Semipalmated plover

5th day of lockdown. Jamaica Bay Nature Reserve in New York is a well known place for bird photography. I turned up on an early morning in August and looked around puzzled. I could see lots of birds, but there was no hide and access for the car was impossible. How did photographers get close to these waders out on the mud flats. I waited for the first American photographers to turn up. They simply walked out to the birds and got as close as they liked. The birds just stayed put.

If this was the U.K. firstly access to such a site would be banned and it would be necessary to put up a hide and sit around patiently for hours in the hope something approached.

Not only are the birds so tame, but the settings are beautiful. Shallow water lapping into green grass. I went to a nearby fishing  tackle shop and bought a pair of chest wader as lying down in the mud was a messy business.

Semipalmated plover, Charadrius semipalmatus, single bird standing in water with reflection, New York, USA. Canon EOS 1ds Mk3. 500mm lens plus 1.4 extender. 400 iso. 1/1250th at f6.

Brown rat

4th posting during lockdown. We spent a week photographing three brown rats we acquired. They had been pets so could be handled and we built endless sets to photograph them in. This was one of the favourites. The important part is the lighting. It was a single flashgun with a cardboard roll on the front. This was pinched tight at the end to only allow a narrow beam of light out.

We worked with a laptop next to us so we could download the images as we worked and keep checking them. Today we would probably have the laptop linked to the camera so each shot downloaded as it was taken.

The dark background is roofing felt and we had to make the sack bag and spray the words on with a stencil.

Brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, captive, with grain sack, August 2009. Canon EOS 1d Mk3. 100mm macro lens. 400 iso. 1/250th at f13. Single flash.

Goshawk in rain

3rd posting during lockdown. This was taken at a Golden eagle site in Bulgaria run by Wild Echo where Goshawk also visited. The rain was turning to snow and I dropped the shutter speed to 1/50th to help show the rain/snow streaks. Golden eagles usually require long sessions in hides from dark to dark. I was very surprised to find that in Spain this is not the case. There they enter the hides during the day close to the time they expect the eagle to put in a appearance.

Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis, Bulgaria, winter. Canon Eos 1d Mk3. 500mm lens plus 1.4 extender. 1600 iso. 1/50th at f10