It’s not just the birds that draw me to Islay, it’s also very rich in ancient history and has some of the best preserved  Christian high crosses anywhere in Britain.
Ancient Islay, Kilnave and Kildalton
Category: Diary Entries
Birds in Flight
Back at the farm again and working in a little brighter light gave me better parameters in which to work. The flight shots were taken with the Nikon 500mm lens prefocused on about a two foot square frame.
Islay Geese 2
Following on from the previous post this set once again aims to give a sense of the broader context in which the geese are experienced.
A Real Challenge at Clwb Ifor Bach
Another music gig at clwb ifor bach and a handful of photojournalism students getting some practice at seriously low light photography!
Working with the commoner gulls
A series of images taken on the river Taff. It doesn’t matter what your working with there’s always a real feeling of excitement when your around any activity and the aim is to find the one shot when it all comes together.
Migrants at Goldcliff
I finally managed to catch up with a bird that has been a little elusive for me over the years, the only other sighting I had was at Dinas some four years ago and that could only be described as a glimpse.
Kittiwakes at the grotto – Part 2
… So to the evening session and a good couple of hours with the Kittiwakes but this time with an overcast sky.
Marsden Grotto – Kittiwakes
‘I’ll just leave it for you to see’ were Mike’s words as we were driving through South Shields towards Marsden. He’d mentioned nothing about Kittiwakes, a lift or a pub and as we drove into the car-park none of this trio were evident, but he’d said something about a grotto?
Spotted Flycatchers at Highgreen
A week spent in Northumberland with my brother to see a few exhibitions he’s been involved with was inspirational in many ways and has pushed me forward in thinking about my own work.
Skomer and the Best of the rest
Here’s the follow on from the previous post. The puffins are the stars but there’s a pretty good supporting cast as well. The evening produced a subtle sunset and the piece we had craved for during the day.
Skomer – Puffins and People!
It’s always a delight to visit any of the Islands off the Pembrokeshire coast but sometimes the experience is not exactly as you’d like.
Echoes of Conrad Lorenz
Gilfach is a wonderful example of how farming can co-exist with the welfare of wildlife. All to often maximisation of produce for profit has stripped the land bare of the habitats that are needed to maintain a balance that allows a place for both production and wildlife, here it is different.
Mute Swans on the River Wye
A few days spent on the river Wye, close to Fownhope, gave a good opportunity to work with what appeared to be a resident and local population of mute swans. There were 25 birds in all and during the time I was there spent all of their time within an area of a couple of hundred yards.Continue reading
Ring Ouzel and Sparrowhawk
A passage male and female ring ouzel turned up at Ogmore recently and as I was waiting crouched tight against a stone wall, a male sparrowhawk made a brief but welcome appearance.
Last of the winter thrushes
Up on the mountain road yesterday, between Bridgend and Maesteg, I came across six fieldfares and a redwing, a little further on and a small group of mistle thrushes were feeding in the short grass.
Bonaparte’s Gull at Ogmore Estuary
A chance to see a rare vagrant gull on my doorstep was too good to miss and so last week I took a visit to the Ogmore estuary in South Wales and was not to be disappointed.
Why Bird Photographers Must Stand Their Ground
Last year I invested in a Nikon D3s and have been putting it through its paces. It’s a camera that challenges everything I was taught in traditional analogue photography.
Heading South – The Final Chapter
A day late we headed south and the weather didn’t let us down – it rained! By now we were wanting it to, better to be able to say we had seventeen days with rain, heavy at that, on every single one of them.
Handa at Last!
We woke to rain, nothing unusual about that, but the van wasn’t shaking and it just felt stiller. Looking out to Handa was just too much, we had planned to move back south today but being opposite the island and now with the possibility that today the boat just might run, we had to give it one last shot. We could move down south a little quicker it was a chance we had to take. It had even stopped raining!
Scourie -1
We knew that Handa was a ‘no goer’ today but we still went down to Tarbet where the boat leaves from in more hope than anticipation. Met the boatman coming back in his van, “not a chance today, tomorrow not looking good either”