Woodland Birds Photography Courses

My wildlife photography courses for 2011 can now be booked via my website http://www.paulmiguel.com/ The woodland birds photography course is filling up quickly already so early booking is advised! The workshops take place at Golden Acre Park and Adel Dam near Leeds. We will be photographing the incredibly tame birds there including three species of tit, chaffinch, nuthatch, blackbird... and Jay! Adel Dam also offers a good chance to see kingfishers along with possible roe deer and fox. Further details at Bird Photography Courses

Other nature photography courses are available including: birds of prey days, bluebell woodlands, yorkshire dales birds.

A Ton of Food - and a Ton of Birds

The last couple of months have been fantastic at my feeding station. The cold weather kept the birds coming in and it was particularly busy. Up to 5 species of tit came to feed, with the marsh tit a fleeting but welcome visitor. I've been through numerous perches: hazel catkins, alder, lichen covered branches, logs, and stumps - all to provide interesting perches for the birds. The good activity also provided excellent opportunities for those who came on my bird photography courses to photograph the birds.

Light levels sometimes made life difficult, but although difficult to obtain a truly sharp image, the resulting detail and colour remind me just how useful this lighting is - I would shoot in this light all the time... if it were possible! Fast moving birds just don't really allow this..
This year was particularly good for woodpeckers. Both male and female quickly took to my 'woodpecker feeder' and it was rare not to see one during a session in the hide. They can become wonderfully comfortable once they get used to the food, and are completely used to the camera shutter. At times they simply clamp themselves onto the food and clear the lot. It's such a privilege to watch these birds at such close quarters... On every woodland bird photography workshop I ran, everybody managed to get a shot of this colourful and vibrant bird.
As always, I strive to capture something a little different, whether it's unusual behaviour or a creative setting and backdrop. With this in mind I used a fallen sweet chestnut (kept in the freezer) and filled the inside with fat ball mixture in order to add some shape and colour. The resulting images are perhaps a little too set up, but experimenting is always worth a try, and it allows you to make those extra tweaks and changes that eventually might just lead to that 'perfect shot'..

Next year I hope to run the same nature photography course at the same location.

Long Tailed Tit image Highly Commended

My image of a long tailed tit braving a snow storm was recently highly commended in the 'International Garden Photographer of the Year' competition. Thousands of entries came from all over the world for this prestigious competition. It is particularly satisfying to see a common British species make it this far. The image is without doubt one of my favourites from last year, and it goes to show that making that extra effort can make all the difference, whether it be lighting, composition or weather conditions...

Click on the link below to see my image along with the other commended photos.

www.igpoty.com/competition03/gallery_LifeGarden_6.asp?parent=gallery

The Snow that Was..

Finally I get round to posting this blog - this should really be February's post, but with one thing and another it's now mid-March... Anyway, the main action in February was at the feeding station, with cold weather bringing in good numbers of birds... and yes, I was lucky enough to make the most of that incredible snowfall - the best I've seen in years! Although I only managed one day in the hide whilst the snow was still falling, I was able to get some cracking winter images of long tailed tits braving the blizzard - with a nice stem of red dogwood as the perch - giving a much needed splash of colour.


This is one of those images I never get bored of.. and I've learnt something new - long tailed tits actually have a yellow eyelid - something you'd never see unless you photographed them up close.

The woodpecker has been a real star too - or should I say woodpeckers, seeing as there have been both male and female down to the food. One of them has slight reddish feather on the top of the head, so I'm thinking this might be one of this year's youngsters in its first winter.This is one of the first images I got from the hide -

Time to tail of the food soon, although I may try putting out some nesting material in place of the food for some behavioural shots... With a project as satisfying as this, it's certainly difficult to tear yourself away..!!

Next few week should see more trips to the dales, and hopefully some new frog/toad images - fingers crossed...

The birds are coming

My winter feeding station is starting to get busy. There are now regular blue tits, coal tits, great tits; and my favourite the long tailed tits... these birds are just so lovely to see - they give you good warning too before they arrive - 'pinging' away as they fly towards the bird feeders. I have had up to ten, and counted a total of eight on the big bird feeder - all at the same time! When it's a group and they all begin calling, it's like a wonderful natural symphony.

I'm also getting nuthatches, jays and woodpeckers - although not as regularly. The jays are interesting... I see them skulking in the distance before they float to a perch to check things out. Once on the ground they seem quite bold as they happily hoover up the fallen peanuts. On top of that was a cracking sighting of a male sparrowhawk as he rushed through the woodland clearing - he's obviously spotted the potential for his own feeding station..!

Another cold snap is forecast, so fingers crossed for some good light..