kinnordy

Early November and Kinnordy had more Snipe than I've ever seen there before - I think someone counted over 100, which means there were probably many more in hiding. This is just a small sample of them with some friends. They were on one of the bog bean islands, so a little distant for a small...

This was a small group that had just arrived at Kinnordy to spend the winter with us. I love these swans. I'd taken a long series of images of them flying across and landing; this was the best of them. Shame they landed right on the far side of the loch though.

Obviously this youngster had grown and flown (so to speak). I don't often see them at this age.

This Roe Deer entertained us for quite a few minutes right outside the hide! I've never seen one come so close. In fact, there were two of them in the end, but I couldn't really get the other one in shot, as I'd have probably scared them away if I moved. You may get another picture of him...

I couldn't believe how lovely the reflections were that day. These two Teal swam past the bog bean island, I've not cropped too much, as I like the setting. It was such a beautiful early morning here, I was planning to go to Kinnordy again, but it's clouded over now. Will have to see what it's...

I picked this image out of several to show you, as it was originally picture #007! Cheeky, aren't I. This was the second attempt at cropping, the first time I just showed the boys, but then changed it all to include more of the water with the lovely colours. Hope you think I did right. A...

..... or Bliss I still don't know how birds can move their heads so violently yet keep the rest of the body still!! From an autumn visit to Kinnordy.

Nearing the end of the day at Kinnordy, some pheasants wandered into the cropped reed bed beside the hide. The sun really caught the chest of this handsome lad, didn't it.

..... showing off now!! Got two in flight in the same shot LOL!! Actually it's not that common to see two Herons at Kinnordy and if there are more they're usually well separated. This was quite a distant shot, so well cropped. Made a mess of the setting again too, so had to lighten in post...

Keep practising the flight shots.. got the lighting all wrong on this one though, so it had to be lightened in post processing. I still need to work on panning with them... the next image, he was nearly out the picture LOL. Oh and BTW I was asked why Brent Geese were my favourite: not just...

Cormorants are seen pretty regularly at Kinnordy, but usually just sitting on a post or fallen tree away on the far side of the loch. For the first time in all the years I've been going there one came to the pool in front of the hide and spent a few minutes there swimming and diving. They do...

I followed a distant group of flying Mallards, but they were landing by the time the focus locked on LOL. When I first looked at this picture on the screen I thought there were only 3 birds! They were way the other side of the loch, so this is a big crop. Thanks so much for the advice on the...

This heron spent a few minutes in front of the bog bean island and I rather liked the wing action I captured. However, I'm not so pleased with the settings I used, in that I blew the whites on his face. Exposure Bias was set at 0 (think it should have been a minus.. yes?) Post processing has...

There were a few more birds visible on the next trip to Kinnordy, really just days after the previous one! So this guy must have completed his moult. The light brought out the beautiful iridescence on this guy, didn't it.

I spent a short time at Kinnordy, without many pictures to show for it. All the ducks were moulting and therefore mostly in hiding! The bog bean and reeds were high, so anything in those areas were well hidden!! I've had better days there LOL. There was a grey/white blob on top of a distant...

As I left the hide, I spotted this Great Tit on the feeder at the end of the board walk. A bit dark but I started snapping and inching closer as i did so. He very kindly sat there for a while, allowing me to try different shutter speeds... this was where I finished. Shutter Priority settings...

Those August weeks gave us great raptor views and I managed to get a flight picture of this female. Had to lighten the image, so was pleased to see some underwing detail appear. We also had a Sparrowhawk fly right below the hide window ... twice!!! And I missed getting a shot he was so quick...

It was getting towards the end of the Osprey season at Kinnordy, and you have to make the most of the opportunities before they leave. This one actually had a successful dive, but I messed up the two images when he flew off with his prize. He was quite distant across the far side of the loch...

I think this is an eclipse plumaged male, judging by the colour of the bill. I don't usually manage to sort them out from females!! Shutter Priority settings f/5.6 1/800 sec ISO 200 Exp bias 0 Focal length 167 mm Max aperture 3 (but I don't know what that means)

The whites are still a bit blown on this picture, but not quite so badly as the ones I took on a previous visit. However, I like the poses so here it is! It was very bright sun that day. Shutter Priority settings f/5.6 1/800 sec ISO 320 Exp bias 0 Focal length 185mm

.... and this was the result of the previous picture. You can just make out the splash of water as he landed. But afraid I couldn't make out if he caught a fish on that dive. Shutter Priority settings f/4.5 1/800 sec ISO 100 Exp bias 0 Focal length 22mm

Went back to Kinnordy to try again. I love seeing this flight pose that Ospreys do. Sadly, i think I may have cropped a bit too much, as it's lost the little sharpness that it had. Oh well, he was quite distant. Shutter Priority settings f/5.6 1/800 sec ISO 125 Exp bias 0

Enough of tricky SP pictures for today. This one was still taken using Shutter Priority though and I'm really pleased I didn't mess up!! I've seen Roe Deer many times at the reserve, but always on the far side of the loch. This one was right beside the hide! So beautiful. Exposure Priority...

Rather mixed feelings on this one. It's not a great picture, but I don't think I'd have got it with AP settings. The bird would have had to have been much further away. Settings: Shutter Priority f/5 1/1600 sec ISO 400 Exp bias 0 Focal length 51mm

When I was practising shutter priority at home a fairly distant Herring Gull (I think) flew past and surprisingly the focus locked on immediately. It would never do so in AP. Now, I know this isn't the greatest Osprey flight picture (probably because I didn't have the other bits set right), but...