27 April 13 BNGs at "The Eyes"
29th April 2013
Every working week seems like a month and every weekend seems to disappear in a flash!
With the weather forecast for Saturday being sun, the draw of the Black-necked Grebes at “Woolston Eyes” coupled with the fact that I’d left a flash card there last weekend was too great to miss.
The Black-necked Grebe season seems to be in full swing now with up to twenty birds recorded, possibly more.
After parking up I could hear a Chiffchaff calling and eventually I found it but would it face the camera, no, or when it did there was a twig in the way. It’s very frustrating this nature photography!
Chiffchaff Behind
I went to the John Morgan hide first because my flash card should have been there but it wasn’t and neither could I see any Black-necked Grebes, a bit of disappointment with that then.
There was a bit of activity around the feeders so I managed to get a photo of a male Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Magpie.
Magpie
Great Spotted Woodpecker
As there weren’t any Black-necked Grebes to be seen and none of the waders that have been on No3 Bed apparent, I decided to go the Rotary Hide.
When I got there, there were another couple of photographers in there but they weren’t birders and a bit unsure of what they were photographing. It’s nice to be able help someone and I remember when I was in the same boat a few years back.
Anyway there was a group of six or seven Black-necked Grebes on this pool. I already had the 1.4x convertor fitted to the 500mm on the Canon 7D, so it was just a case of setting the tripod up and waiting.
It wasn’t too long before some moved in front of the hide and I had a fighting chance of getting a few reasonable shots.
The light was quite variable but there was some lovely light at one stage giving a lovely yellow/green cast on the water.
Black-necked Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
The hide may be 50ft or more from the water so even with the equivalent of an 1100mm lens, the photos still need a very large crop applied to see the birds at a reasonable size in the frame. So with the convertor fitted and lots of cropping applied the quality of the photos isn’t great; but I’ve seen worse.
At one point two Black-necked Grebes started displaying only to be halted in their tracks by a third one muscling in on the act; two’s company and threes' a crowd! It spoiled a decent photo opportunity as well, shoot.
Black-necked Grebe starting to display
Three's a crowd
While I was there Brian Martin camera into the hide and handed me my flash card so the day wasn’t as disappointing after all: I took some half decent photos and my flash card was back in my bag. Thanks Chris, Dave and Brian.
Black-necked Grebe
I like to play with Photoshop, so the above has had some Photoshop treatment, personally I like the treatment and I think it is an improvement on the original but it’s probably not to every ones taste.
Thanks for reading,
Andy
With the weather forecast for Saturday being sun, the draw of the Black-necked Grebes at “Woolston Eyes” coupled with the fact that I’d left a flash card there last weekend was too great to miss.
The Black-necked Grebe season seems to be in full swing now with up to twenty birds recorded, possibly more.
After parking up I could hear a Chiffchaff calling and eventually I found it but would it face the camera, no, or when it did there was a twig in the way. It’s very frustrating this nature photography!
Chiffchaff Behind
I went to the John Morgan hide first because my flash card should have been there but it wasn’t and neither could I see any Black-necked Grebes, a bit of disappointment with that then.
There was a bit of activity around the feeders so I managed to get a photo of a male Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Magpie.
Magpie
Great Spotted Woodpecker
As there weren’t any Black-necked Grebes to be seen and none of the waders that have been on No3 Bed apparent, I decided to go the Rotary Hide.
When I got there, there were another couple of photographers in there but they weren’t birders and a bit unsure of what they were photographing. It’s nice to be able help someone and I remember when I was in the same boat a few years back.
Anyway there was a group of six or seven Black-necked Grebes on this pool. I already had the 1.4x convertor fitted to the 500mm on the Canon 7D, so it was just a case of setting the tripod up and waiting.
It wasn’t too long before some moved in front of the hide and I had a fighting chance of getting a few reasonable shots.
The light was quite variable but there was some lovely light at one stage giving a lovely yellow/green cast on the water.
Black-necked Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
The hide may be 50ft or more from the water so even with the equivalent of an 1100mm lens, the photos still need a very large crop applied to see the birds at a reasonable size in the frame. So with the convertor fitted and lots of cropping applied the quality of the photos isn’t great; but I’ve seen worse.
At one point two Black-necked Grebes started displaying only to be halted in their tracks by a third one muscling in on the act; two’s company and threes' a crowd! It spoiled a decent photo opportunity as well, shoot.
Black-necked Grebe starting to display
Three's a crowd
While I was there Brian Martin camera into the hide and handed me my flash card so the day wasn’t as disappointing after all: I took some half decent photos and my flash card was back in my bag. Thanks Chris, Dave and Brian.
Black-necked Grebe
I like to play with Photoshop, so the above has had some Photoshop treatment, personally I like the treatment and I think it is an improvement on the original but it’s probably not to every ones taste.
Thanks for reading,
Andy