Barnacle geese

This picture sums up a very cold, wet and windy week on Islay in February. We saw a lot, but photographed little on the island. However, on the way north we spent the night at Glasgow and a long session at Hogganfield Loch for tame Goosander and Goldeneye. It has changed a lot since I was last there, but was still very good for photography.

On the way south we stopped at Seahouses for half a day with the Eider duck displaying in the harbour, whcih was equally successful.

Barnacle goose, Branta leucopsis, flock backlit, Islay, Hebrides, Scotland, February 2019. Olympus Em1 Mk2. 300mm lens plus 1.4 extender. 400 iso. 1/2000th at F5.6 handheld.

Green woodpecker

At this time of year Green woodpeckers start calling a lot and I have noticed over the years that they call from the same clump of trees that they will later breed in. This telegraph pole is close to the nest site this pair have used for the last two years and I have seen them land on it a number of times. Today was sunny at last and I wasted a few hours sitting in a hide hoping they would land there again.

Olympus em1, 300mm lens. 400 iso.

Green woodpecker, Picus viridis, Single female on telegraph pole, Warwickshire, January 2019

Photographing jays

I have been spending a lot of time learning video. It is a complex subject with so many settings I do not understand. I have had to change the video editing software I was using as my old one could not cope with 4K video. I am now using Cyberlink PowerDirector 17 which I am finding easy to get to grips with. This clip I have put together tonight in a couple of hours. Dealing with sound is the hardest part of the whole process.