Roy Glen Photography, bird photography,wildlife photography and nature photography

Bird photos in Extremadura, Spain

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:35:00 +0000

I recently made a trip to Extremadura and had the opportunity to photograph griffon vultures and cranes. Its a beautiful area with wide-open vistas, warm sunshine and fantastic wildlife. The cork oak and holm oak trees provide a nature-friendly habitat for a host of animals to forage for food and make a home. Watching great numbers of cranes commute from their feeding areas to roost at dusk and back again at dawn is an especially wonderful sight. They’re a nervous bird and will get quite agitated if you even slow you car near them, so photographing the birds in flight at the edges of the day makes a much more relaxing experience for both the birds and photographer! Griffon vultures are common in Extremadura, but it pays to visit Monfragüe National Park – the birds can be seen close-up as they soar overhead or even below if you climb up to the castle.

Griffon Vulture

Peña Falcon at Monfrague National Park

Holm oak trees on open plains in Extremadura - home to wintering cranes

Dead Holm Oak Tree on grassy plain

Common Cranes - Extremadura, Spain

Common Cranes commuting at dusk

Stonechat enjoying winter sunshine in Extremadura, Spain

Blue Tit Photos in frosty conditions

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:04:17 +0000

It’s been a drab windy winter so far and conditions uninspiring from a photography point of view. But the recent clear frosty days have added a sparkle to the landscape and an X-factor to images. This little blue tit posed for it’s photo before jumping onto a feeder to grab a sunflower seed.

The frost covered perch wintry background and lovely powder-blue and yellow contrast combine to give a wintry but warm feel to this portrait of a blue tit.

Another blue tit photographed as it is about to fly to a garden feeder.

Get Photos of a Ringed Plover without a hide

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:05:58 +0000

I can remember photographing Ringed Plovers in my teens when I’d found a pair nesting on a patch of ground covered in gravel and stones. It took quite a bit of fieldcraft to discover their nest site – a shallow scrape of small stones and grit with four wonderfully camouflaged eggs. I introduced a hide over a period of several days, bringing it closer each day to allow the birds to become accustomed to the new shape. It was a thrill to watch the birds at close quarters brooding the eggs and changing duties every few hours, one bird taking care of the nest site and eggs while the other was away feeding.

Unless you’re recording the life history of a species, nest photography isn’t really necessary and wintertime affords opportunities to employ a different approach. Ringed Plovers typically have a run-then-stop feeding pattern and they’ll systematically cover a patch of wet sand searching for worms and tasty morsels brought in by the tide. If you’ve got the patience and determination, it’s quite possible to have a Ringed Plover come closer to you than your lens can focus, look you in the eye, and pull a juicy worm out of the sand! I’d recommend it just for the experience, even if you don’t take pictures.

Find an area favoured by Ringed Plovers. It’s best to check areas of shoreline just as the tide retreats, they love the flat wet sand loaded with fresh live food. Return again when the tide is still high, before the birds come to feed, and position yourself on the waterline and get down low to the ground. I prefer to wear chest-high neoprene waders and lie flat on the ground with my camera and lens resting on a heavy-duty beanbag. As the tide moves out I edge along the ground keeping near to the waterline. After a bit of time the birds should start to arrive. I keep flat but I don’t have to keep absolutely still. The birds don’t see you as much of a threat as long as your profile is non-human and movement is slow and non-threatening. Sometimes I’ve had to manoeuvre into a better position by sliding along the sand sideways, never moving towards the birds. Once in the optimum position I wait for the birds to come to me. They generally like to cover the whole patch and will pass your way eventually. Sometimes new arrivals, emboldened by the presence of other birds, alight within a very short distance and get about the business of feeding without hesitation. For any birder or bird photographer, it really is quite a thrill to have an immaculate little wader like a Ringed Plover walk within feet of your face. You can hear the patter of tiny feet on wet sand and that mellow piping peep as they stay in contact with one another. What a privilege, for just a few moments, to get a sense of what life is like in their world!

Movie poster image

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:21:52 +0000

One of my ‘swarming-birds’ images has been selected and used on a movie poster to promote the US based production ‘Take Shelter’. It’s nice to see my image used in such a high-profile context. here’s the poster:-

Take Shelter Movie Poster

Salmon Leaping up Black Linn Falls on the River Braan

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:15:26 +0000

I’ve just returned from a brief trip North to watch salmon leaping up waterfalls as they make their way upstream for spawning. It’s truly an astonishing sight. I’m amazed that they make it at all when they encounter high fast-flowing torrents of water like those on the River Braan at The Hermitage in Perthshire. The falls are known as Black Linn Falls. Its a beautiful place to visit in autumn and boasts some of the tallest trees in Britain – Douglas Firs, standing over 200 feet tall. The waterfalls can be seen from a platform accessed through Ossian’s cave. To watch salmon leaping, visit late summer into late October when heavy rain follows a dry-spell. The swollen waters are ideal for the salmon to get the depth they need to power from deep water into the air.

Leaping from deep water this salmon seems to be attempting the impossible but isn't put off by the crashing water. I wanted to get an image that conveys someting of the task these animals face, so a short lens and careful composition helps to give a sense of place and shows the habitat and context of this amazing fish migrating its way upstream.

A beautiful scene in Autumn on the River Braan where salmon leap up the formidable cascades of water.

Autumn secene on the River Braan at the The Hermitage, a National Trust site in Perthshire.

Image of bathing Mute Swan and romantic misty courtship photo

admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:21:36 +0000

I’m hoping to add to my Mute Swan image collection this spring. They’re fantastic subjects – full of grace, power and beauty, there’s so many reasons to photograph them. Everyone lives near a pond with Mute Swans and they’re always interesting subjects. I like to get down level with the water and shoot into the sun. If you’re patient and catch one bathing, you’ll be rewarded with the most amazing photo-opp. If you miss that, look for them sleeping and record their wonderful white plumage or watch for a rival male; he’ll be seen off in ferocious manner. Some will even fight to the death! I’ve included one old image of mine here that shows a group of immature birds preening in the early morning mist. It has a painterly quality that I really like, almost a monochrome sepia look that occurred naturally.

Mute Swans greeting during courtship. Taken at first light as an early mist drifts off the water surface.

Mute Swan bathing.

A ferocious attack on a rival male Mute Swan.

Immature Swans preening at first light as mist rises from the water surface

Image of Coots Fighting

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:44:58 +0000

Bird activity around some nearby wetlands is getting quite exciting now with hundreds of sandmartins snatching insects from near the water surface and coots squabbling over territory. Their fights are ferocious and often continue for some considerable time. Photographing them isn’t easy as its difficult to predict where the battle will breakout. Coots are amazing sprinters and will launch an attack by running across the surface of the water at great speed to meet an intruder. I found the best way to photograph a fight was to wait at a distance for the encounter to begin then carefully approach the fighting birds. If you choose a pond where the birds are accustomed to humans, they’ll be so preoccupied that they’ll carry on fighting without even noticing your presence.

Coot Fight Image

Redwing Images

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:35:30 +0000

The recent snowfall and sub-zero temperatures brought a huge fall of thrushes from the continent, the hedgerows were literally heaving with birds as they gorged on the plentifull supply of hawthorn and rowan berries. A casual walk along some of the footpaths around our housing estate sent dozens of birds into the air like a mexican wave. Redwings were the dominant species, along with fieldfares and continental blackbirds. One of the images in this post shows all the classic identification charachteristics of redwings – obvious buff stripes over the eye and a red flank, the snowy setting makes the bird stand out.

Redwing in winter showing red flank.

Redwing in snow covered bushes

Waxwing Photos

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:07:15 +0000

The winter of 2010/ 2011 has seen a huge invasion of waxwings that continues to provide opportunities for close-up viewing and photography. Its worth taking a close look at waxwings to appreciate their beautiful plumage and form. The first image in this post shows a waxwing in hawthorn bush and well illustrates thier sandy plumage, full crest, black bib, yellow tips to the tail feathers and white markings in the wings. Even the little red waxy tips, from which they get their name, to the secondary feathers can be seen very well. The second image crops close in on those red waxy tips. Typically waxings select and pick berries fresh off the bush but will often forage around on the ground too, picking up fallen berries as seen in here with a few birds on snow.

Waxwing photo in hawthorne bush - winter 2010

Close-up of waxwings red waxy tips

Waxwings foraging in snow

Waxwing swallowing berry.

Waxwing images

admin — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:59:46 +0000

Waxwings inevitably end up on the shrubs and berry bushes around housing estates and gardens making them visible and easily accessible to photographers. They’re one of my favourite birds and we’ve had several hundred in our area over the last couple of weeks, so I’ve been loving the opportunity to improve on my library of waxwing images.

Waxwing Image in winter. Canon EOS 7D, 500mm lens.

Waxwing catching berry. Canon EOS 7D, 500mm lens.

Waxwing eating berry. Canon EOS 7D, 500mm lens.