summer – Stephen's Wildlife

A Busy Afternoon at the Bird Bath

It’s been a while, but I was inspired to update this blog after some record temperatures, including thunderstorms, here in Dorset. Last Wednesday and Thursday were the hottest days since records began. The bird bath and nearby pond were full from overnight rain and attracted a great deal of interest from the local garden birds, all keen to drink and rehydrate. Five species caught my eye, so I grabbed my trusted and ageing Nikon D750 with a Tamron 100-400mm lens.

I use the Aperture priority setting on the camera. I fix the aperture at F8, the ISO at between 800 and 1600 and the shutter speed varies depending on the brightness of the image. I also set the White Balance to Shaded to suit the postioning of the bird bath next to bushes and a tall fence.

The five species were: Bullfinch ( a rare visit from this spectacularly colourful bird), Great Tit, Blue Tit (juvenile), Long Tailed Tit (both individually and in groups) and Goldfinch (another colourful bird). I was particularly pleased to see the Bullfinch. We rarely see one in the garden, and when we do it is normally hidden from view as it sits hidden by branches and leaves.

I was amazed at just how popular the bird bath proved to be on this occasion. Normally the bird bath just sits there and may get one or two visitors per day. But on this afternoon there was constant traffic. It was delightful just to sit on the nearby porch and capture photos of the birds and their interactions.

The Golden Hour

Sunrise was at 4.54 am. I rolled out of bed, pulled on some jeans and a short sleeved shirt. On impulse I pulled on my walking boots, grabbed my camera and headed out. I pulled into the carpark at Whitesheet a few minutes later, parked up and set off on a short walk to the heathland.

The light was still quite poor and there was considerable cloud cover. I had to set the ISO at 12,800 initially, to ensure a fast enough shutter speed to capture sharp images of moving wild life. After an hour all I had been able to photograph was a distant stonechat and linnet. The light was improving and I lowered my ISO to 6,400 without suffering a deterioration in shutter speed.

I was beginning to think that this was going to be one of those unproductive sessions. My wildlife photography can be like that. In those instances all you can do is write it off to experience. But then it occurred; a moment of serendipity when by being in the right place, the right moment came along. Nearly two hours after setting foot on the heath.

I was aware of movement in the bush next to me and a lot of twittering. I waited patiently. Finally after several minutes not one, but two Dartford Warblers appeared. They moved about constantly in and out of shot, but they didn’t fly off and weren’t spooked by my presence.

At 7.07am I pulled back into my driveway. The house was still quiet. I fed the dog and the cat, made myself a cup of coffee and a bowl of muesli and downloaded the shots from my old-fashioned DSLR to my laptop. These are a few of the pics:

Although skittish, the dartford warbler held its pose just long enough

Dancing damselflies

The UK is enjoying a bit of a heatwave this week. The reed banks of the river Stour are full of Demoiselle damselflies.

River Allen

The River Allen is just 13 miles long. It is a tributary that flows in to the River Stour in Wimborne Minster. I first got to know the river and the valley in which it flows in the 1970s when I lived in a small village, Witchampton, just north of Wimborne. The last few weeks I have enjoyed reacquainting myself with parts of the river and surrounding countryside. These are some of the images.