Swollen Seas

Bubbling and powerful, the North Sea savagely struck the shoreline of the North East coast around St Mary's yesterday. The morning was grey, dull and miserable; but on the eastern horizon the light of the sun burst through the heavy clouds and lit up a small portion of the distant sky. A stunningly gothic morning on the tidal shore.

- David

From The Vault: ....Within The Hawthorn

Yes ladies & gents, another Little Owl photograph.
I couldn't resist a dip back into the Nature North East vaults to retrieve another Athene Noctua photograph, of which I have numerous I assure you.
This particular individual, who lurked within a Hawthorn tree, was actually the first Little Owl I photographed with my SLR. Previously any attempt was made using a telescope and my iPhone, which was adequate but now has been deemed obsolete.
This shot was also taken during the winter, which is one of the best times of year for shooting certain Owls and during the winter months a few hot pockets open up in the North East. This is due mostly to large roosts of Asio Owls we get here in the North East, Asio referring to the genus of two of our Owl species. These being both Short-Eared and Long-Eared Owls; Asio Flammeus and Asio Otus respectively.
These roosts are one of the many reasons I eagerly await the return of Jack Frost and his Winter cronies; don't get me wrong I have spent a lot of time with all of our Owl species this year so far, the highlight being a distant Eagle Owl in Lancashire - that was an amazing experience I had waited two months for, as brief as it was - but these large roosts are a sight indeed.

David
Nature North East

Dusk Photography At Seaton Sluice

As has been apparent in my previous blog post, I've been frequenting St Mary's at dusk to try and work on some coastal landscape photography; on Thursday night I turned my attention North towards Seaton Sluice and Rocky Island.
The weather was fantastic, however a few more clouds in the sky would have really increased the drama I wanted in the shots. Overall I couldn't find the shots I was after, I attempted to salvage what scenes I could and was relatively happy with what I achieved.
I have ordered a few ND filters to help with the brightness of the sun so until they arrive I have to make do with what I can.
I'm really enjoying my foray into coastal landscape photography; it really makes a change from wildlife photography, which I still do but have put on the back burner for now as I try to hone my camera craft towards landscape scenes in the North East as oppose to amateur wildlife shots.
- David
Nature North East