blogging Sony – Rons life through the lens

11 Years The Reward.

So I drive somewhere different this morning, and watch the Rabbits, Brown Hare, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Skylark and Meadow Pipit all starting the new day. I come to a dead end and sit and look over a valley imaginings of Barn Owl, Short Eared Owl flying low looking for food for the young Owlets. I am so appreciated of the beauty of the English countryside.

Hundreds of hours of searching 11 years with just a few sightings and always sitting in a gutter or hiding in a small crevis. This bird has alluded me for 11 years. So I start to drve back to my resting place, windows down camera on my lap. The stone wall runs alongside me on both sides, my eyes are trained to locate anything out of the ordinary.

I stare ahead and whisper the words Little Owl, please stay calm and let me spend some time with you, I bring you no harm my little Owl.

I stopped the car and slowly raise my lens up hoping it won’t fly away. Most encounters end with the Owl flying away before you stop, but this day was mine, the hours of dedication rewarded in a brief moment in time. The right time, place, my heart starts to race as our eyes meet through my viewfinder. I stare at the Owls face its eyes fixed on me.

The sight of this fantastic hunter, amazing ability to adapt and overcome the changing climate. It sits with one foot up showing me its relaxed so I calm down a bit and have time to check my settings, they have to be right so I change my aperture 6.3 to 7.1 up to f8. Then I 5hink of Shutter speed just In case it moves or does something out of the ordinary.

The experience is overwhelming and I forget all what’s going on around me. It preens in the morning sun not bothered about me. My Shutter is blazing away, stopping checking all is OK on my viewfinder. 11 years of waiting they have to be good. Then it decides to stretch.

O that’s nice just getting ready to fly for Blackie.

So I fly for you and sit for you, its your time Blackie it was worth the wait.

So Blackie and the Little Owl meet in the countryside and spend some quiet time together for the first time. 495 images later he decides to leave the Owl in peace, maybe to return for another meeting.

When hard work pays off

So after 10 hours plus my day was filled with happiness when i went to the river this morning at 6 am and sat down and waited for the Kingfisher to make an appearence. Sadly i waited for 2 hours with no sight of the Kingfisher. When i was leaving the Dipper came out onto a rock.

The location was across the river in the sunlight but with no way of getting near enough it looked like i would have to leave it. Then i remembered i had bought some waders before i came up here. So i drove home and let Bella out, played with her and got hear fresh food ready. Ruth was still in bed after a bad night coughing.

I made my way back down to the Wenning and made my way across the river to where the Dipper had been sitting. I set up my camera and set the Video to 4K and slow motion just in case. I only had to wait 5 minutes when a little juvenile Dipper landed on a rock just in front of me so i filmed it then took some still images of it. The Adult also made an appearence before they both flew back down river.

I will be going back in the morning to see if any more Dipper young have fledged. Hope you enjoy the images and video

The Dipper

Tought it would be interesting to share the knowledge of the birds i photograph, so as i find film and share my images i will tell you a little about the bird to make the blog a little bit more imformative instead of just the iamge.

Ilearn so much by just sitting on the river it is very calming and rewarding is so many different ways. Nature comes to you a but unexpexted which makes it more exciting, yes its luck a lot of the time and it may not happen at all.

Even after 12 years of filming every week i find myself loosing my skills, like the last 9 days moving a lot of the time wanting a image so bad causes me to rush things and on a quiet river that wont work, movement will only scare and disrupt normal behaviour of all wildlife.

Yesterday was a classic example i moved 3 times looking for the Kingfisher and Dipper, but the one time i stayed still for an hour the Dipper landed.

This beautiful bird bobs up and down on the roscks only giving its location away by its white bib and throut, if it wasnt for these markings i would it would be hard to spot. But its a very interesting bird, it uses its little wings to walk and swim under water looking for small creatures. Dippers feed on aquatic invertebrates, including mayfly nymphs and caddisfly larvae, and small fish such as minnows. They spend %66 of the day looking for food.

Nest sites are traditional, and are used by successive generations of birds. One site is said to have been used continuously for 123 years. The nest may be built in any suitable site within the territory, but it is traditionally located in a natural crevice in a stream-side cave or waterfall, although the birds readily take to cracks in man-made alternatives such as bridges, walls, weirs and culverts. The same nest is usually re-lined and used for the second brood, but only rarely is a nest from a previous year re-used.

The nest is a domed structure of moss, grass stems and leaves, with a wide entrance usually pointing down towards water. There is an inner cup of stems, rootlets, leaves and hair. It is built by both sexes over a 28 day period, with the female completing the lining to the inner cup.

Breeding timeline

A clutch of 4-5 white eggs are laid at daily intervals. Clutches are normally started between March and May. Dippers breeding at good quality sites may start as early a February, but those at high altitudes and/or near acidic streams start later, lay smaller clutches and rear smaller broods than birds on better quality sites. Pairs also rarely attempt a second brood on these poor quality sites.

The eggs are incubated by the female for about 16 days, beginning with the last egg, meaning that the brood hatches synchronously. The young are brooded by the female until they are 12-13 days old, but both parents feed the young.

The young fledge at 20-24 days but are fed for a further week, becoming fully independent 11-18 days after leaving the nest. During this time the nest site may be used by the family to roost in.

A second clutch will be started about 10 days after the fledging of the first one. The age of first breeding is one year, though males sometimes take longer.

Blackies Summary.

Understanding birds is more important to me than an image and must come first if you want to truly respect the bird and how its life starts and how it survives our UK climate, breeds and hunts all make up a more interesting image when filmed and shared as a photograph. I hope this gives the followers a understanding of the Dipper.

The Wildlife Photographer

You get up early, 5.30 your out on the road hoping a bird or animal will make your day. The Pied Wagtail with its Tail never stopping. Yes it’s a small bird like the Grey Wagtail, and just as nice with great black and grey plumage. This one was collecting materials for her nest. And as I drove past it let me get close to it.

Just as I put my camera down to drive I looked across to my left and a male Phesant stood proud on a grassy mound.

I parked up and went to look over a stone wall and a nice Curlew was making its way across the field, the image was cropped heavy but still makes a nice image.

In the afternoon I went to the river and sat waiting for the Kingfisher but there were no sightings. So I got on my bike and went back to my van, but on the way back I was surprised by a Kestrel swooping down in front of me. I stopped my bike swung my camera round and got this image of it eating what ever it caught. Wings spread out to protect its kill.

So I arrived back at my van sat down with Ruth and had a brew, as I sat there a Lessor Redpoll landed on my New feeder and I quickly got this image of the Redpoll eating the sunflower.

Views from Aug 20

I am very pleased to say I have had 20 Thousand views of my blog, and 9 thousand visits since I started in Aug 20.

Thanks

Blackie

Jpeg Monster

Not a lot I can say about the detail you get with the Sony A7r4 200-600.

The Silent Hunter

Yes to see the Barn Owl from the front with the big eyes and beautiful face is such a joy. As a photographer I feel its so important to see the bird from all angles, as many people are not that lucky to see one flying never mind film one so close hunting.

I would say yesterday was the closest the pair came to me. It’s very tempting to walk after them as they hunt in fields around me. But I have learned what you miss and maybe it will come up with a vole would be great to capture, staying in the same place has its rewards. The feeling that they are used to me is stronger and as I pose no threat and wear the same cloths everytime I do think they can see me but are at ease with me filming them.

Looking at the Female from the back really shoes off the amazing feater structure, colours and detail. Tail feathers Primary Flight feathers and Secondary feathers can be seen in this image.

I really hope by passing my knowledge on in a simply put way gives the individual a insight into the life of the Barn Owl.

Blackies Barn Owl Adventures

Great news this morning i went over in high winds to my location where the Barn Owls are located. When i arrived i had no idea what i would see at 7.30am on a wind gusting morning with a wind chill factor that made me shiver. I sat in a shaded location where i could observe any movement and after i drank my coffee i sat and watched a couple of Stock Doves going through their mating ritual.

Just as i was getting up i caught sight of a Barn Owl at the end of the small overgrown field on one post i had sighted weeks ago. Then to my surprise another Barn Owl appeared but it was very dark in colour. After an hour of observation i took some images from my car and another location more to see what sex they were and if i recognised them form the feather detail.

It is clear there both ringed and look very different to the ones i was filming the last 6 weeks, so they may be another pair, and could be using the nest box that someone has sighted.

The image below is the closet i have of a Barn Owl and if viewed on a big screen or good tablet you can see the markings on its feet and the talons look so sharp and clean. Its not good to see them out hunting through the day unless the male is bring in voles for the young so i do hope the they make it to breeding and have a family

First Blossom

Lovely to see the first blossom just at the end of the garden.

The detail from the 90mm 2.8 Macro lens is mouth watering.

Delete To Continue

Having written 695 blogs since August 2020 I feel the need to delete posts that I consider not important to my blog, in the early posts I would just write and post images just trying to keep or get more followers but what I did write did have some relevance to either my life stories, the Army or my love for Photography.

Looking back through my posts is interesting and how my grammar and expression has his improved over 8 months. So deleting them was the only way of continuing my blog and after a week at looking at other offers from Wix, Godaddy, Squarespace, and other sites it became apparent that I would have to start from scratch again.

Not knowing if my early blogs from last year will be read iwas hesitant to delete them but but to keep the wheels turning and continue with wordpress I felt it the only way ahead. Yes I could spend another £200 on a Buisness Package just doing the same thing.

I could just stop but by writing everyday helps me with my illness that hides in my body and appears when I least expect it. So by telling my stories through my camera lens helps me so much and brings happiness and maybe a smile to some people.

So I will continue my blog and won’t give up after putting so many blogs together.

Had a bad day yesterday so loaded my best stic images that I had not edited of my Wonderful Friend the Barn Owl. Looking at her sitting feet away from me gives me so much pleasure. I want to thank her and hold her but I can’t.

Sunny day With 1.4 Ext

I was never a fan of extenders on camera and lens after wasting money on Canon Extenders and suffering with image quality. But the Sony 1.4is just amazing with the focus speed and image quality being just as good at f9.

Today was nothing special and I went out quickly to test the 200with the ext fitted. The ducks were flying and it was very windy. Anyway look at the results from this carking combination.

Even birds in-flight is amazing and I had no problems with tracking as this image of two mallards flying fast left to right.

In Amongst Bees

When I snapped my tendon in my ankle last year my ability to get out and film birds was hammpered by where I could go. So Ruth would drive me to locations where I could sit down with my plaster on. On one of these outings we found a cafe and next to it a wild garden full of beautiful flowers.

A new challenge hit me as I looked at all the bees and wasps flying in to collect nectar from the flowers. I made my plan but looking at my lens choice was difficult and I needed something I could get in really close with.

It was then I thought of the Sony 90mm 2.8 Macro lens, a lens they say is the sharpest lens have made. Well the plan was made and with my foot in a protective boot I was dropped off by Ruth and left to find a place where I could film.

Sounds easy but as I wanted to be as close as I could I had choice other than to sit bang in the middle of the plants and shrubs. Then it was a case of watching where the bees came from and left. The moved from plant to plant very fast and it was then that I realised my shutters speeds were going to pushed to the limit if I was to capture the body and small fragile wings all in focus.

Being in amongst nature listening to the high pitched buzzing was just brilliant and at no stage did any insect come near me, sitting in their world. Just shows you that you can invade their world and they don’t feel threatened. I quickly learned this was a challenge that would take a few visits to Nail one in flight.

Using my Birds In Flight techniques I set my shutter speed to 1/3200 and my aperture wide open at 2.8 but this was when I learned to get the whole bee in focus my aperture had to be at least f11 meaning the ISO had to be pushed to enable me to get the bee in focus.

Using High Speed Burst Plus gave me my maximum 10 frames a second and after an hour it looked like I was getting a few in focus so it was time I headed back to look at my images and see where I could improve.

So as the week went on there were a few tings that I came across with this one of hardest challenges to date.

First was the light as most of the shrubs were overhanging so the sunlight never reached the flowers where the bees were collecting nectar. So with light a massive issue I found shrub that had good light on and just waited for the bees to visit it.

Birds in flight.

Using the same principle as I do for birds in flight I used a panning motion to capture the bee in flight but I will disclose that it was frustrating at times as you thought you got the image in focus