Male Sparrowhawk on Collared Dove [2] England.

Male Sparrowhawk on Collared Dove [2]

Canon 50D + 300 2.8 + x2 extender @ 40 yards.
600mm.

The hawk appears to have ambushed the Dove on the ground as it is standing on its back and has just commenced plucking its quarry.

Within 10 minutes my back lawn was covered in feathers.

Copyright: Kevin Smith

Male Sparrowhawk on Collared Dove. England.

18/07/09 Sparrowhawk hits garden Collared Dove.

Canon 50D + 300 2.8 + 1.4 extender @ 40 Yards.
420mm @ 400ASA.

Passing by my upper house window, saw this scene on my rear lawn.

Balancing precariously on a chair and firing down through an open light, I managed
a decent image which amplifies Daves previous shot.

Copyright: Kevin Smith

Fit for Purpose.

Atlantic Puffin, Summer 2009

Canon 40D + 300mm +1.4 extender

An Atlantic Puffin on Englands Farne Islands settles to rest after returning from sea with a perfect catch.

These birds have a stiff orange tongue which helps to secure the catch in and out of the water.

Copyright: Kevin Smith

Atlantic Puffin with Sand Eels

Puffin with Sand eels 2008

Canon 20D + 300mm lens. Hand held. 1/1500sec @ F 3.5

To anyone who has visited the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian coast of England, the breeding season for the resident seabirds is a spectacular affair.

Easy Puffin photography is available as they stroll about and rest on nearby rocks but flying birds can be a completely different story.

*The Sand Eels of 2008 were good but those of June 2009 are large and plentyful, some fish
measuring almost a foot in length.

As a result, many young are very well advanced.

At least one good result nature story*

Copyright: Kevin Smith

Common Whitethroat

This Common Whitethroat, Sylvia communis was singing its heart out on the barbed wire perimeter fence at Finningley airport, (Doncaster Airport).







Canon 1D Mk2, 500 mm lens with 1.4 x extender.

Black Tailed Godwits

Black Tailed Godwits, Blacktoft Sands reserve, England.

Canon 40D + 300 2.8 + x2 extender

A group of Godwits circled the lagoons before finally choosing a landing place.

Often members of such a group are hatched in Iceland during the northern summer and migrate SE to the UK by the same autumn.

Copyright: Kevin Smith

Barn Owl, England.

Barn Owl, Blacktoft Sands Reserve, England.

Canon 20D + 100-400 + 1.4 extender.

At the perimiter of the reserve, several owl nest boxes are taken each summer by breeding
Barn Owls.

6.15 pm in June, one of the adult birds hunts over the marsh.

Copyright: Kevin Smith