Tree Spparrow

Here are a slection of shots from Attenborough Nature Reserve on the out skirts of Nottingham were you can find a large and varied amonnt of waterfowl and all other birds.Here i have tried to capture tree Sparrows in flight before they landed on a bird feeder.I used my Nikon D300s with a Nikon 80/400 telephoto lense hand held in a hide with a fast shutter speed of 1/1000 sec to 1/1250th of a sec with an aperture of f/8 and an ISO set at 400 and the focal length also set at 400.I could of reduced the ISO but i would not of been able to shoot at the speed i did as the hide was poorley lit and the backgroung was in the shade with plenty of dark vegitation.I selectd a cotinuios shutter speed ot 7 shots per second and i also set the focal point to the left hand side of the view finder.With my right eye looking through the viewfinder i tried to look for the sparrows approaching from the left hand side with my left eye at the same time as looking through the viewfinder with my right eye and pressing down on the shutter button whilst keeping the camera as still as possible.with VR set to on it reduced the camera shake whilst being handheld leaning against a window sill.

Fieldfare

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ROBINS

NUTHATCH

The setings i used were on manual at iso 400
                                                                                          aperture 1/250 sec
                                                                                          with a full 400m focal length.

These were taken on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire,on a previous visit i had noticed the Nuthatch so i returned armed with my camera (nikon d300s) with a 80/400 nikon telephoto lense and a bag of peanuts as bait.When i got to the site i searched for a good branch that i set up close to a pole with a feeding bowl on a metal rod rest which i had taped a twig onto so i could take photos of the nuthatch with out the feeder being in the frame.I hand held the camera and waited for the bird to arrive.I also found a branch that was weatherd and i placed that next to the fedder .I waited for 10-15minutes and was rewarded with these images.

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Buzzard taken at Gigrin Farm Wales.

 Taken with Nikon D300s with an 80/400 telephoto lense .

 The weather was appaling with very dark skies making me shoot photos at a lot less slower than i wanted  and also with the darkness my images have a lot of noise making the images look grainy.

 If the light had been better this Red Kite would of looked much britter

 Here i have tried to lighten the photo in my computer so the kite is clearer.

Red Grouse

 This first shot was taken in real bad light with mist and an icy wind blowing which maybe ideal for Grouse but certainly not good for photographing them .To compensate i choose an ISO 250 which i should of set higher which would of allowed me to use a faster shutter speed rather than the 1/160 sec i had chosen which is a bit to slow when hand held.The aperture was set at f5.6 at 400 focal lenth as i could not get any closer without the risk or frightening the grouse off.

 As you can see here the weather was a big improvment which allowed a faster shutter speeed of 1/800 secwith an aperture of f/8 and my focal length at 400m.with the light being so bright  i ccould take quicker photos,so i could hand hold the camera with out worrying about camera shake but still had the VR on my lense.

 This was taken in a clear bright frosty day with  an aperture of f6.3at1/500sec with an ISO of 400 at 400m

 For this shot i cropped the original photo to see the Grouse's eye markings a bit easier to see.To get this shot i crawled on my knees slowly approaching as not to scare it away as i wanted the bright blue sky and the yellowing grasse's to be blured with the Grouse nice and sharp in front like a 3d picyure. i used an F5.6 aperture with a 1/1250 shutter speed at 185m focal length and an ISO of 400. if i could do this shot again i would try to get the sun more directly behind me so it would not appear under exspoed on the right of the grouse.I have chosen these images as they have very little or no distractions so your eyes do not wonder around the image

 this shot appealed to me as it lokked as if it were nesting but it was only basking in the warm winter sun.

when i was on the hunt for Grouse i stumbled across this well hiden Short eared Owl so  i grabbed the camera once again and got a couple of shots of just before it silently flew away as i was checking the image i had just taken.

These photo's were taken on the outskirts of Buxton in the Peak National Park heading towards Leak on the A53 at a small narrow road called Dale Head.The land is smootherd in Heather and whispy grasses that lie on a peat base.The land is very boggy in the winter months and the weather is extremly changeable with Snow,hail,sun,fog,rain and stong winds which can happen all in the space of a few hours so a weather check before setting out is a must.Here are a few shots with variable weather conditions.

cannock chase

These are a sample of shots i have done at Cannock Chase using a nikon D300s with a 80/400 telephoto lense in bad light conditions. 

This is a young Fallow Deer which was away from the herd.

Bempton cliffs

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