The snow geese

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Natures Images

It all started with a book that I’d read a few years ago: The Snow Geese by the UK author William Fiennes. He tells his story of travelling to America on a quest to follow the annual migration of Snow Geese, all the way from Texas to the northern reaches of Canada. Well that was it, the seed had been sown in my mind, I became fascinated with these birds and have wanted to see them ever since.

Fast forward to December 2012, several years later and I’m landing at Dallas FW for what will be the start of a week-long trip with Danny, Mark and Ed at Natures Images to photograph Snow Geese. And after quick ‘hellos’ with fellow guests, it was straight to the motel in Socorro for some much needed kip.

Before dawn the following morning, we set off for Bosque del Apache (“woods of the Apache”), a short 15 minute journey away. What happens next still makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. As the sky gradually lightened, thousands upon thousands of Snow Geese flew into view, at first on the distant horizon, then flying closer in multiple skeins. Their destination was the lake by which we’re standing with our cameras and there follows an hour’s worth of utter chaos; geese landing, communicating, preening, socialising – so many photo opportunities.

Then as the sun rose over the horizon, it was time for them to move on to their feeding grounds, and with an almighty slap of their wings on the water, they took off in their thousands. I put my camera down, and watched the sheer spectacle of the ‘blast off’. Wow, this is what I’d come to see, I was speechless.

It was a short journey for us too, to what we nicknamed the Crane Pool. This is where the Sandhill Cranes met for the day, and to our surprise a few thousand Snow Geese too. With lovely early morning light, there was some great photography to be had. Sandhill Cranes are one of the oldest birds on planet Earth and their prehistoric calls certainly fitted the bill!

The typical day was broken up with a breakfast visit to a very well known American establishment, and the need for loads of calories by this stage certainly overtook any sensibilities. We then rested back at the motel, in time for a late afternoon visit back at the Crane Pool where Snow Geese and Sandhill Crane activity was increasing in their preparation for another move.

The Crane Pool site provided some of the best sunsets that I’ve ever seen, and there were plenty of opportunities to photograph cranes landing against spectacularly coloured skies.

One evening we stayed later than usual to watch the emerging stars, twinkling over the roosting cranes…

Half way through the week, we headed off to White Sands National Monument for some landscape photography, following the Rio Grande down to the Mexican border. Now White Sands is quite remarkable: it’s the largest gypsum desert in the world, and basically looks like a snowfield in the Alps rather than a hot desert. Historically it has also played a key role in America’s space programme; work at White Sands launched the first Chimpanzee called HAM into space, and helped to put the first man on the moon. This is the land of Billy the Kid, Route 66 and the Roswell alien. And with that historical backdrop, it was an enjoyable interlude in our trip.

The following day, it was back to Socorro to focus again on Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes for the remainder of the week. What is so good about this type of trip is that you can focus on one or two species and photograph them in many situations, with different lenses and techniques. If something hasn’t worked, you can try it again. If you want to be a bit creative, you can experiment with slow shutter speeds. You can video them or time lapse the blast off. Or think about how it might work in black & white.

There are so many opportunities, and with 40,000 Snow Geese, it’s easy to get some images that you’re happy with.

At the Crane Pool, I also took some video snippets of the Snow Geese in the late afternoon – video is a new thing for me so the following clip is pretty basic, however I hope it might provide a flavour of the sights & sounds…

Well, all good things do come to an end, and after a brilliant week it was time to go home, back to the UK, and some processing. And how would I sum up this trip? For me it was one of the best trips I’ve been on with the guys, not only because of the many experiences that we had (the sunrises, sunsets, White Sands, the geese and cranes), but also because of the great people and the many laughs we had along the way.

So a heartfelt thank you to Danny, Mark & Ed, and also to fellow guests Guy, John H, Jeff, Roland, Mark, Pete, John, Cathy, Penny and Jim for making this such a remarkable trip!

Would I go back for the Snow Geese? You bet I would. Northern Canada would be good…

Many thanks for reading, Ellie

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Arctic Adventure

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Natures Images

There’s a saying “There’s no such thing as cold, only bad clothing”  I agree to a certain amount but even the best clothes will not keep you warm when standing still for a long time in -30C at night. Waiting for the Northern Light is a static thing and the cold will creep up from your feet. My black parka and camera turned completely white with frost and for a moment I thought I was using a Canon, which scared the daylight out of me for a moment. All jokes aside, the Aurora was a magical experience. 25 seconds exposure worked well and we found a good spot down the road and on the frozen lake below. The sky was crystal clear and I can’t say I’ve ever seen so many stars in Europe before.

During the day we had a really good time with some of the most beautiful arctic bird species like Pine Grosbeak, Arctic Redpoll, Siberian Jay and Siberian Tit. Finding a nice perch turned out to be quite challenging. The birds were there but I had to find a nice perch to turn a beautiful bird into a beautiful picture of a bird. I ended up using some pine branches and a reindeer’s antler. Although a Siberian Jay was coming to the feeding station, it really proved difficult to get as it was so fast and never really stood still long enough for me to get an image. On the last day, one hour before driving back to the airport, I finally got the shot.

Our trip also took us to Northern Norway. The arctic conditions made our journey a difficult one. Blizzards and complete white outs complicated our drive up north. But it’s all part of being high up inside the Arctic Circle and it completed our adventure. After a good night sleep we arrived in the harbour at first light to shoot eider ducks from a floating hide. I have been shooting eider ducks in the past but King Eider and Steller’s Eider were on my ‘to do list’ for quite some time. The Steller’s Eider is the smallest and fastest flying of the eiders. We came across a small flock in the harbour where they spend the winter. The reflections of the harbour buildings made a perfect backdrop for this lovely duck. Although they kept their distance from the floating hide, I got some really nice stuff.

The King Eider winters in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea where our floating hide was, and migrates to the Arctic tundra to breed in June and July.

The male is such a stunning bird and sometimes they came within 10 feet of the hide.

Also the Long-tailed Duck came very close to the hide at times and my first meeting with this bird became a memorable one. The same goes for their call!

Another small Harbour in the Bering Sea was great for Kittiwakes, which had returned for the start of the breeding season. They make their nest on the outside of an old wooden building and return to this spot every year.

Another memorable trip has ended and again my love for the arctic region is stronger than ever. Not long now for my next trip to Iceland and I will report here as soon as I’m back home.

Edwin

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Beautiful Bandhavgarh ……..

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Natures Images

At the beginning of February I went to Bandhavgarh National Park in India. I was co-leading our annual trip by Natures Images to this wonderful location with our main target being the Bengal Tiger. Bandhavgarh is one of the finest reserves in India and is one of the best places to get a glimpse of the rarest of big cats, the Tiger. This has been my third trip and it is a great experience to witness this beautiful cat at such close quarters. It is not an easy trip and at times it can be frustrating but the rewards are high. Last time I was in Bandhavgarh I used Satyendra and Kay Tewari and stopped at their camp in the village of Tala. There was no reason to change and again our stay was very comfortable and homely.

I am always asked what my favourite species is and it is a difficult question to answer but I could never get tired of searching for the majestic Tiger. It is so exciting as you never though what you are going to see and so that edge of uncertainty is what makes it a fantastic experience. The pattern of our trip is the same each day. We are up in the early morning at 5.30 for coffee and biscuits and then head of to the Tala gate. It is exciting at the gate because whilst you are waiting for the permits to be checked and what route system you are going to be given, you know you could be just minutes away from seeing your first tiger.

Once you are through the gate you are in Tiger country and so the excitement starts to build. I have used the same driver for my past two trips now and Hariem is without doubt one of the best to have. His knowledge of the park and in particular his knowledge of tigers is second to none. You are just casually driving along a track and then he spots a fresh pug mark and informs you it is a female Tigress which walked down the track during the night. Then he stops the vehicle and listens for the signs of the jungle.

Nothing occurs and so you move on. Then he spots some more tracks but these are fresher and so the excitement starts to build. Then you hear an alarm call and you might be close. Still nothing and the pattern is the same. You are never going to see a Tiger on every drive but this is the real deal and the Tiger is an elusive mammal, it has to be. After a few morning and evening game drives and still no sighting, you do start to question whether you are going to be in the right place at the right time.

After another drive with no sightings you get back to the gate and hear that other people have had a good sighting and so your frustration is even more. Then on the very next visit your luck changes and finally you get the encounter you have been searching for. On my last visit in 2011 my encounters were of females and so I was really hoping to come across the large dominant male of the Tala range. I was so unlucky last time as we came across him in the chakradada meadows but he was heading in a different direction and it wasn’t on our route system, all we could do was watch from a distance as he walked away.

My encounter with him this time though will last in my memory for a lifetime though. We came across him as he was resting by the road. No alarm calls or any tracks, we just found him by the road resting.

The best thing about this encounter though was there was just our vehicle and one more so it was a really peaceful experience with no jostling for position by other jeeps. After a brief while he got up and carried on his way as he was just patrolling his territory. Our guide knew his pattern and path so we just headed up the road to encounter him again. Sure enough the Male Tiger was indeed heading towards a route and so we just kept moving along with him. An amazing experience and the two hour encounter will surely take some beating. During our stay we had other sightings but nothing like our large Male.

We had a brief encounter with a young male and female which were brother and sister. They were being driven out of their mothers territory because she was pregnant again. It was nice to see them amongst the meadow grass.

Bandhavgarh is not just great for Tigers as you can see and photograph so much more. The birdlife is fantastic with some real colourful species like Indian Roller and Bee Eater.

Lots of other mammals can be found too and the Hanuman Langurs and Rhesus Macaques make great subjects for photography. Sometimes you get so focused on looking for Tigers you can neglect these species but it would be a mistake to do so.

Bandhavgarh doesn’t support any wild Elephants but they are used by the park service to track Tigers and every so often you come across them with their Mahots in attendance. They make great subjects especially for close-ups.

One of the hardest mammals to find in the Indian Jungle is the Sloth Bear and we got extremely lucky with a great sighting as one crossed a track, as he did so he just stopped to take a quick scratch on a tree.

Whilst I was there it was the annual rut of the Spotted Deer or Chittal. This really is a beautiful Deer and the meadows of Bandhavgarh support a healthy population which is so important for the Tiger population.

So there you go just a small selection of some of my favourite shots from the trip. I am going back in November next year for another chance to visit this beautiful place. It is not just Tigers, as you can see there are many other species to see. I have only got one place left on this trip and if you are interested and would like some more information then please give me a call or drop me an email.

Danny

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Pick up a Dalmatian Pelican

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Natures Images

Our recent and first trip in to Lake Kerkini in northern Greece to photograph the Dalmatian Pelicans that gather there at this time of year for the beginning of the breeding season, was the first of many such single-species focused breaks we are gradually introducing into our programme: working this way with the right subjects really does help to achieve a well-balanced portfolio and does a bird as dramatic as this full justice.

At this time of the year these birds develop a deep intensity to the orange of their pouches which adds an even greater degree of drama to their personalities, and it’s also a time of year when they seem to lose all their usual inhibitions and gather around the nets and boats of the local fishermen who will regularly feed them with part of their catch by way of a reward.  The result is a chance to get really up close and personal with all the photographic potential that brings.

I enjoyed plenty of time just sitting and watching them as they hung around offshore and this not only allowed for some tranquil long lens portraits and detailed close-ups but at times some behavioural images as well, whether it be a simple bit of grooming or the beginnings of a territorial dispute – a sure sign that the breeding season was close at hand.

As the groups of birds would edge ever closer in anticipation of a stray fish, so close at ties that you could almost touch them, it seemed most odd to think that a couple of months later they would leave the shores for their nesting platforms and adopt the usual shyness that you might expect of wild waterbirds that elsewhere are typically wary all year – such is the relationship and trust that this particular flock have developed with the fishermen.

When one of said fishermen tosses a fish into the water though all tranquility disappears out of the window in the jostling to grab it – and this does allow for some very dramatic wide-angle images – I quickly learned how speedily I needed to pull the camera out of the way to avoid it getting completely soaked though!

Each day we would head out for a short trip on the lake with Thomas (one of the fishermen) in his little boat, and not only would the Pelicans gather around in the hope of some more discard but would fly along behind and beside the boat as we went providing a great opportunity for flight shots as well, even more impactful when the later afternoon sun broke through.

Many thanks to my good friend Emil Enchev for helping us organise the trip (one which he and we will be repeating in early 2014) and to Jenny, Sarah, Jill, Harry,Ben and Jeremy for joining us: it was an extremely enjoyable and rewarding trip with a simply stunning species.

Mark

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

2014 Holiday Slideshow

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Natures Images

Just some of the wildlife and wild places we will be visiting in 2014 – the new programme is online now!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Quick, the Nasty, and the Beautiful…

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Natures Images

For many years I have been looking for a good spot to photograph hawfinches. They are quite common in Holland but not easy to photograph because they are very shy at first. The first thing to do is feed them with good quality sunflower seeds; the seeds with the most oil are their favourite. It can take a while for them to trust the setup and the food but I learned that they can turn very tame after a week or so. I fed them small portions every day so they knew I was the one who puts down the food for them. After two weeks I didn’t even have to use the hide anymore and up to 9 hawfinches turned up every morning and afternoon.

A bird is a bird but a perch is a perch…

What I mean is that although a hawfinch is a beautiful bird….it’s the perch which makes the image ‘perfect’  A beautiful bird on an ugly stick is nice but it doesn’t make it a great image. Before I start a new project, I spend a lot of time looking for the perfect background and perch. In this case I asked a friend to bring some nice lichen covered perches from Switzerland. The background is a camouflage netting with matching colours, so the colours of the background include the colours of the bird and perch.

This way a nice image turns into a little piece of art which matches my (sometimes frustrating) standards.

Hawfinches can be very vicious when it comes to food and I saw them fight many times. After a nightly brain session in bed I figured out how to capture this behaviour and the next morning I gave it a go. By placing the food on one side of the perch, only one bird could feed. Another bird then sat next to him and………bingo!!!  A very quick and nasty fight over food was the result.

Male hawfinches fought each other but they didn’t fight the female or juvenile. Instead they just opened their beak but quickly gave up and flew off.

It all went so quickly but thanks to the fast Nikon D4 and higher iso, I managed to get some good full frame shots of this wonderful bird.

Edwin Kats

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Bosque dawn

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Natures Images

A small time lapse video from our recent trip to Bosque del Apache. There were over 50,000 Snow Geese and 10,000 Sandhill Cranes whilst we were there. Watch and see the blast off!

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Natures Images

We have put a little something together to round up 2012. Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year!

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Ed’s Reedling does it again, this time in the GDT

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Natures Images

Some great news from this Autumn’s GDT awards. Edwin has just received a Highly Commended in the bird category with his stunning Reedling image. And he has also been voted as the public’s favourite. Ed says that “it was a great festival and to be on stage twice was a great experience”. This is the second time that Ed has won with the antics of this little bird; you’ll remember that it’s behaviour was also successful in Natures Best 2011.

Here is the winning shot. Congratulations Ed, we’re seriously proud!

GDT 2012 winner Edwin Kats

All the winners can be seen here  http://www.gdtfoto.de/content.php?siteloc=482

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

What does Autumn mean to you?

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Natures Images

For many, this time of year is one of the best for grabbing the camera and heading out – when the low sun shines on the array of colours the autumnal leaves have to offer then pretty much wherever you may be there are images to grabbed, even simple shots such as these Beech leaves from a local wood to my home in Shropshire.

But it’s also a short season in terms of opportunity – the colours may be spread over a reasonable number of weeks but the days when the conditions are really working for you can be few and far between – and as a result it’s likely that you’ll have a definite priority as to what you’re after image wise.  For many including my colleague Danny, it’s all about the autumnal Deer rut: the sights, sounds and drama of Red or Fallow Deer are extremely evocative and the portfolio he has built up over the years of concentrating on this is, as you’d expect of him, impressive.  Others are drawn to the landscape opportunities – colourful trees, early morning mist to add an additional dynamic, maybe some water for reflections on a still day or a fast-moving stream slowed-down by an ND filter when the wind is too much…you get the idea.

I certainly enjoy both of these and generally have a setting or a subject that I want to focus on each year too, but this time of year has only the one constant and that’s the beginning of woodland birds photography.

I pack my hide and feeders down during the summer months – it’s in a very rural setting and there’s plenty of alternatives to my feeders for the bird population, and they tend to thin out in terms of numbers too: add in the challenges of light at that time of the year and it’s reason enough for me to give things a break.

Feeders are back in early-mid September (usually the best month of the summer in recent years mind) and once we get into the autumnal colours of late October then all is starting to get going again and I can start to play with new perches, set-ups and any other ideas I may have had over the summer months

Without sounding too twee, it’s also good to see which species are still around and even at this stage of the season I am confident that there will be some good opportunities with the Great Spotted Woodpecker  as this young male has put in solid and lengthy feeding appearances whenever I’ve been so far.

The finches are back too, and there is a very cheeky and surprisingly bold Jay who now seems to be a regular (and is also hoovering up all the peanuts and acorns I can muster) so I’ll be getting some decent settings in place for him in the coming weeks as opposed to the general table area seen here (additional note to self: shorter lens will be required for this fellow!).

As the weather turns colder (hopefully) in the coming weeks and the frosty nights start to come, then the chance to work with the already resident Robin and hopefully the Long-Tailed Tits (the Tit numbers generally do seem low this year – a sign of a poor breeding summer with all of that rain perhaps) along with the new reflection pool that is now bedding in will ensure that as this season comes to an end then the joys of winter will have made all the autumnal preparation work well worthwhile: at the time of writing this there are still a small number of places left on Woodland Bird workshop days here so you can benefit from it too!

Mark

Posted in Wildlife photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off