Only birds this morning.

This morning I Returned To were the fox had been feeding and was in a really good position to photograph the fox if it returned, but it was a no show. Nearby pheasants began to squawk and take flight, I missed one great photo opportunity as a pheasant flew straight at my head in the dark (I ducked) probably better to miss one photo than be hit by a bird.

As the day began to lighten up several flocks of geese passed by. A flock of plover (I think) took flight from the centre of the field.

The area were the fox had been hunting was riddled with rodent size holes, I'll go there again to watch the holes.

On my way home I saw a bird of prey it seems to be a permanent resident in my patch now but I've only been able to see it from a distance.

Also saw some curlew feeding in a field.

A very cold morning but It's always nice to be out and about.

A meeting with a fox.

A cold morning and I nearly stayed in bed, glad I made myself go.
Spotted something moving down the edge of the field.
We looked at each other for a while and the fox walked out into the field glancing over at me.

Then it came back to my edge of the field and started walking back towards me.Times like this I'm glad of the camouflage gear I wear.

I was standing quite close to a ditch where I've photographed brown rats before an the fox went there to check it out.

Moving back into the field it walked past me and went into a wild patch of field and spent the morning hunting in that patch.

Eating his catch.

Glad I made the effort to get up and go out this was a brilliant morning.

A new accessory

While shopping for a pair of gloves I saw this in a local shop amongst hunting gear. A shooting stick it extends to 193cm so I now rest my camera at eye level,  the V at the top unscrews so I can attach my camera if I want. Just thought I would share this as hunting gear is the last place you would expect to find a great photography accessory.

No wildlife.

Out for an evening walk baited my local mouse and rat burrows. Spent my time wandering from one to the other no sign of rodents at either burrow.  However I did spot some new diggings probably rabbits. Worth keeping an eye on.
Don't like walking around on frosty footpaths with my camera a slip could prove expensive and walking on ice grass sounds like a gravel path so no chance of stealth.
Hoping to get back out in the morning weather forecast says it's going to be a nice day.

A week of wet weather.

All I have to show at the end of a week of rain and mist the only thing that stops me from going out as I worry about my camera getting damaged.
On the bright side the leaves are nearly all gone off the trees so I might spot some birds and I have a cunning plan where moths photography is concerned, if the rain and damp hasn't wiped them all out.

Garden trail camera

Bought a trail camera the quality of the photos is not great but I'm pleased with the activity in the garden.

Mice at night

While exploring a small woodland between a motorway and a farmers field I spotted signs of wildlife in a small pile of garden waste. I set up my camera on the tripod and waited, knew I was onto something when I saw the grass moving as something moved through it.

As I waited I saw a pheasant wandering through the area.

Later that night I saw several mice but only got one decent photo.

Unfortunatly not the best of settings the next night I changed my position  managed to get a couple of pictures and saw a lot of scurring about. I noticed that when I reached forward to zoom in and focus they would run away.

The third night I changed my set up, l attached the light to the tripod and extended it as hight as it would go that lite the area much better for general wildlife watching. I stepped back into the dark to hide my movements and used the monopod for support. Got my best pictures yet.

That seemed like a good way to set up and I will try it again. Time to move to a new field where I've seen some other small interesting holes.

Bird watching at night.

Looking for wildlife in the dark inwalkinlot of trial and error. It's hard to see through the view finder and focus the camera, I try to focus on something at the far range of my Led lights then pretty much hope for the best when walking around.

Using the built in camera flash I turn it up to +2 when walking around open fields. If I'm in a set position I turn it down to 0 or less depending on how close to the subject area I am Watching.

Last night I was using a 18-55mm lens I decided to try it because I thought the wider angle lens might catch a quickly moving animal and when visibility is so limited zoom is not so important.

Spoting some eye shine in the field I began moving towards it.

At first I thought it was a group of rabbits.

It turned out to be three birds, walking towards them with the Leds and the flash going off I got closer to them at night than trying to stalk up on them in the daylight.

Then they flew away.

Wildlife trail camera.

I bought a wildlife trail camera so I could watch for wildlife through the night in my garden I also thought it would be handy to set it up nearby when I was out and about watching holes, trails and hedgerows.

First night in the garden nothing, not even a cat.

Then I took it out to a nearby field where I know there's a lot of rabbit activity hoping for some close up eye level rabbit photos.

Well it works! 

Evening came on and the rabbits came out.

I had my canon set up on its tripod but I did'nt want to use it the main objective of the evening was rabbit photos on the trail camera.

Rabbits don't have a clue when it comes to posing for a camera and spent all their time on the wrong side of the camera.

Taken with my canon trail camera with eye shine from three rabbits behind.

When I returned home the trail camera would not work and a replacement stopped working before I had a chance to try it properly.

This was from a local store so now looking around on line for a better make of camera.

Night time, moon

Out last night looking for wildlife, only saw a couple of rabbits running out of camera flash range.  Fortunately I had pointed the camera skywards as it was a clear night with a nice moon.

Night time wildlife 2.

On a walk around a  local field I saw some bones in a clearing under a bush.

I returned  one evening to watch the patch to see what might be using it. Only a rabbit passed through while I was there.

Thank goodness for my remot trigger ! 

After a while when weariness from standing set in I packed up and took a slow walk along the edge of the field, spotted some rabbits running for cover I decided to wait and see if they came back out. 

The following pictures were taken with the camera resting on a monopod.

As I'm just starting out with nightime flash wildlife photography I'm very pleased with these images.

Gear used:- Canon100d, tripod, monopod, remote trigger,   64 buld  Led light.