The online presence of Tim Collier. Photographer, course leader, lecturer and blogger.Birds Eloquent looks at the visual poetry of birds within the environment and the context within which they are found. It explores the relationship between place and species and also looks at how birds interact with each other within a fragile ecosystem.
The project simply grew from a love of being with birds all my life, watching and recording from an early age and accompanying my brothers on bird outings. All the work is carried out in the British Isles, a country offering so much diversity but under so much pressure.
Never chasing, never collecting species, never year lists or life lists, just a love of watching, anticipating and being in the company of birds. Photographically, I came late to birds, and would rather, at the end of a days shooting, have an eloquent image of a more common species than a record shot of a rarer one. My main focus is exploring how the medium can help convey a sense of place and the extraordinary habits of birds, giving a sense of my own experiences in the field.
As the work continues to develop I find myself pulling back from the bird and working more with how it is experienced in the field. Time waiting for the right moment is time not only invested in the image but in my well being and this aspect of slowing down is becoming central to the work.
I shall be showing a selection of work from this collection at the Found Gallery in Brecon in May 2023
It was one of the highest tides this year and being around 11.30am  gave a good opportunity to get into the hide on this reserve, which is managed by the local council, a couple of hours before the tide was at its highest point and sit tight. The reserve has been partly created by the spoil produced when the Pen-y-Clip tunnel that takes the A55 was built.
Last week I spent a couple of nights at Llanfairfechan, ideally situated to visit some of the many hides along the stretch between RSPB Conwy and the Spinnies at Bangor.
On a recent brief trip up north, Barrow and Liverpool I managed a few short forays out with the camera. The images in this post were taken at Askam pier, about a hundred yards from where my brother lives.
You are always looking. If photography and the desire to respond to what’s around you is deep within, you never stop seeing. It’s also impossible to go anywhere without the means to photograph.
We’ve started feeding again down on the farm and have a new hide in a more open location.
There are two banks on the river that runs through the farm that support small colonies of Sand Martins. Last year was not a good year for them.
A few images from a recent visit to Leighton Moss. Apparently the Bitterns are having a rough year here with perhaps only one pair on the reserve; the severe winter having taken its toll.
Any chance of having a go at photographing the Hirundines and Swifts and I’m there. I love watching them, get excited about seeing the first ones arrive and continually marvel at their extraordinary life cycles.
In the afternoon I moved back to Shapwick in the hope of getting one of the Bitterns that the previous day I had noticed were, at times, flying over the main path from one reed bed to another.
Breakfasted on Tealham Moor, less of a moor in the traditional sense and more of an extensive area of wet grazing meadows with a good number of ditches throughout, but not a common sight today.
An early morning start saw me at Greylake RSPB reserve for soon after 7.00am. Very quite save for Reed and Sedge Warblers on the reeds along the paths to the hide and some mating swallows from the hide.
Early on the second morning I decided to locate at the far end of the reserve and stay for a couple of hours to see what turned up.
At the far end of the reservoir and towards the evening there were good numbers of swallows ‘hawking’ low over the water. They were also using a fence nearby  in between forays.
I was in London yesterday for a conference related to how the higher education sector can move towards a greener and more sustainable curriculum, something I’m really interested in.
Here’s a few of the birds photographed on the recent weekend to Dinnas and the surrounding hills.
I spent last weekend working the area around Dinas, the RSPB reserve up in this part of the world. I parked up at Llyn Brianne and was out really early the following morning and caught some great light and mists that shrouded the landscape of this still wild area.
This is a reserve I love visiting, particularly at winter and this time of the year.
The second day with the Grebes produced some interesting images and on a couple of occasions the birds went through the pre mating ritual before copulation.
I’ve spent a couple of afternoons recently watching the Great-crested Grebes at Roath Park in Cardiff.
I arrived again soon after nine with wonderful light and high optimism – but the day played out as before, only this time there were no Water Rails and the smaller birds were few and far between.