bird Archives - Page 13 of 13 - Craig Rogers Photography

Temporary Reflection Pool Setup

29th September 201530th October 2018Craig Rogers

Update: Since this post I have now built a large permanent Reflection Pool. Blog post available HERE.

You may remember a post a few days back where I said that I’d bought a Greenhouse Tray. Well it was to build a temporary Reflection Pool in the garden.

I set it up tonight, excuse the photos as it was starting to get dark when I finished (6:30pm and it’s starting to get dark!!! Grrrrr!).

As you can see from the photos the tray is mounted on some DIY A-Frames and I’ve made a shallow area in which I hope the birds will visit. At the back out of sight I’ve put some Suet and Peanuts to try and tempt them. It’s setup near the bird feeders, so hopefully, it’ll be an easy temptation.

The only thing that worries me is that the tray isn’t long enough and either I can’t fit a full reflection in or you’ll see the front edge of the tray in shot.

I’ll leave it for a day or two for the birds to get used to it and then see what I get.

Here’s an idea on what a Reflection Pool gives, again, not great quality as it was really bad light.

Blackbird against a White Moon

30th April 201510th October 2017Craig Rogers

The Moon was great at Sunset tonight and I was trying to use the last of the light before it went behind some clouds to photograph the House Martins and Swallows that have arrived for the summer.

I noticed a Blackbird sitting on the electricity cable singing away and a couple of steps sideways put the awesome moon this evening right behind him.

The final photo is made from 2 photos taken from the same place, but with different apertures to ensure both the Blackbird and Moon were in focus, they were then merged together in Photoshop. This is where Photoshop is not cheating, it simply gives you the tool to create what the camera cannot capture which is the same view your eyes are seeing. I couldn’t decide if I like the Landscape or Portrait crop, so have included both.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}

Blackbird Singing - D7100, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 - {Flickr Link}

The Parakeets of Abbey Wood

19th April 201510th October 2017Craig Rogers

Yes, that’s Abbey Wood on the outskirts on London and they have an abundance of wild Ring Necked Parakeets. Nobody really knows why and how, but they seem happy to be there. I was here before Christmas and it was very cold, they still seemed happy enough flying around. There are a few thoughts of how they became settled in the South East, including escaped captive birds and intentionally released, however, I personally think that the warmer climate that the UK is getting means they came here naturally. It’s not just this part of the South East where they can be found, they are appearing in many areas especially the South Coast. There has also been sightings in the Midlands too.

I wasn’t there to photograph the birds, but having a weekend away in London but as took the camera to get some shots. I was woken at about 6:30am on Saturday morning to the sound of a Woodpecker in full hammer mode on a nearby tree. So I grabbed the camera and headed out to find him. As you can see, I found him (quite easily, I just followed the noise). He was high up in a large tree, so couldn’t get a close up photo, but happy with what I got, remembering that I’d only just woke up. I find it hard to function for the first hour every day!

The sunrise light was great so I wandered around snapping a few photos of the Parakeets, again, not the best photos, but as mentioned, I wasn’t there to take the photos so didn’t really have a great deal of time to spend.

The last photo of the Blue Tit just reminded me that you don’t need a great super sharp photo for a photo to work. Whilst waiting about for the Parakeets to fly over (they didn’t) I saw this Blue Tit clinging to a far reached branch and it just made a perfect frame for a shot.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}

Pair of Parakeets - D7100, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 with TC17EII @ 500mm, f/5.6, ISO1000, 1/1250sec - {Flickr Link}