

Minor comp adjustments aside, there is nothing to beat that feeling of getting that full frame image onto your PC, and knowing that you've nailed it !

A question for you - is this a crop of FF ?

Unst Otters

Back in May I spent a week on the Shetlands, staying on Unst, the northernmost island in the UK.

Over the next few weeks, I will blog some of the sightings and my experiences whilst there.
I stayed on a farm close to my friend, Robbie Brooks, who lives in the lovely community of Baltasound.




I was very fortunate to discover that a family of otters lived close by, and on my first morning after I arrived, I made my way to a likely looking spot along the shore line, set myself up and waited.

I can't actually recall how long I sat in my spot, but with such peaceful surroundings, it could have been hours. I spotted movement and the next thing, two otters appeared over the rocks and started to hunt and feed in front of me. The pair were a mother and her cub, and having fed, they settled down on the rocks in front of me for a sleep.

My first ever attempt at otter watching, and I've got a paor of them feeding in front of me, and now settling down for a kip !
For the rest of my week on Unst, I spent many hours sitting on the rocks, watching the tide and waiting for the otters to appear - which, fortunately for me, they did.


This shot was taken after I crawled down the beach to get closer and the otter swum right up in front of me with a crab, and proceeded to eat it within feet of where I was lying. Not a bad experience to have had at my first attempt.....

Fallow Deer

A quick post tonight.

After many months of trying for a shot, I managed at last to get my shot of the deer that live not far from me. Apparently, there are something like 200+ deer roaming the area, but they keep themselves very well hidden.

This particular deer was feeding in the trees in the last light of the evening.

It slowly moved into a shaft of light and allowed me to take the shot you see above......

Local Patch

I've been working a new site over the past few months with my good friend, Calum Dickson, and very frustrating it's proved too! I can honestly say that I've never spent so much time planning a shot, waiting and watching - so far, we've had no luck. To say no luck is not quite the truth - from a photography point of view it's been a learning curve. Multiple flashes, remote shutter releases, depth of field calculations, tasty food for our 'subjects'...... We've also had some close encounters - two of our quarry charged at us one night, another has appeared from nowwhere and walked right past us. A few nights back Calum flushed one from the a field of corn and it walked over to me and smelt my boot ! What have we been after - badgers ! I've just this one image to prove that they exist, but as natures harvest this year seems to be more bountiful that I've ever noticed before, I guess our peanuts and dog food offerings just don't interest them at the moment........keep checking though and I'll make sure I report when we do get them - which we will !

Barn Owls - 2010

Another target species for me in 2010 are Barn Owls. I had success early in the year with this beauty who turned up for the last 20 minutes of light at a site I know that's an hour or so's drive from home. I love to watch these birds and I'm glad to see that after the harsh winter we experienced this year, their numbers don't appear to have declined - at least not at the sites I know where these birds appear regulary. I've visited this particular Barn Owl several times this year, and each time he's put in an appearance for me and shown very well. Other spots I've been too are the sites I know in North Norfolk, and again Barn Owls numbers there appear to remain high although the pressure from photographers and birdwatchers is, it seems to me, on the increase.

Royal Photographic Society

After 3 years of photography, and many, many hours in front of my PC, processing choosing, changing, reprocessing and arranging, I sent my panel off to the RPS in Bath for the Natural History Distinctions Panel.

Last Wednesday, 8 Sept, my panel was accepted and the recommendation was submitted to the Society for ratification.

I am one happy bunny right now - Graham Goddard ARPS.

I like that !

Yellow hammers

A species I've not had a chance to photograph in the past are Yellowhammers. Early in the Spring, whilst out photographing Hare, I heard that distinctive 'alittlebitofcakeandcupofteeeeaaaaaaa' call of the male Yellowhammer.
A quick search revealed this fine specimen signing his heart out from a near by fence post. So now I had found Badger, Deer, Hare and Yellowhammer at what was turning out to be a very productive site for me.









I posted this shot on NPN recently - a few comments were made re the size of the post that the bird was singing from - of course I'd like to have a smaller perch, but there's not a lot I could do about it until, after a while, the bird moved closer, and I managed another sequence of shots - this time on a more pleasing perch.......

My quest for Hares !

I've travelled far and wide to capture Hare - Elmley Marsh on Sheppey has a population, as does a certain place in Hertfordshire shown to me by my good friend, Calum Dickson.

Well, I was very pleased to find a number of Hare thriving not very far from home which will allow me year round access and I won't have to travel for hours to get my images.

The image above of a Hare bolting in front of me was taken on a freezing morning before I discovered my new site. It had been raining, which had turned to sleet and then snow.

My hands were so cold I could barely operate the camera when this Hare came over to my hiding place. This was the sharpest image of a series of 6 that I managed to take before he dissappeared into the next field.

After 3 hours sitting in the rain, sleet and snow, I've never been to cold ! This image was taken in February in Hertfordshire.

As I mentioned above, I've since found Hare's much closer to home.

Persecuted in the past by poachers and their dogs, I'm pleased to report that numbers are recovering well.

I will be visiting the area regulary throughout the seasons to capture the changing environment of these most photogenic little fellows.

Kingfisher update

At the beginning of the year I set myself a goal regarding my local Kingfishers, and that was to watch them very closely and to hopefully find and photograph their fledged chicks.

So what has happened to these stunning birds this year.

Well, the birds successfully bred early in the season, and I'd been expecting their first brood to fledge in May. It seems however that something happened and this brood failed. I don't know what could have been the cause, but I have seen rats in the location ? Obviously these are shed 1 birds, so I wasn't going to investigate closely, but as the site is fairly 'public' - comings and goings can be monitored.

I'm pleased to say that the birds bred again, and this time, the chicks fledged in August. I didn't manage any photographs, but on my daily dog walks, I heard and witnessed the adults taking good care of their chicks.

So did I acheive my goals for 2010 for these most colourful of birds ?

Well, sort of.

There are only so many 'Kingfisher on a perch' shots I want in my library but I did get 'Kingfisher on a perch with a fish' I did get, as shown here.

2010 update

Hi and apologies for being extremely poor at updating my blog. 2010 has been a very busy year for me, photographically, and domestically as we've had lots of work done on the house.

I'm not going to blog about the endless DIY I've been doing, but I am going to update the blog and I will make sure that I add regular entries from now on.

First things first, I am going to add a few new entries summarising my trips this year, photographs I've taken and my achievements in 2010.

Happy reading.....................

Well, here we are in 2010

Well, my first post for a while since things went quiet towards the end of last year.





What plans have I got for 2010 ? I've already visited North Yorkshire with my friend, Stephen Kaluski and we have a great time photographing Red Grouse and birds of prey.




This fantastic Peregrine presented an opportunity too good to miss !


My Kingfishers are back, so that project is under way already. I'm off to Shetland in May for a week, so I will get plenty of images there I hope.

I am going to try for my ARPS qualification which is something I've sought to do for an age, but never got round to it.

I hope you will continue to enjoy reading my blog.

Cheers, Graham.

How's my project going ?

Quick update on the KF project.

Success at last............not quite what I wanted, but then I shouldn't be so fussy !

I'm lucky - I've got hundreds of KF RAW images on my hard drives. The shot I'm after though is a KF in full golden morning light - keep watching. I'll get it soon !

This is what I got yesterday morning:

So else has paid a visit ?

My hours waiting at the perches have not been entirely fruitless.

My set up consists of a ground level seat, bag hide, tripod and of course, my camera.

Once I arrive at the site, I will very quickly check that all is OK in the swim and that the perches are not damaged etc.,. I will then set up the camera, get comfy and then cover myself with my bag hide.

Once inside my protective cloak it is amazing just how quickly the wildlife resumes its usual activities.

There's the family of Jays that announce their arrival very vocally. Not quite as loud, are the Long Tail Tits that work through the trees looking for insects.

It also seems that certain birds work to a timetable. There's the swans that fly off to feed at 8.30, the Heron that makes it's way towards Rainham at 9, the Canada Geese that fly off to graze half hour after that.

I've had some more surprising sights and sounds, and I've logged them for future projects - Sparrow Hawk, Woodpeckers and Egrett. Yesterday, a fox walked right in front of me along the opposite bank - he had no idea I was there.

One mystery keeping me guessing is what I think is a bird call. It consists of a loud ping - just one. Not unlike a Bearded Tit, but much louder.

I'll solve that little mystery in time and report back.

I know there are also Little Owls on the site - another project right on my doorstep.

Who else has visited ? Well, this Robin stopped by the other day

My local Kingfishers

My local KF's have a lot to answer for.

I first noticed them whilst out walking my dogs early in the morning before work. I heard them first of all and couldn't quite believe that I had a pair of KF's living so close. Since then I've grown very fond of them and also rather protective.

They are responsible for me investing in a lot of expensive camera gear, and spending many happy hours sitting quietly, watching and waiting.

Over the past few weeks however, they've been giving me the run around.

3 weeks ago I set up 2 perches in the river, and have sat and waited patiently for over 10 hours since. I've been rewarded with about 3 minutes of views !

I can hear them flying around me and checking out their territory, but now that they are not breeding and the young have moved on, they seem to be more skittish and don't hang about in one place for very long.

I noticed this behaviour last year too, and I think it's a seasonal thing.

I'll be back there tomorrow morning though, so keep watching my blog for news on my local KF's !

Trip report - The Farne Islands, day 2

Having now visited the islands on Day 1, I knew what to expect, and more importantly, what I wanted from Day 2.

Everyone wants a shot of a Puffin with a beak full of Sand Eels, and I'm not different, so I sat on the board walk and watched what was going on for an hour or more.

What was taking place in front of me was something I didn't expect.

The Puffins rear their young underground, in burrows. As I watched, I would see a Puffin arrive with a beak full of eels.

Now, there were gulls present constantly. These gulls just waited and watched.

The Puffin would return with 10 - 20 eels and fly low and fast over it's burrow. If there was a gull nearby, they would fly past and keep doing so until the coast was clear.

Once landed, they were in the burrow within seconds.

This is all good to watch, but with a 500 f4 to use, not ideal.

I managed a few shots, and this is my favourite:

Trip report - The Farne Islands, day 1

What can I say about the Farnes Islands ?

Well, if you like your sea birds, if you don't mind a boat trip and you can put up with a bit of a pong.......well, get to the Farnes in July.

They certainly provided me with my closest encounter with seabirds yet, and a trip that I will never forget.

The Farnes are managed by the Natural Trust, so access is limited.

Trips are available from Seahouses harbour based on half or full days - essentially this gives you a couple of hours on each of the two islands that are open to the public.

I was lucky enough to pay a visit with a super group of people made of members of EOS Network members and CFF members - some knew each other from previous adventures, and some didn't.

Day one started early for me with a quick visit to the beach in front of the hotel at 5.30am. The early morning light showed this heron off against Bamborough Castle -

After breakfast, a sea mist rolled in which turned to rain later in the day.

As I've mentioned before, I like extremes of weather and the mist over the Farnes made for challenging conditions for a photographer.

This Puffin was taken as the mist was rolling in...........

Later in the day, the rain started.

As I've mentioned before in my blog, I've become a lover of the rain and added dimension it adds to my photography. Good waterproof gear is essential, as is being able to keep your gear dry.

This image was taken after after everyone had run for cover, leaving me to lay in the muck and get my shot........................

I just love the water droplets on this Razorbill.

The boat back to the mainland picks you up at 4pm, so once back, we dried off and hit the bar......