Local Wildlife

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2009-11-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

All future Wildlife shots will be posted to my Photo Blog

http://roblesliephotography.blogspot.com/

Another deer shot

2009-11-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

I got this shot on a walk through the woods this afternoon.

Pentax K100 Sigma f5.6 400mm, 1/90 sec f5.6 1600asa Manfrotto Tripod and 486 head
This was the first view I had of the Deer. There was enough cover to get a little closer then wait under cover for them to move towards me. A wait of twenty minutes was rewarded with the above clear shot.

Water Vole

2009-09-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Water Vole is fairly scarce and is protected by Law
They are very cute creatures and great fun to watch, if you can find them!
Pentax K10D with 300mm lens

Badgers

2009-09-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

There are lots of problems involved in photographing Badgers but it is very rewarding

More Badger Shots Posted last year. http://robleslie.blogspot.com/2007/09/badgers.html

Above captured with the Sigma f5.6 400mm lens
Above Tamron SP f3.5 70-210mm

Another shot with the 400mm

Butterflies

2009-08-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

And what happens to some butterflies. They become lunch.

Infant Deer

2009-07-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

I can't think what the name for baby deer are (Fawns?). Here are the twins.

Sigma f5/6 400mm lens, Pentax K10D

June Rabbits

2009-06-18T03:11:00.000-07:00

June Rabbits. Shots I did last June, but I see there are plenty of baby Rabbits about this year.
These were all taken with a 300mm lens. It takes only a little time before they come very close to you and it is easy to get decent shots.

Woodpecker

2009-05-21T04:08:00.000-07:00

The great spotted woodpecker

I set these shots up by drilling holes in the tree branch and filling them with a nut and fat mix.

Egg to Chick

2009-05-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

I visited the Swans nest over a period of a couple weeks watching them incubate the eggs untill five little chicks appeared.

After a tiring swim its time for bed.

Look mum we can swim

The location

Turning the Eggs

Herons at Coats water

2009-04-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

The Herons are difficult to photograph due to the distance and the tree branches obscuring the view. These shots were done with a 500mm telephoto lens.Perhaps the best time of year is now when the young birds are leaving the nest and testing their wings. Even if photos are out of the question they are still fun to watch

Has Summer Arrived

2009-03-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

The weather has brightened up and the wildlife is active. Caught this Squirrel raiding the bird table

One of the most difficult common birds to photograph is the Wren. They are just so small and timid

Deer

2009-03-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Another afternoon Deer stalking. this time of year the deer are between their winter and summer coats and the stags still have their antlers in 'Velvet.'

Wildlife Photography

2009-03-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

These are my personal views and experience of wildlife photography.

Walking through the fields, woods, parks etc with a camera round your neck rarely produces any good wildlife photographs. The best way is to sit down watch and wait. Even without a hide you will soon see something and may have an opportunity to photograph it.

For best results a bit of planning is needed. A make shift hide is easily thrown up and a bit of food that the subject likes will usually produce results.

Equipment. Above is my friend Pete with his very, very expensive Canon lens. It is also very heavy and Pete rarely ventures into the thick woods with it or even further than a few hundred yards from the car. A lens like this requires a tripod and head that weigh a minimum the same as the lens and camera. Such lenses are best kept for touch line sports photos and easily accessed hides.

My friend Phil with his much better 170mm - 500mm zoom lens. These aren't that cheap and good ones are hard to come by but they will get more use and so more chance of better photos than a big monster lens. This one went back to the manufacturer to be recalibrated and now produces excellent results. Phil is seen here using it with the aid of a monopod. I find a 300mm (=450mm on crop DSLR) the best general purpose wildlife lens. It is light enough to be support on a monopod and won't break your back when out for the day.

Support is essential when using any telephoto lens. I regularly use two different tripods, a large Manfrotto and a smaller more portable Manfrotto one. I also favour the use of a monopod and again use two different ones. A heavy one with a good Manfrotto ball head and a light monopod that I usually use with my home made camera support. Don't be tempted by cheap tripods. they will cost you more in lost pictures and being replaced that a good one. But even a cheap one is better than none.

This is a focus rail (Home made) it is essential for macro photography and very useful on a telephoto lens. The rail is mounted on a manfrotto ball head and my heavy Manfrotto tripod.

My local park 'Hide' that seems to overlook nothing.

Pheasant

2009-03-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

Early morning Pheasant.

Tamron SP f5.6 300mm

Deer in the empty car park

mallard

2009-03-03T04:25:00.000-08:00

Deer in the snow

2009-02-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

Deer in Stanton Park

Sigma f5.6 400mm

Birds in the Snow

2009-02-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

The Robin

2009-01-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

I must have hundreds of photos of Robins but who can resist them?

Owl

2009-01-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

500mm Mirror lens, but it still had to be enlarged a lot.

First of the Year

2009-01-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

The first day of the new year and the first bird photos.
Our most common friends the Blue tit and Robin, a few crumbs and they are ready to pose.

Images captured this afternoon.

Roe Deer

2008-12-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Taken this morning Tamron 300mm lens.

Winter

2008-12-02T03:22:00.000-08:00

Winter is here and it looks like a bad one. Rain, rain and more rain. Today there is a 'Severe Gale Warning' and rain.

A rare sight, that bright ball in the sky, unfortunately it is setting so say goodbye, I hope you return soon.

Still plenty of chances to catch a few wildlife pictures. Here is friendly Blackbird.

Muddy Path. A shot done with 'Lens Baby'

Blue Tits

2008-11-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Due to the very wet summer breeding figures for our common Blue tits is down over 50%. Time to start putting the food out to make sure the survivors make it through the winter.

Disturbed Sleep

2008-10-26T02:35:00.000-07:00

A slow and carefull walk in the thick of the woods rewarded me with this shot.

The young Roe Deer was enjoying a afternoon nap and I just managed this shot with a 400mm lens before it was up and away.

At the same location about half an hour later. This time with a 200mm lens and flash fill in

Autumn colour

2008-10-10T02:21:00.000-07:00

Badgers

2008-09-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have spent some long nights watching Badgers and trying to get good photos of them.

Battle scarred Badger

Wet Badger. After bothering to set everything up a little rain doesn't bother me or the badger.

The Badger set
There are a number of problems trying to photograph Badgers. One of the hardest is focusing in the low level of artificial light you set up. A fast lens is needed. The Badgers don't bother about flash units going off and even get used to the noise of the shutter. They will tolerate a certain level of artificial light but soon vanish if they see movement or pick up a scent.

Posing Squirrel

2008-08-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

This guy takes a look at the camera but continues the more interesting task of eating

Birds

2008-08-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

Room for three

2008-07-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Pied Wagtail

2008-07-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

I caught these shots of a Pied Wagtail near a local stream.

Tamron SP 300mm on Pentax K10D

Bright Eyes

2008-06-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

Chicks

2008-06-03T02:44:00.000-07:00

And another Summer Sight.

Too Close

2008-06-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

I set up a simple hide and had a 400mm lens on the camera. Then the deer came right up close and this is all I could see.

Swan trouble

2008-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our Swan gets angry about other visitors to the lake
This is what is heading your way

The reason he is being so nasty

Roe Deer

2008-05-13T09:31:00.001-07:00

Newt

2008-04-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

While the Macro lens was on the camera I shot these two.

April Snow

2008-04-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

British Summer time started last week so typically it snowed a week later

Wood Duck

2008-03-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

A pair of Wood Duck on the Local Pond

Tamron SP f5.6 300mm lens. IMO for size, weight and performance it is one of the best 300mm lens you can buy.

Feed Me

2008-03-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

In the Town Gardens Swindon

New park leaflet

2008-02-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

The new Stanton Park leaflet is available. All photos are by myself and Swindon Council has seen fit to name and thank me.

Unfortunately the leaflet is only laser printed so doesn't do justice to the photos but we can't have it all. Here is how that Spider on the cover should look.

Stanton Park is one of my favourite places and really is a true nature reserve. Pick up the leaflet at any Swindon Council office, Tourist information or any of the other Swindon parks that have a Ranger office.

Nice Light

2008-02-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

Oh No not another Swan photo. I’m sorry I just liked the light.

On the Run

A Bird in the Hand

2008-01-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

The Garden Robin perched on my friend Tony's hand.

Local Wildlife photographer Phil Jefferies has just won a very good competition. This was for the best action picture of 2007 so it was fairly prestigious. Phil can often be seen around Stanton Park and other wildlife conservation areas and is IMO one of the best wildlife photographers in our area.

See his photo here -

http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/images/photocomp2007/results.shtml

Rain

2008-01-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

Rain and more rain. This is the water flowing over the Weir this morning.

A Morning walk

2007-12-08T05:09:00.000-08:00

Morning Frost

A few minutes after I had taken the above picture this young Roe Deer came out of the woods. He just gave me time to change lens and get this shot.
The last few minutes of Sun before the rain started again.

Down came the Rain

What are they

2007-11-19T15:27:00.000-08:00

I had to get the bird book out to indentify these two.

Female Blackcap
Coal Tit

Goldfinch

2007-11-11T09:38:00.001-08:00

Snaps

2007-10-27T02:53:00.000-07:00

I spotted a Kingfisher at the small pool. The light was fading but I managed to get one shot before it was off. I hope this is just the first one and it will give me a chance to get some better quality shots

Lots of activity from Kestrels. I watched one hovering and diving down for its prey then just caught this shot as it took off.

My best shot of the week. A buzzard

Summer Images

2007-07-26T11:44:00.000-07:00