Kilnsea, Spring and Light

April 09, 2023

Well I spent a couple of days at the caravan over Easter and what a great couple of days it was.

I arrived in rain on Thursday night and not to be deterred I went out for a drive in the hope of finding some inspiration. Unfortunately the rain steadily got heavier. After around half an hour I reluctantly made my way back to the van. just as I opened the gate I saw a small bird flick up to catch a fly and bingo! the first bird I set eyes on was a firecrest!

The rain was easing slightly so I parked up and had a walk round Sykes Field a drumming snipe was a nice sound on what was becoming a quite atmospheric evening. Next a barn owl flushed from a fence post and the resident cettis warbler was sat out on a branch posing nicely.

I wnet for my camera as the sky was clearing and as I watched from Wozza’s bench I was treated to the most wonderful sunset. two hares ran off into the distance and I saw the first bat of the year-all within an hour of arriving and all within 100 yards of the van.

The next morning I was out early hoping for some shots of the full moon. easier said than done-there were hardly any birds over the Humber so I set off to Kilnsea Wetlands. There were a few curlew in flight and I managed one flying beneath the moon-not reallly what I was after but never mind. The water was very still with nice light and some wildfowl made for interesting photos.

Next a barn owl flew past and was hunting at the east end so I set off for the hide. The sun still hadn’t risen by this time. Some deer posed nicely as the first rays of the sun lit up the land scape. The barn owl came back along the bank nicely backlit.

The etlands were pretty quiet so I headed off towards the tank blocks. I spent the rest of the morning hunting firecrests and whilst two of them gave nice views around canal bushes, theye were not the easiest to photograph.

I had a break in the afternoon and went back out on the evening. The resident cettis warbler posed nicely in the evening sun. The sunset wasn’t as spectacular as the night before.

I was up early again the next morning-the sky was clear and there was no wind-perfect conditions.

The highlight of the morning was the barn owl hunting in the early morning sunshine.

There wasnt much doing on the migrant front-a green woodpecker created some mild excitement on an otherwise quiet morning.

This weekend was all about the light-it was as good as it gets and combined with the mixed song of common birds, it made for a memorable trip.

Until next time….

Aviemore in the snow

March 11, 2023

We’d had a trip to Aviemore planned for a few months and based our booking around a) availability and b) the best chance of snow.

Well we certainl werent disappointed! The first sign of snow was on Monday afternoon when light flurries were streaming in on bitter northerly winds. Monday evening saw about 3 inches deposited in Aviemore and even more the further up you went.

6inches in Rothirmurchus Forest and at least a foot on the top of cairngorm Mountain.

I’d booked into a hide in the hope of photographing red squirrels but the cold snap proved too much and they chose the comfort of their drey instead. Common woodland birds as well as the enigmatic crested tits more than made up for the squirrel no-show.

Plenty of mountain hare tracks on view on Cairngorm Mountain but no actual hares. The snow buntings posed nicely in the car park.

The undoubted wildlife highlight was a perched golden eagle no more than 50m from the railway track, which took flight as we passed. We only saw it for a matter of seconds but wow what a bird!

Make Every Day Count

February 21, 2023

Some say that February is the quietest month of the year for birding, and from a number of species perspective, it’s probably true.

From a photographic perspective however, February presents some great photographic opportunities.

The sun is still quite low in the sky even at midday. Dawn and dusk are at reasonable times and don’t fall into the ‘silly o’clock’ bracket. There is still some great subjects to study. It can be just around timing.

The obvious thing to do is get out before dawn for some nice colour and drama and there’s no better place for that than on the banks of the Humber.Given that waders and wildfowl are the quarry, the tide times become all-important. To have any kind of meaningful session on the Humber, it has to co-incide with high tide, or more specifically just after as the mud is starting to appear and it is lit by the early morning glow of the sunrise.

There are also some great opportunities at both canal scrape and Kilnsea Wetlands hide especially in the first light-again the high tide period is best.

Finally late afternoon especially along the Skeffling to Welwick stretch can be brilliant for birds of prey but there are no guarantees and patience is most definitely the key.

One of the best places for afternoon photography can be straight off the Crown and Anchor car park photographing waders against a setting sun never disappoints again if the tide is right.

I have had some great sessions over the past few weeks and the best of my photos are below.

Thanks for reading.