EvilTed

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 800, 500mm

Yorkshire coast 2019

Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO 500, 500mm

Northumberland 2020

Who doesn't love a Puffin? They are a species of Auk (Alcidae) and are pelagic, meaning they spend most of their life out at sea and come back to land only to breed. You can see them around much of the UK coast line from mid April through to Mid August. The best views I have had were in the North East of England and Scotland.

Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, 500mm

Whitethroats for me are a hearld of summer. They migrate in large numbers to the UK from Africa and arrive in late spring, I tend to start seeing them from the end of April to mid May. They are a medium sized warbler with quite a punchy song.
When they are setting up their breeding territories the males will have singing competitions whilst doing short displaying flights to attract a mate.

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/7.1, 1/125, ISO 2500, 270mm

f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 800, 500mm

Outside the UK now with the pink pigeon. Found only in Mauritius and the only species of pigeon to survive extinction on the island.

It was nearly extinct by 1991 with only 10 birds left. There's around 500 birds now thanks to conservation efforts and I was luck enough to see two different populations when I visted in 2018.

Mauritius is a great place to go for bird watching, especially as they have 28 species that can only be found there.

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/7.1, 1/2000s, ISO 800, 200mm

Every year, we have many pairs of starlings breeding in our locality. We have bird feeders in the garden all year round, but when the starlings bring their young to them, it is really hard to keep them filled.

As a consequence of their generally rowdy behaviour and competition for food, we often get squabbles breaking out. It also means I can get very close to them, as they are generally oblivious to anything but the food and their disputes.

Northern Gannet (Morus Bassanus)

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/7.1, 1/1000s, ISO 400, 480mm

The biggest sea bird in the northern hemisphere and my favourite. I'm also a huge dinosaur fan and this photo always felt like a window into their evolutionary past, a brooding site of Dromaeosaurus albertensis bickering over nest space.

Sedge warbler

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 640, 480mm

This was one of my first wildlife photos taken with my Nikon 200-500mm back in 2016.

I'd just left a bird hide and was walking on a boardwalk through the fen. I heard some cheeping sounds coming from behind me and I turned just in time to see this bird land in the reeds and call out to its chicks to be quiet. Instantly, the noise stopped, I took one shot and moved away so it could go to the nest and feed its young.

I later tried to identify the food in its beak. The white insect is probably a White Plume Moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla) which fits with the location. The orange insect I never discovered.

Extra pics

Back on the Yorkshire coast.

A juvenile peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) waiting on the rocks for its parents to feed it.

It had only recently fledged and was practicing flying. The chick that it is eating was passed to it in mid-air by the adult male. The female circled above keeping most of the other seabirds out of the immediate area. Anything that came too close for her liking was stooped on and driven off.

I felt incredibly lucky to get the shots I did because the fledgling was reasonably close and still unsure of itself in the air. The parents were moving so very quickly and circling at the edge of my sight. When they came closer it was practicably impossible to track their movements, let alone getting my lens on them.

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/6.3, 1/2000s,ISO 640, 500mm

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/2000s, 500mm

I have never been as lost as I was in Venice that night.

Nikon D7200, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR FX G ED AF-S

ISO 2000, f/4, 1/5s 24mm

Osprey with trout. Rutland UK

Nikon D7200 Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR FX G ED AF-S

f/4, ISO 4000, 1/500s 120mm

One of the most difficult shots I have tried to make. Very early in the morning, very poor light, very fast moving subject.

ISO 4000 on the D7200 is really pushing the limits of the sensor, actually 4x further than I would even think about using it normally. This photo ultimately led me to the decision to get the D850 with its far superior noise control and fast object tracking especially in lower light conditions.

The 24-120mm lens is also not one that I would normally use for wildlife, but having tried the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 at 200mm and wide open it was too slow and too close.

Still, the photo captured some of the essence of movement and spurs me on to go back and try and improve on the shot and to accept that not every image can be or has to be perfect.

Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

f/7.1, ISO 800, 1/500s, 500mm

Another of my favourite birds, a male Stonechat. They get their name from their call, which sounds like two pebbles being knocked together.

They make good photography subjects as they are often found perching on the top of low bushes as is the case here.

Nikon D7200, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6

ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/1600s, 500mm

The population of male bitterns in the UK fell to just 11 in 1997. Now there's about 230 breeding pairs. It still has a very limited range in the UK, so it's a bird I am always pleased to see.

I have found photographing it quite tricky as it is so well camoflaged. And when it flies it is often only for a few seconds as it moves around the dense reedbeds.