Black Isle Wildlife

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of spending a day on the Black Isle photographing pine forest wildlife.  My thanks go to James Moore for the grandstand seat in his hide.  If you fancy a seat there give James a shout on his website - www.jamesamoore.co.uk

My main ‘targets’ for the day were Red Squirrels and Crested Tits and I saw these in abundance along with a few of the more common birds.  I got settled in the hide around 9am and finally left at 3pm with a card load of what I hoped were great shots.  I was not disappointed.  Here are just a few of the gems I came away with.

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Crested Tit

Crested Tit

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Linlithgow Loch, 5 April 2013

I have had a couple of trips to Linlithgow Loch recently both to see what's 'on offer' and also to continue to try out my new Nikon 300mm f2.8 VRII lens.

The lens trials are going well.  I need to develop bigger biceps or invest in a gimbal head.  The lens is heavy!

At the Loch the activity is warming up.  The Great Crested Grebes are around and beginning to 'dance'.  Also on the water are Goosanders, Tufted Ducks, Coots, Mute Swans, Moorhens and plenty Gulls.

On Friday 5 April I spotted a Slavonian Grebe.  I'm told these guys are pretty rare here so there was much excitement over the weekend.  I managed to get an hour with him 'all on our own' and grabbed some lovely images.  Thank you weather and thank you Nikon, LOL.

Here are some images:

Great Crested Grebe with fly-away hair

Slavonian Grebe (aka Horned Grebe)

Great Crested Grebes thinking about 'dancing'

Loch Leven Nature Reserve, 3 March 2013

We made a visit to Loch Leven Nature Reserve near Kinross in Fife today.  This site was (and perhaps still is) known in birdwatching circles as Vane Farm.

Big excitement today ....... I was trying out my new lens.  I picked up a Nikon 300mm f2.8 VRII lens yesterday along with a new Nikon 2.0TC III.  I couldn't wait to test it out.  It is a heavy beast and will take a bit of getting used to.  For today I kept it on a monopod without the TC.

As we were parking the car at the start of our visit a bus load of visitors arrived and streamed en-masse down to the hides by the loch.  I decided to give that part of the site a miss and set myself up around the feeders behind the entrance.

The usual woodland birds were on show.  Chaffinches, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, House Sparrows and Dunnocks.  There was one Goldfinch and a Treecreeper (new to me) there also.

Here are some of the photos, all taken with the Nikon 300mm f2.8:

Treecreeper

Goldfinch

Female House Sparrow

Linlithgow Loch, 24 February 2013

We made a visit to Linlithgow Loch on Sunday morning, 24 February 2013.  Unfortunately we picked the poorest part of the day weatherise as it got better and better as the day wore on.  There was limited activity on the water.  We got some 'firsts' though - Goosanders (Common Merganisers), male and female.  There were several pairs at the west end of the loch.

We also saw the usual 'watery' suspects of Mallards, Moorhens, Coots, Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks and Black-headed Gulls all in relatively high numbers.  Magpies and Rooks were in abundance in the trees surrounding the loch.

Here are the Goosanders:

Goosander (F)

Goosander (M)

Goosander Pair

Goosander (F)

Caerlaverock Wetland Centre, Dumfries, 17 February 2013

Susan and I took a run to Caerlaverock Wetland Centre on Sunday 17 February 2013.  The weather was terrific, particularly for the time of year.  Warm sunshine all day, just lovely.  It was our first visit to Caerlaverock and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We should have made the trip long before we did.  There was plenty bird activity in and around the Whooper Pond.  We arrived in time for the 11am feeding of the swans - what a blast that is!

There was not much to see from Avenue Tower or Saltcoat Merse Observatory, unless that is, you had a huge lens or powerful binoculars!  We enjoyed the walk out to these places though.  We contented ourselves with the activity in the Whooper Pond and the hedgerows close it to.

We met Bob Fitzsimmons, a local photographer and very much enjoyed the chat we had with him.  We also 'borrowed' his prime location for some of the shots we took - thanks Bob! (Link here: www.bobfitzsimmonsphotography.co.uk).

We spent 4 hours at the Centre and then headed home, promising ourselves we would visit again.

Here are some of the shots we came home with:

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting

Barnacle Goose

Whooper Swan

For more images see here:
www.davidleaskphotography.co.uk

Prague, December 2012

Our second visit to Prague for the pre-Chritsmas festivities.  We stayed at the same hotel as last time - The Cloister Inn Hotel and it continues to meet our high expectations.

The weather was pretty cold, as you would expect for the time of year, with temperatures rarely climbing above zero and snow lying on the ground all week.  This created a festive atmosphere and in no way did it spoil the trip.

We flew (like last time) with Jet2 direct from Edinburgh - they are fantastic.  We would recommend them highly.

We took a day trip out of the city to Karlstejn.  A picturesque village with a classic 'Castle on the hill' overlooking the 'commoners'.  We would recommend the trip.  45 mins each way on the train, very easy.

Here are some photos from the trip.  You can see more at: http://www.pbase.com/davidleask/prague_2012

On Charles Bridge looking east.

On Charles Bridge looking west

Karlstejn Castle

Prague Castle and Charles Bridge

Sydney Australia, August 2012

Our second visit to Sydney!  The main purpose of our trip was to visit our daughters Clare and Sarah, both of whom now live in Sydney.  It was lovely to see them in an environment they have come to love.  We can certainly see the attraction.

A few practicals - we flew with Emirates via Dubai - great flights and great service.  We chose an overnight stay in Dubai in between flights - this was great, certainly worthwhile and quite restful.  We wouldn't hesitate to travel with them again.  For the 3 weeks there we lived with Richard and the girls out in Manly.  What an awesome place to chill out!

We didn't stray very far from the city but we did have overnight stays in the Hunter Valley and in Oberon (Blue Mountains).  The rest of the time was spent generally chilling out, enjoying beach walks, good food and fabulous company.

Here come the photos.  If you want to see more images from our trip please visit our galleries at:
http://www.pbase.com/davidleask/australia_2012

The Opera House and Opera Bar

Sydney Harbour Bridge from above the Opera Bar

Sydney Opera House

Skippy making his escape, lol