March continues to be an encouraging month. As well as the two magazine features, Getty images have been in touch and want to take a selection of my work for their picture library (which is nice).
I've included a few images, below, that are part of the selection. The first is a juvenile wheatear calling to it's parent. I shot this in 2010 up in the Scottish Highlands, whilst on a week long adventure with my good friend Phil Morgan. The location was right up in the north west of Scotland, just south of Cape Wrath. The area was full of newly fledged wheatears, being fed by their parents. The birds didn't seem to mind the fact that I was milling about. I shot hundreds of frames, this one was the pick of the bunch.
The image below was shot the year after on the drive back down from the Isle of Skye. It was obtained in the early morning, not long after the sun had risen. The location is Rannoch moor, which is just south of Glen Coe. The weather conditions were pretty awful - a blustery wind and outbreaks of showers. Every now and then the sun would break through the cloud and move across the landscape. After running around, trying to get the right vantage point I settled on a spot and waited. Sometimes you don't get many chances to shoot, you either have to wait it out or move on. I waited and was rewarded with this shot.
In stark contrast to the weather in Scotland is the weather in the Caribbean. My wife and I were lucky enough to spend our honeymoon on the beautiful island of Aruba a couple of years ago. Whilst she soaked up the sun I mooched about the island shooting pretty much everything I could.
The divi divi, or watapana, tree is Aruba's trademark. Now I usually shy away from photographing the obvious but I had to document this unique specimen. The tree is situated on the beach with its foliage pointing out towards the ocean. In Aruba the watapana trunk is usually bent at a 90 degree angle, due to the northeasterly winds that blow across the island.
My experiments photographing on Northern Rail train services has paid off. My photo-essay Ghost Train has made it into the latest edition of Snap magazine.
Snap is a digital magazine that showcases the driving forces behind global creative culture, and explores provocative new ways to interpret the beauty around us.
Snap is published by Hipstamatic, the photography company that aims to inspire the world to live more beautifully and creatively...and I'm all for that.
Here's a couple of screen grabs from the article.
If you would like the latest edition, it's free to download and is best viewed on an iPad. My feature starts on page 99. Happy reading.
After publishing Major Tom five days ago I came across this male great tit, yards from our house, today. Clearly a victim of the busy main road. I thought the bird was just dazed at first as there wasn't any blood or disfiguration but on closer inspection the bird was dead.
Viewing the bird close up, I was struck by the vividness of its plumage. Even in death the great tit looks resplendent.
Throughout the month of February I have heard the same noise everyday without fail. My morning ritual starts with the opening of the bedroom window. As soon as the window opens I hear the noise, see-saw, see-saw, see-saw, see-saw. It can be heard above the traffic noise, on the busy road below. From the moment the window opens until just before dusk, this call seems to follow me everywhere. Go for a run, there it is, walk to the train station and the noise continues. Waiting on the platform there is a brief respite...then it starts up again, teacher, teacher, teacher, only this time it sounds more like the high pitched squeal of a classroom snitch.
At this time of year the sound resonates across the countryside, a sonic alarm that wakes us up to a new season. One of the first indicators of Spring is the increase in bird song and one of our most vocal songsters is the great tit, Parus major.
It's the male bird that brings all the noise, the regularity of his song increases in response to the lengthening of the days. The call of the great tit is louder than many other small song birds and carries well. Having already paired up with a female, in the Winter months, the male is now calling out to other males, warning them to stay out of his territory.
The great tit is the largest of all the British titmice. At 14cm it is considerably bigger than any of its cousins in the Paridae family. It is widely accepted that the larger (16cm) bearded tit Panurus biarmicus belongs to a sub-species of old world flycatchers, personally I think it looks more like a mustachio'd warbler. Either way, the bearded tit is not part of the Paridae family.
The distinguished markings of a great tit make it easy to recognise when out in the field. Its jet black hood has a large cheeky white patch just below the eye. The black head feathers run down the middle of the breast to form a black stripe which continues towards the legs and tail. The stripe splits the primrose yellow underparts of the birds plumage. Upperparts are a mossy green colour. Wings are often described as being dark brown but I have always seen them as a dark blue/grey, edged with white. During flight, a single white, horizontal bar can clearly be seen running across the wing feathers. The outer edges of the tail feathers are white and can also be witnessed when the bird is flying.
Unlike all the other British tits, the male and female great tits can be differentiated by their markings. Male birds are, often, slightly larger than females. The black areas of plumage on the males have more of a sheen to them, in contrast to the matt blacks of the female. Overall the male birds plumage is much more vivid than the females, especially during the early Spring months. By far the biggest difference, between the sexes, is the black stripe that runs down from the birds bib and through the middle of the breast. In males this band is much thicker and extends outwards towards the legs.
At this time of year pairs are prospecting for potential nest sites. If you have a nest box in your garden with a suitably sized hole (28mm) you may well get a pair of great tits moving in. If no natural nest holes are available the great tit will readily accept artificial sites. Bird nest boxes are relatively easy to make, plans for a standard box can be downloaded, in pdf format, from the RSPB. If you don't have the time to build one you can pick them up, ready made, at any good garden centre. Many birds will have already selected a potential nest site but if there are a shortage of suitable sites in your area the introduction of a nest box will, almost certainly, attract attention. I put a box up last weekend in a rural garden that attracts a large amount of small song birds. After securing the nest box to a tree trunk I walked indoors to observe through a window. Within minutes the box was being investigated by three different species, one of which was the great tit (blue tit and nuthatch, being the other two).
If you have an interest in wildlife and don't have a nest box in your garden, why not put one up this weekend and see what happens, you may get a cheeky little great tit taking up residence.
A selection of my natural history images are featured in the latest edition of Landscape & Wildlife Photography Magazine (which is nice). I have included a few screen shoots below. The online magazine is well worth a read if you are interested in wildlife or landscape photography. Issue 25 costs £2.99 and can be downloaded here: http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/magazine/issue-25/
