Scottish Nature Photography Blog – Page 3

Bird Photography Holiday to the Outer Hebrides – Owl success!

15/07/2014

This year, our tours to the Outer Hebrides were timed perfectly – for Short Eared Owls. Perhaps our most attractive owl put in a fabulous showing and some days we saw over 20 (yes twenty!) of these fabulous birds. The highlight was watching a brood of four chicks being fed voles by the parent owls. I will add some client pictures in due course…

More details of next years tour

Short Eared Owl, Owl Photography Tour, Wildlife Photography Guiding, Nature Photography Holiday in the Outer Hebrides

Shetland Nature Photography Tour

20/06/2014

I recently travelled to Shetland on a Nature Photography Tour visiting many of the islands including Unst and Fetlar. One of the main highlights was photographing Red Necked Phalaropes on Fetlar. Having waited the best part of 40 hours by a roadside loch our reward finally arrived in perfect light. All the more special as there was no one else and the moment with these wee birds felt very intimate.

These birds proved to be (typically) tame and at many times were too close to focus. With the sun on my back and an obliging subject the long wait faded from the memory. Happy days.

Scottish Highland Bird Photography Tours, Wildlife Photography Guiding, Nature Photography Holiday in Shetland

Dotterel: Scottish Highland Bird Photography Tours in Spring

15/06/2014

With long summer days and wildlife active Spring is one of the best time to visits the Scottish Highlands – the hard part is knowing what of focus on! As a fervent lover of the high tops I find it hard not to head for the high tops in search of charming Dotterel. Often we come across Mountain Hare in their summer pelts as well as lots of Ptarmigan and the odd Snow Bunting. On our recent Scottish Highland Bird Photography Tours we were blessed with some great sunrises and to witness these in the majesty of the high plateau was something special.

It’s not just mountains that are on our radar. This is one of the best times for shooting owls with Short Eared Owl, Long Eared Owl ad Tawny Owl all conspicuous in recent weeks. The best place to look for owls has been out along the Laggan road where some days we have photographed all three species.

Well I’m off to Shetland for a few days and then onto the Outer Hebrides to hopefully photograph more owls and with luck hope to see some nice light again soon!

Scottish Highland Bird Photography Tours in Spring, Where to Photograph Dotterel, Scottish Nature Photography Holiday, Owl Photography

Bird photography tour of Mull – special year for Otters

29/05/2014

The bird photography tour of Mull 2014 will live long in the memory. Not only did we have a great group of clients to guide we also had some special wildlife encounters. Top of the list this year were Otters. The tone was set on the first morning when we enjoyed watching a family of three Otters playing in the kelp. Not only were we treated to this intimate interaction but we were close enough to get some nice images and hear the Otters calling to each other. As time progressed we probably totalled nearly 6 hours spent in the company of Otters often at ‘too close to focus’ range.

Of course we had the White Tailed Eagles too and a supporting cast including a pair of Cuckoo, Puffins, Great Northern Diver, Stonechat and Whinchat. We saw one Short Eared Owl but that was the only target we struggled to get decent pictures of… but you always need a reason to come back.

Thanks to Steve, Betty, Karen and Stewart (and the wildlife!) for your wonderful company.

Bird Photography Tour of Mull, Wildlife Photography Holiday of Mull, Nature Photography Tour of Mull, Photographing White Tailed Eagles on Mull

Wildife Photography Workshops in Scotland – All set for a busy spring

10/05/2014
We’re all set to head for Mull for our wildlife photography tour. With spring coming so early this year it will be interesting to see how thins are different. In truth every year is different and it is that variation that makes the tour so enjoyable. Every year White Tailed Eagles are one of the main highlights but it is the supporting cast on Mull that make it so special. Last year it was Corncrakes the year before Short Eared Owls. I can’t wait to get back to one of my favourite destinations to see what is about!

Bird Photography Tour of Mull, Wildlife Photography Holiday of Mull, Nature Photography Tour of Mull, Photographing White Tailed Eagles on Mull, Nature Photography on Outer Hebrides

Scottish Nature Photography Competition – ebirder scoops award!

31/03/2014
“Purple Haze”, Scottish Nature Photography Awards, Second Place wildlife portraits.

I’m delighted to have been placed in this prestigious competition yet again!
Taken on one of those ‘why bother?’ kind of days right outside my favourite distillery. If you want to visit Islay please feel free to check out Islay Photography Tours page

Ptarmigan Photography Workshops – update

18/03/2014
We’ve been up at the Ptarmigan on ten occasions so far this winter and have enjoyed a great success with our clients on most days. This winter has been by far the hardest for photographing these enigmatic grouse. High winds have hampered efforts and on occasion we have made the trip up in borderline conditions. We have had 8 successful workshops, which I am pleased with given the unpredictability of the birds this winter. The weather is forecast to settle down next week and hopefully that will make both the Ptarmigan and the guides lives much easier!

Scottish Nature Photography Workshops – Reward for time on the hills

06/03/2014
I was delighted to see that one of our recent clients from a day photographing Ptarmigan on the Cairngorm scooped the photo of the week on birdguides.

Congratulations to Shaun for a fabulous result. Here’s what he had to say about photographing Ptarmigan with ebirder…

Having previously visited the Highlands on two occasions, I was keen to make this trip third time lucky to see Ptarmigan. After viewing Marcus Conway’s superb website, it made sense to book a local knowledgeable guide. With his friendly approach, I was able to witness the stunning and beautiful birds and also gain images (which has won me ‘photo of the week’ on Birdguides). I would certainly recommend Marcus to anyone!

Regards Shaun Harvey

If you want to see more of Shaun’s images be sure to check out his website. From everyone at ebirder – well done Shaun!

Scottish Mountain Hare Photography in Winter

18/02/2014

With the unpredictability of the Highland winter we have had to maximise our time on what’s working. The Mountain Hares have been performing well and have for the most part been in snow. The weather has warmed up a little this week with mist and rain moving in, but it’s changing every day. I’m sure we’re not out of the woods yet with this winter and I look forward to spending more time with the Mountain Hares in the snow.

Winter Nature Photography in Scotland – Finally up at the Ptarmigan

10/02/2014
The on-going wind and snow above 500 metres has made the Ptarmigan almost entirely inaccessible this winter. I was delighted to get up there on the first day of winter photography tour and we were rewarded with some fantastic encounters. Mega flocks of 20 or mores birds along with some smashing males calling from suitable looking territory.

I have some clients coming up from Devon later this week – I really hope we get another shot and the weather helps us out!

1 234