A Shortie & A Sunset

Short-Eared Owl; F5.3, Shutter Speed: 1/2,  280mm, EXP: +2.3

I decided to end a night of job interview prep with a chilled hour of photography on the coast. A beautiful evening with stunning light and a surprise encounter with a Short-Eared Owl; absolute magic!

David
Nature North East

Fire & Water

The Charcoal Kilns ablaze 

As part of my training on the WildGrounds project with Durham Wildlife Trust we took part in the creation of Charcoal. Beginning to End, on the 5^th, 6^th and the 10^{th November.}. Starting with the filling of the Kilns, the lighting and burning of the wood and the bagging of the charcoal.

We did this at Low Barns Nature Reserve, near Bishop Auckland. My first time on this nature reserve and what a brilliant place it is.

There were birds aplenty in the woodland and wetland habitats, with great views of Passerines, Pheasant and Moorhen around the feeding station. As well as Grey Squirrel, everyone has an opinion of that particular yank species. I managed to get a couple of brief glimpses of Sparrowhawk and on the final day a single Snipe flying overhead.
All in all the three days of charcoal production, from start to the final end product, was a great experience, made even better because of the fantastic setting! If you get a chance I highly recommend you visit Low Barnes Nature Reserve.

The longest day we had was a 13 hour day, which was spent actually letting the wood burn in the kilns to create the charcoal. This day was book ended by the calling of Tawny Owls, both in the morning and on the evening. I love Owls, I think anyone who spends an amount of time in my company will realise I have a healthy obsession with our five British species! They fascinate me.

So if anyone reading this rings Owls or knows of any regular Owl hotspots(In the North East of course) I would love to hear from you. ;)

The feeders at Low Barnes provided the best views of Nuthatch I think I've ever had and although very weary, we were occasionally treated to some great views of Jay.

Jay fascinate me, for a Corvid species they're incredibly shy and amazingly coloured. They do however, make an incredible racket. Some fleeting glimpses of a pair of Kingfisher also added a dash of colour to a grey Autumn day.

...The Turn Of The Tide

St Mary's Lighthouse, the beacon of North Tyneside

Another Friday had come around and after an early finish at work, and a quick cup of coffee at home,  I headed up to St Mary's Lighthouse & Wetland Nature Reserve to test out my new camera equipment and get my nature fix.

I couldn't wait to get snapping with my new Nikon, its worlds away from using my iPhone and telescope to digiscope. It just makes life a lot easier for a wildlife watcher like myself. Never say never mind, there may come a time when I need to digiscope a species that is just too far for the camera. Lets hope not though.. ;)

Whilst the wetland seemed to be quiet with only few Gull species, Mallard, Coot and a lone Mute Swan making up the bird life on the pond, the shoreline was abundant with shore birds; Oystercatcher, Turnestone, Curlew, Redshank and Ringed Plover.
Shore birds can be a royal pain in the rear to ID at times, depending on the species, they are however great entertainment value. They're either sleeping, flying like its going out of fashion or obsessively feeding like birds possessed! It was brilliant being able to get so close to them, that is until a random dog would come charging towards me and drive all the shore into the air. Funny thing is most of the birds would come back to the exact same 30 seconds later.
After a quick scramble up the cliff and through the gut I headed for the north end of the wetland, this when I seen a large female Sparrowhawk swooping down and into the small trees. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to photograph it as it first swooped down and after much searching I failed to locate it again. Bit of a bummer! At least I seen though.
As I headed back along the path to the car I bumped into another birder, canny bloke, and he was telling me about a Short Eared Owl that had been seen hunting around the fields between the Wetland and the caravan park a few days ago. I was loving this new information, anyone who knows me will know how passionate I am about Owls. I hung around for a bit keeping an eye across the fields and on a small flock of Goldcrest on the other side of the path. Goldcrest are great little birds, cheeping whilst moving from branch to branch in search of food.
All in all a great couple of hours on a nice chilled night, time to get to know the camera and observe the wildlife of St Mary's ......and as for the Sparrowhawk and Short Eared Owl ......I'll be back! ;)

Redshank at dusk

A 'ringed' Turnstone

All The Gear ...No Idea

I did it!!

I finally did it!!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, after much humming and harring, I finally got around to treating myself to a Nikon SLR. 

The D3200 to be model specific, which from what I've read, is a great beginners model for new photographers. A high end beginners model at that.

It came with two lenses, a standard 18-55mm lens and a Tamron 70-300mm lens. Which both seem pretty decent for the quite reasonable price tag.

I did enjoy a little play with it, so after work on Wednesday I went for a walk around Tynemouth snapping as I went. Unfortunately it was possibly the worst kind of day for photography....grey, grim, cold and rainy.

Despite me being aware I was shooting in rubbish conditions, it quickly became clear that it's not quite as simple as click and shoot on the old iPhone, I've yet to figure out all the different settings, this camera is going to take some getting used to.

If anyone has any advice they can share I would greatly appreciate it! Shout out to Mr Atkinson for his tips so far! ;) Cheers mate!

Check out John's blog below;

http://www.sedgedunumwarbler.blogspot.co.uk/

Personally I can't wait to get started on my photography journey! 

I hope your all coming with me mind! 

The wilds of the North East are calling!

-David