snow
Snowy marshes
No ‘new’ images as it were from the last week due to the appalling weather so here are some from a couple of weeks ago. All taken over a course of a few hours. Once again, I had little to no expectations of there being decent weather. I left my home in cloud but 15 minutes later on the marshes, things were very different. Complete white-out one minute and sun the next. No time to set up a tripod as the light was changing so rapidly so shot away, often using a beanbag on the car’s roof or simply setting the camera to iso 200 and shutter priority of 1/30 sec or so letting the camera decide upon the aperture. This way I was sure there wouldn’t be any camera shake. I don’t often work like this as I much prefer to use a tripod but there are occasions when you have no choice. If I were rich enough to own a D3s I could have set the camera to iso 800 or higher, resulting in a faster shutter speed and smaller aperture, but I’m not, so you do the best with what you’ve got!
Romney Sheep walking across the marsh
Oaks
No sooner it stopped, it would start again.
Oaks in heavy snow
Eurasian Wigeon
It won’t be long now until the wigeon move northwards to their breeding grounds. With their high-pitched whistling call, the North Kent Marshes will be a quieter place.
Eurasian Wigeon landing
Reflection in puddle
The marsh was sodden with the mix of rain and snow melt which made the going hard at times, but the conditions that evening were fantastic. There are few places I enjoy more than this remote corner of north Kent, especially in winter
Tractor on the marshes
Getting low
With a fresh fall of snow forecast last week I thought I’d give my laying-down hide a whirl. I’d been using a standard hide over the last month with a good degree of success but now it was time to get a different perspective. Using this hide is always a challenge for two reasons. Firstly, it’s quite a hassle setting it up and secondly, it’s darn uncomfortable! But, and I stress the word but, the resulting images can be very rewarding which hopefully makes up for the discomfort endured.
Male blackbird
I use a modified bivvy-style tent with a lens opening sewn in as well as 2 side viewing panels with one-way mesh. I first put down a length of tarpaulin which the hide lays on to prevent sticks, stones, thorns etc penetrating the nylon and a large piece of camo netting is then draped over and guy-lines secured. A rubber-backed picnic blanket is placed inside to silence any sounds from within which also acts as an insulator and then a roll matt or self-inflating mattress is put on top of this. In order to support the camera I use a foot square piece of ply with tent pegs in each corner and a 3-way pan and tilt head attached to this. It’s a very secure and stable platform from which to work and slow shutter speeds are not a problem with this. I guess you could use a beanbag instead but then that restricts smooth movement of the camera. Very important when shooting shy birds. To complete the set-up I take in a cushion to support my chest and to prevent the inside of the hide getting messy, I take off my boots outside place them in a bag and they come in with me. See what I mean by hassle?! Needs must though and once inside, movements need to be kept to a minimum since there isn’t a great deal of room.
laying-down hide
There wasn’t quite as much snow as I would have liked. A few more centimetres would have given a better covering, providing a ‘cleaner’ ground.
Robin
I have worked like this a great deal over the years, photographing rabbits and waders amongst others, sometimes for periods exceeding 12 hours. The negatives are obvious. The positives are aside from the intimate perspective you create, wildlife becomes accustomed to this low profile way of working far quicker than with larger, more conventional hides.
An unproductive week
It’s been a week of processing images with bouts of popping to the feeding station to top up the feeders and generally to stretch my legs. I know there is always something to do on the computer but I’m a photographer and as such NEED to be out taking pictures. The good news is that here in north Kent we are expecting more snow!
Robin in snow
Robin in oak
With it’s bright orangey/red breast (can’t decide which), the robin needn’t be prominent in order to stand out.
Elmley Marshes
Panorama of Elmley Marshes consisting of 8 upright images stitched together using PTGui.
Oaks on Elmley Marshes
It’s in conditions like this that whenever I’m out on the marshes I think of how farmers of yester-year used to cope in such a challenging environment.
Playing by the rules
On this day last year I fulfilled an ambition I had had for years, to photograph common buzzards in the wild, in Kent. Why? Well, up until 7-10 years ago they were quite a rare sight around these parts (North Downs) but over the years they have moved further and further east to a point that it’s unusual not to see one while out on the hills. There are now several hundred breeding pairs in Kent and I personally know of 3 nests which I am dying to work on over the coming years which will invariably require me to build a tree-top hide.
OK, so they are incredibly common in the west and north and hardly golden eagles but there is just something about them, the way they soar, their call…….. and as I visited my feeding station over the years to photograph woodland birds the desire would burn deeper and deeper to photograph this beautiful bird. I have access to a lot of land within their territory and so the previous October decided to commit the following six months to this project. But everything, and I mean everything had to be by the book. Birds of prey are notoriously shy and keen-eyed birds so unlike a blue tit at a nut feeder where you can come and go from your hide without them so much as batting an eyelid, with buzzards, in this part of the world, not a chance!
The following was then carried out.
* 5′ sq wooden hide erected at site under cover of darkness so buzzards didn’t associate it with humans.
* Hide left alone for several weeks.
* Stockpile of road-kill rabbits stored in freezer. Thanks Martina!
* December. Once a week. Rabbit put down pre-dawn in front of hide. At night, if rabbit not devoured by birds, was taken and put up tree to stop foxes taking it. Put back down following morning…….
* Wait for hard weather to commence photography
In mid January we had hard frosts lasting a couple of weeks so I took the opportunity to get some shots. I entered the hide 2 hours before sunrise. 11 hours later one arrived and fed but the light was poor. It got terribly cold in the hide, very rarely going above freezing. I would therefore occasionally ignite the stove for a few minutes, wrap a blanket around me and wear a balaclava. Winter, neoprene lined boots made by Le Chameau helped keep my feet warm (though they froze after 5 hours). I tried again a few days later and this time one appeared in good light but something was missing….snow!
Then, at the end of January we had heavy snow with poor visibility lasting for several days. I needed a break in the weather to entice the buzzard’s from where they had been sheltering from the terrible weather. I then had the forecast I’d been waiting for. A clear day, blue sky all the way. Perfect! This would surely tempt them out to look for food. I got everything ready the night before and woke at 3. With all the snow I knew it was going to be tough driving and there was no guarantee that I would reach the hide. I gingerly made my way to the spot where I needed to park the car but first there was a hill to get up. I had a bit of a run-up but the Mondeo only made it half way. Four attempts later it got me to the top. When I reached the hide, there was over 18 inches of snow. I staked the rabbit down (this is to avoid it being carried off), set up everything in the hide, took snacks out of wrappers (to avoid noise) and sat back waiting for light.
Then, at about 10 o clock one arrived and fed for over 30 minutes. It took my breath away to be this close (15m) and knowing that all the hard work had not been to avail. I got the low angle by using a ground-pod pushing the lens through a sleeve about 6 inches above the ground. I had installed one-way glass so I could see clearly outside without being seen.
Several hours passed and then an immature bird turned up and just like the one previous, spent around 30 minutes feeding, oblivious to the photographer, who at this point, was the happiest man on the planet!
To see a video of what I saw please click here. It was filmed on my point-and-shoot camera so please forgive the rather poor quality.
All images were taken using a Nikon D2x with 300mm f2.8 and 1.4x converter (sometimes without) with right-angle finder attached. I ached for days having spent several hours with my head between my legs peering through this!
Of all the projects I have undertaken this has certainly been the toughest but without question the most satisfying. Hamilton Holt’s quote comes to mind….”Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Work, continuous work and hard work , is the only way to accomplish results that last.”
Winter on the marshes
The weather over the last week has been dreadful here in north Kent. Ok, so snow makes the country grind to a halt but at least it offers possibilities for strong images but when it’s just blanket grey (sigh) what can you do? Well, I edit images and prepare them for the agent but eventually you just scream for sun! I went out at first light this morning hoping for some sunrise shots and the forecast promised a bright day. Well if it did happen, it certainly wasn’t anywhere near me! I did get my sunrise shots however and it was nice but it lasted all of 10 minutes and then the cloud rolled over. So I thought I’d dig out a few images from 3 weeks ago when the light was a little more interesting.
Around two months ago I secured permission from the Environment Agency to access their land which connects to a local nature reserve. It now means rather than getting so far on the reserve then having to turn back, I can now do a loop as it were. If only there wern’t so many gates! It was a bitterly cold afternoon, the ground was solid and the sky was clear. I had spotted this hawthorn some while back and waited for the right conditions in which to illustrate it within its habitat rather than a straight silhouette.
I know what you're thinking, the horizon's not straight! Well, if you use a wide angle lens and keep the camera level this is what happens.
As I drove slowly back across the marsh, light lingered in the sky and as I passed a clump of teasel I thought I would try something a little different. I enjoy this kind of work, mixing flash with daylight and always use off-camera flash to give the subject modelling. On this particular instance, with an exposure of 1 second at f8 and the flash set to Auto f8 (not TTL), I set the camera to self timer, walked around to the right then manually set off the flash when the shutter opened.
Peak District photography course
Having been commissioned by Outdoor Photography magazine to write a piece on the Peak District, I thought it would be an idea to hold two one-day landscape photography workshops in the same location at roughly the time the images were taken, being March. The article will be out next month in the March issue.
View from Curbar Edge to Baslow Edge
View from Baslow Edge to Curbar Edge
The piece itself centres around two gritstone edges called Baslow Edge and Curbar edge which lie to the west within the National Park, approximately 11 miles east of Chesterfield. This is where the course will be held. We will be combining the two with another spectacular edge just 8 miles north called Stanage Edge.
View from Stanage Edge
This is arguably the park’s most famous edge from which wonderful views abound in all directions.
Abandoned mill stones at Stanage Edge
We begin the day at Stanage Edge at 08.00 hrs, break for lunch around midday then onwards to Baslow and Curbar Edges until sunset. It will be on a first come first served basis and will be restricted to just 6 participants so that each benefits from myself as opposed to unfairly, I think, spreading myself thin amongst more.
The price will be £105 per person which includes tuition and a pub lunch. For more information please click here.
Success at last!
Following on from the last post, I finally managed to get to my winter bird feeding station in Wormshill. This was after taking a trip to Surrey on Saturday afternoon to invest in some all-terrain tyres. Due to the nature of what I do, I regularly drive in the countryside and the others were wearing a bit thin anyway and were due to be replaced. More snow was forecast and after reading numerous ‘tyre’ reports I decided upon some General Grabber AT2’s. Widely regarded as the best AT tyre around and having now used them in very adverse conditions on the Downs and marshes I can see why.
Robin
I therefore felt confident enough to get to the birds but of course you still have to be careful, especially on the icy-slush and made my way gingerly to the woods. I really wanted some typical snowy shots of birds, especially robins and in my experience these, along with others like dunnocks and chaffinches prefer to feed on the ground rather than on the suspended feeders. I sprinkled food on the ground, set up a low perch and retreated to my hide. Immediately they started to use it including one species which I have never before photographed, the dunnock. The dunnock or hedge sparrow looks like a dull sleek sparrow and always looks to be nervous and agitated, constantly flicking it’s tail and wings. It went through a serious population decline in the 1980s and indications are that it is now recovering.
Dunnock
Great tit in flight. I wanted to try something a little different so took numerous shot as it flew from its perch to the feeder. In order to stop most of the movement I selected a shutter speed of 1/2000th second, iso 2200. Anticipation was the key.
Just prior to the heavy snowfall when we had more of a dusting, I headed to to the marshes and captured this frozen landscape set against a very dramatic sky.
Frozen marshes.
I also came across this pair of red-legged partridges and using the car as a mobile hide, managed to get close enough to secure a handful of images.
Red-legged partridges
More snow
No new images I’m afraid folks due to the conditions most of the country are currently experiencing. Here in north Kent we have had quite a dumping making driving treacherous. Over the last couple of days I have had some white-knuckle rides through blizzards and un-cleared roads and at the moment only going out when absolutely necessary. I don’t personally have a problem with driving in the snow, its the countless idiots that drive too close and too fast that I’m more concerned about!
I attempted to get to my woodland feeding station this morning but the roads are almost impassable with extensive drifting, even with a 4×4. The snow was really belting down so I turned back halfway there and ended up pulling a Land Rover out of a hedge. The birds have plenty of food in the feeders and photography can wait another day. I’ll be having another go tomorrow so finger’s crossed I make it. It doesn’t look as though things are going to be much better anytime soon. Even if it doesn’t snow, with temperatures forecasted to remain close to freezing, it’s just going to be compacted. I think after this, many will consider buying winter tyres for the next couple of months.
Quiet
Firstly, a happy new year to one and all. Without sounding too much of a humbug, as much as I enjoy the Christmas period, I am rather glad come the new year to get back to some kind of normality. Things have been a little quiet over the last week on the photography front as a result so here are a couple of images taken over that period when we have had further snow. I am visiting this location every few days to top up the feeders and due to its elevation, snow occurs more regularly and lingers longer than where I live close to town some 3 miles or so away.
Bramble covered in frost.
I have worked this patch for the past 10 years now which also includes several 100 acres of adjacent woodland and downland, with the permission of its landowners. The elderly couple that own this field, amongst others, have farmed this same area for over 40 years and I thoroughly enjoy popping by for a chat, particularly over Christmas to give them their card and just to say thanks. They are quintessentially ‘country’ and only pop into town for their weekly shop. Indeed they lived just a few miles apart from each other in nearby villages before meeting and getting married. They have stories of how the countryside was back then and how it has changed. Birds are nowhere near as plentiful as they were back then. They graze livestock so are not responsible for the use of insecticides etc. And as for foxes? “I live and work in the countryside,” he says, “so must expect a few losses once in a while. It’s a small price to pay and anyway, I enjoy seeing them.” How refreshing I thought.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Maybe it’s because it very rarely happens these days or perhaps because it offers new challenges for a wildlife photographer, but am I the only photographer out there that fills up with excitement and anticipation when it snows?! I just love it, even though as a country we are particularly useless at dealing with the white stuff when it comes to a stand-still. I am amazed, given the warning, that hardly any gritting took place on so many major roads where I live and even more so, the speeding idiots who think their car will stop even on black ice! I own a 4WD and it has proven it’s worth over the last few days, but that hasn’t stopped several near misses with those driving way too fast. I’ve driven for many years along local country roads and always expect the unexpected so whilst driving gingerly at under 10 mph to my feeding station several miles away, I wasn’t at all surprised to come face to face with a van hurtling towards me then locking its brakes and as a result veering here and there. It stopped just a few metres away where my expert use of international sign language came into use!
So late Friday morning I headed to my feeding station in the hope of obtaining images of birds in the snow. They were coming in thick and fast, so much so that there was hardly sufficient time to frame the image. Eventually I managed to get a few half decent ones, including this splendid goldfinch. You can see the effect of the snow on the ground, acting like a giant reflector.
Goldfinch. Nikon D300, 300mm f2.8, manfrotto 055 with gitzo head, dome hide.
Great-spotted woodpecker
My favourite image however is this one of a robin perched on a fence post. It was pure chance and to me sums up the English countryside in winter, much more so than close-up’s. Perhaps one day it’ll get used as a Christmas card!
It never lasts long enough though and the day after, most of the snow on the trees had disappeared. A few weeks of snowy weather would allow me to relax a little and think of interesting images rather than trying to get as much as possible within 2 or 3 days and the way the climate is changing I guess there is less and less chance of prolonged severe weather. What a shame.
Heading home at sunset.
About Robert Canis
Robert Canis is a professional photographer specialising in the natural world.
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