Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy Birding 2012 - Favourite Photos from 2011

I thought I'd follow the trend of the 'final post' on the year with a summary of my favourite moments and photos from 2011:
To start, a photograph taken at sunset of 4 whooper swans coming into land at Marton Mere reserve at Blackpool.

Whooper Swans

Another of my favourites is this one, from mine and my dads annual Scotland visits, this time to the Uists, this short-eared owl was taken by the road on North Uist.

Short-eared Owl

A photograph of a parent and juvenile tree sparrows at Big Waters. After spending so long without a decent photo of a tree sparrow, this opportunity came along.

tree Sparrow

A recent one, taken at the start of the month at the redeveloped Gosforth Park, fantastically cut back and allows views of birds like this secretive bittern, I was lucky enough to photograph this bird at about 10 metres.

Bittern 2

Now for my favourite bird of all time, the kestrel. This female showed very little fear of me as I followed it around the car park at Big Waters watching it catch worms and mice in the wooded area next to the car park.

Kestrel Good

This bird has always been the one I couldn't not get, no matter how long I tried for, so I visited my local patch, St. Mary's, which provided me with an opportunity I couldn't refuse, a low-flying swift.

Swift 1

My only mammal pf the collection is this wood mouse photographed at Low Newton, again showing no fear whatsoever as this photo is taken with a 18-105mm lens, at 105mm this photo is uncropped, I had never seen a wood mouse so close which made the experience so special.

Wood Mouse

Another of my favourites from the year, taken at Northumberland Park was this beautiful drake mandarin, another bird that showed little fear of people.

Mandarin Good

For a lot of May, June and July, I was attempting to photograph this species in many different locations, including St. Mary's, Druridge Pools and finally where this photo was taken, Arcot Pond.

Grasshopper Warbler

I thought it would be rude not to include this beauty in my collection, this desert wheatear at Newbiggin I have photographed on many occasions and never ceases to amaze me how approachable this bird is, such a stunning bird as well.

Desert Wheatear

And finally my favourite image of 2011. We have had many rarities in Northumberland this year including, Greater Yellowlegs - Hauxley, Desert Wheatear - Newbiggin, Lesser Scaup - Marden Quarry, Eastern Black Redstart - Holy Island and many more but my favourite photograph of 2011 was taken 5 minutes from my house at St. Mary's Island. I felt that the colours, light and the pose of this stunning bar-tailed godwit couldn't be beaten...

Bar-Tailed Godwit 2

Happy New Year and Good Birding to all in 2012!

6 comments:

  1. Has been great seeing your photography develop over the years and the selection above just goes to prove it. Finding it hard to pick a favourite from them so i'll declare a dead heat between them all.
    Always enjoy bumping into your good self and keep showing us old timers how it's done.
    All the best.
    John

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  2. what a fantastic set of photo`s..

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  3. Well done Jack, great set of images, all the best for the coming year.

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  4. Excellent quality Jack. I agree with John as I've watched the photography develop greatly over recent times. Keep the good work up. All the best.

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  5. Some real cracking shots there! Hope you keep up the quality in 2012.

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  6. Thanks for the comments everyone, happy birding to all!

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