GND

Cracking views of the Stewartby Great Northern Diver this afternoon.

From a land far, far away...

Spent a cracking day with Paul Hackett grabbing shots of this Black-throated Thrush near Whitby today. Dull light, but a very showy bird made for a very pleasing day. Thanks, Paul.

A tale of two shots

Had a super night out chasing Owls around the local lanes with Paul Hackett last night. We had two lovely Tawny Owls that sat long enough for us to take some snaps of them.

The two shots above are taken with two very different methods. The top shot is digiscoped, with just the light of the lamp illuminating the bird. This is really difficult and relies on a wide-spread of light from the lamp, the bird being the optimum distance away, and a co-operative bird. The bottom is a far better option - a DSLR and flashgun - much faster to setup and the light is superior because of the flash.

I like the DSLR shot much better, but the challenge of getting a cracking shot digiscoped is far greater. I will keep trying...

Tawnies on ice

Our local Tawny Owls seem to be having a tough time of it at the moment. Lots of snow and ice still on the ground is making it hard for them to hunt efficiently. These two chaps were hunting the road sides just outside my village.

One or two Black Kites?

Ok, so its a photo of two Black Kites (Nov/Dec 2009, The Gambia), but are they one or two species?

The bottom bird is a classic Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans, which migrates between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. However the top bird is a 'Yellow-billed Kite' Milvus migrans aegyptius (Or Milvus aegyptius parasitus, if you prefer) which resides in West, East, and South Africa. Some say they are a different species. I'd go with that...