Dawn Monrose Nature Photography Dawn Monrose Nature Photography

Out on the Fen again this morning, a lovely sunny start, but a little frosty too. Starting to get there with the Sedge Warbler’s I think. They seemed a little quiet, perhaps because of the Cuckoo calling close by.

Walking through the dew, with birds singing all around, I came across a Roe deer buck, in his regular spot. Today he allowed me to get closer, maybe he recognises me? He posed for a while and continued grazing. Another deer called from the wood, and he lifted his head and answered. They called to each other for a while, their gruff barking echoing out over the meadows.

Headed back to grab the macro lens and photographed some Water Crowfoot growing in a pool.

Along the track I noticed some young rabbits peeking out of their burrow, and wished I had the big lens with me. Decided to have a go with the macro lens anyway, it’s 180mm so I needed to get close to get any photos. After a decidedly un-elegant crawl across the ground, wriggling carefully along on my front, I looked up to find one little rabbit watching me in fascination.

Over the Fen this morning, couldn’t resist photographing this little rabbit as he peeked out of his burrow at me.

Sunshine and showers kept the Sedge and Reed warblers hiding low in the vegetation, but the Cuckoo was still singing away. Five Roe deer were very camera shy, only the rabbits would let me photograph them today!

My first visit to the Fen for quite some time, it was great to be back out there again. The light was lovely and as soon as I arrived I was greeted by the scratchy jazz song of the Sedge Warbler. The Summer migrants are back! There were a good number of them singing away, so I spent some time trying to photograph them.

Not bad for a first effort, just a shame about that reed crossing him, but better than last year already!

Continuing my walk, I found Linnets busy collecting nesting material, several Whitethroats singing from the hedges, Reed warblers, Chiffchaffs, and Blackcap, one of my favourite songsters. A Cuckoo called and a Buzzard soared overhead.

Suddenly, an unusual sound caught my ears, a ventriloquial reeling, which could only be a Grasshopper warbler, the first I’ve ever heard. What an odd, un-bird-like sound, like the reedbed itself is buzzing. Fading in gradually and then stopping so abruptly, a noise you only notice when it’s gone. I closed my eyes to listen, the sound was distant, drifting on the wind, now louder, closer, coming from all around and right in front of me. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but reeds.

Further along, a Roe deer buck was nibbling dandelion flowers in the meadow and clouds of Swifts, Swallows and House martins were hunting insects. I can’t help feeling that Summer is nearly here!

Visited Wayland Wood in Norfolk for the first time yesterday. The wood at this time of year is filled with birdsong and bluebells, and yesterday, the patter of raindrops on newly unfurled leaves. The dull, damp conditions would have been great for close up photography, but an annoying little breeze made it very difficult. When working with such limited depth of field, the slightest movement is enough to blur the image. Still, I managed to make a few photos, not bad, considering I’m so out of practice.

This lovely little flower is Water Avens, Geum rivale, a plant I’ve not come across before, but was growing in abundance in the wood.

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A Barn Owl!

Firstly my apologies for my lack of posting of late, I am still here, honest!

Not had any time to get out with the camera unfortunately, but I have just discovered that the pair of Barn Owls at my favourite local nature reserve -  Redgrave and Lopham Fen – now have a webcam in their box!

Take a look here: http://ispyabarnowl.tumblr.com/

Enjoy!

Well, not had very much time for photography of late due to work, but I’ve been trying to fit it in where I can. The last few evenings I’ve spent some time at the local rabbit warren, not too far from home. It’s a great location to take advantage of the evening light, but I’m still trying to find the best spot for a good clean background. Here’s a little taster:

The rabbits are getting used to me very quickly, so hopefully I’ll get some more interesting shots soon. They are quite amusing to watch, chasing each other round and round, and rolling over on the ground enjoying the warm sunshine!

Tonight, we are taking part in the WWF’s Earth Hour – joining over 8 million other people and switching our lights off for an hour from 8.30pm, because our world is brilliant! For more info, take a look HERE.

I’ve not had very much chance to get out with the camera of late, and this weekend wasn’t much better either! With the dull weather I decided to do some work in the garden, and as I was sowing some seeds all the Woodpigeons in the hedgerow scattered, and the small birds dived for cover. A Sparrowhawk twisted through the air after the birds and I smiled to myself – it’s always a treat to get a glimpse of a top predator. To my surprise, the next time I glanced up, she (I think?) was perched on the garage roof! I quietly grabbed the camera, and carefully went outside.

Then, to my delight, she flew straight towards me, swooping above my head as I stood by the back door. Tentatively I looked up around the gutter, and there she was perched on the roof! I thought she’d probably fly off when she noticed me, so I carefully framed up and took a couple of photos, but she didn’t care about me at all, barely glancing down. To her I was totally insignificant.

She surveyed her territory for a while, and then quietly dived from the roof and soared away over the village, a chorus of alarm calls following her.

Not bad for a dull and damp day!

Spring is in the air! A lovely morning down on the Fen, misty to start off with and then glorious sunshine. Walking down the path, a pair of Great tits were sunning themselves in the hedgerow. Further along, a pair of Bullfinches – male and female together, flew from the hedge up into a tree, letting me have a decent view of them before they disappeared – the male uttering their mournful contact call as they flew away.

I wasn’t sure which direction to take, but I noticed a singing Reed bunting, so tried for a few photos. A slow and careful approach resulted in a few images, but the best technique was to identify a regular song perch and sit and wait nearby. The Fen is home to a large population of Reed buntings, and whilst photographing this one, I noticed I was surrounded by at least 5 singing males.

I really like these handsome little birds and their cheerful chirping, they often seem to be overlooked. I’m not 100% happy with these images, it’s so hard to get a clear view and to press the shutter at the right moment, but then, photographers are never happy! They seemed to get accustomed to me after a while, so hopefully I can improve on these images. By 9am the light was starting to get a bit harsh, and I realised I’d spent all morning with the buntings, so I decided to head back. On the way a pair of Treecreepers were chasing each other around a tree trunk… Spring is on it’s way!

(Hope you like the new larger images, you can still click on them to view full size too.)

Sunday morning was beautifully sunny so I headed over to the Fen, where disappointingly there were no more exotics! All was a bit quiet, except for lots of small birds chirping away. After a long walk, I returned home with exactly zero photos. Not a problem really, I’d say 90% of a wildlife photographers time is spent NOT taking photos. I’ve just had a bit of luck recently!

I was kindly invited out on a trip to Sculthorpe Moor, a Hawk and Owl trust nature reserve near Fakenham. More info about the reserve can be found here: http://www.hawkandowl.org/SculthorpeHome Last time I visited, which was quite a while ago, I failed to get a shot of a Marsh Harrier, which flew right in front of the hide! This time, we didn’t see a harrier until we were leaving, perhaps it’s a little early for them. I did manage to get some photos of a Water rail. These birds rarely seem to leave the cover of the reeds, and are more often heard than seen. So it was a treat to have two in front of the hide, out in the open!

The only difficulty with photographing from a public hide, is the shooting angle. This hide is especially tall, so you are always shooting down onto your subject. Photos shot in this way tend to lack impact and intimacy, the best wildlife images tend to be those that are on the same level – eye level preferably, as the subject. Still, I was chuffed to see and have prolonged views of such a normally difficult to see bird.

There are plenty of feeders around the reserve too, with a few opportunities for more common birds. Here’s a Chaffinch in a natural setting.

Quick update about the Rhea on the Fen – I’m happy to report that the owners came and managed to round it up, and it’s now safely back home!

Had the day off work today, so of course I headed over to the Fen, hoping to try photographing the Redwing again. Unfortunately it looks like they have moved on. Lots of birds around today though, all quite vocal in the mild temperature especially the Great tits. Saw a Shelduck at the far end, and large numbers of gulls. Then I saw a strange looking goose, I think this is a hybrid bird, presumably Canada X Greylag goose given the markings. It was associating with the Canada geese, and looks like it was paired with one of them. Took a record shot just for interest…

Interesting article here: http://www.gobirding.eu/Photos/HybridGeese.php on hybrid geese. I’ve never heard of a ‘Swoose’ before!

Walking back up through the woodland, I saw a movement near the edge of the path. A Roe deer, just the other side of the fence, just a few meters away! She hadn’t heard me, so I froze and watched her. She was picking at the vegetation, tiptoeing though the bracken and grass, so lovely to see. I noticed a couple walking up ahead on the path, as they got closer, the deer lifted her head and stared at them, she heard them long before I could. She waited until they were pretty close before prancing away. She didn’t go too far though, and then relaxed again. I walked up quietly to a clearer spot, and waited for her to emerge. She spotted me, but didn’t seem alarmed.

She grazed a little while longer, and then slowly made her way to the woodland. I came across her again, further up the path. I crouched down and kept still and she came closer – seemingly as curious about me as I was about her, we watched each other for several minutes. Suddenly there was a slight breeze and she caught my scent, she pranced away, the spell broken. I heard her barking further away in the woodland. Just magic watching such a beautiful animal.

Decided to head back, but on the way I came across what I feared was a dead animal at the base of a tree. Just a pile of greyish fuzz. The greyish fuzz blinked. I realised it was definitely alive, and was a large bird…

It’s a Rhea, more commonly found in South America! See, the wildlife comes from far and wide to enjoy the benefit and beauty of the Fen!! I assume this is an escapee, I hope it gets home safely! The warden seemed as astonished as I was!

What will I see next time….?!

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