The online presence of Tim Collier. Photographer, course leader, lecturer and blogger.
Day three saw us on the Ullapool Stornoway ‘Cal Mac’ ferry as foot passengers. We took the journey over and came straight back and at £20 for the round trip it was a perfect opportunity for a bit of sea watching and to take in some of the coast from a different view point.
Mellon Udridgle holds some great memories of time spent with a couple of Red-throated Divers in the lochans on the peninsula behind the settlement. It was the middle of June then and now I was here in early November.
Our second day saw us heading towards Ardessie waterfalls on the south side of Little Loch Broom and taking in a couple of stops on the way. The autumn colours were spectacular and with the dull weather and rain, seemed to glow ever more brightly. We simply couldn’t drive past some of the trees along Strath Beag without giving them some time. Just by the turning towards Badrallach a particular rich area gave us a wonderful hours work and it was here that the rain started.
Checking the forecast on our first morning, it seemed best to walk from the cottage, which was on the shores of Loch Kanaird, a few miles north of Ullapool. Rain was forecast for the morning but with brighter skies in the afternoon.
I’ve just returned from a dramatic week on the North West coast of Scotland. It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this blog, in fact eighteen months, so let’s get going again! I’ve been doing a fair bit of birdwatching which has taken me the length and breadth of the country during those months but also had some heart problems, which resulted in open heart surgery earlier this year. This, coupled with lockdowns, has made it a difficult last few years for us all and we are still a long way from getting back to whatever ‘normal’ is now.
Another trip to the magical Dinas again on the weekend, this time with the Glamorgan Bird Club. Friendly faces and always good to chat with like minded folk.
I’ve spent a little while in the company of Whitethroats this spring. The Common Whitethroat can be a very confiding bird allowing close up views often sitting high on the top of hedgerow, bramble or shrubs as it belts out its rather scratchy song. Its cousin the Lesser Whitethroat however is a different kettle of fish.
A further 15 birds from my collection that I’ve recently posted on Instagram.
Last year was the first time for over thirty years that I’d not managed to visit the iconic Welsh RSPB reserve, Dinas-Gwenffrwd. Covid19 put a very firm stop to that and we all suffered enormously. So it was with much relief and a lightness of heart that I made my first visit for a good while in late April this year, when all the migrants were back and claiming territory.
Here’s the next 15 that have been posted on my Instagram account @timcollierwildlifephotography.
Had nearly ten hours on the tops of the the Black Mountain yesterday with Colin Richards, looking for the (for me at least) elusive Dotterel, which traditionally uses the plateaus up here during their spring migration.
Here are the next 15 that I’ve posted on Instagram. It’s interesting to delve into the archives doing this on Instagram and looking through images you may have passed by before.
So here are the next 15 images that have been posted on @timcollierwildlifephotography at Instagram
It’s been a little quiet on the site lately, I’ve been posting images on Instagram lately as it seems a decent platform to display images. I have to say as well it’s been good to follow some exceptionally talented photographers who throw you into new ways of thinking and imaging, so all good so far!
From my early days as an aspiring photographer I would take any opportunity to learn the craft. At that time I was hoping to get a small folio of images together that would help in getting on to one of the very few photography courses in the country at that time.
One of the first projects we were given when I started my documentary photography education at West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, back in the early eighties, was to find a local newspaper story that had no images attached to it and go and make a photo story out of it.
Over a difficult summer I’ve not been able to do half as much work as I would have wanted, Covid and other problems have meant far fewer hours out and about, but when in Liverpool, helping out with mum after the first lockdown, I was able, on a good number of evenings, to spent time with Swifts.
Mellon Udrigle is a small crofting settlement strung along the western shore of Gruinard Bay. Suilven and the mountains of Coigach dominate the view from a turquoise sea and a pristine beach of broad white sand.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been searching to get photographs of birds singing. It’s meant generally early mornings, but on any lockdown walk I’ve had the camera handy.
