Wildlife and nature photography blogs for March 2010

Has it or hasn’t it?  Well I can say for us that it definitely has. It maybe a few weeks later than previous years by we think it definitely has. What are we talking about?  Spring of course. At this time of year we always look out for the first real signs that spring is well and truly underway. We had the flashy early displays of Snowdrops and in the last few weeks Daffodils, indicating that the year is changing. But these are really just exceptions. You can see Daffodil leaves poking there way through inches of snow.

One of the benefits of our job is that you get out in the countryside. Whenever we are out we look for the changes that longer days bring about. Returning migrant birds can turn a dull cloudy day into something special. Sand martins and Swallows are already returning. Keep a look out for their familiar shapes in the sky as individuals move up the country heading for last year’s nest sight. Chiffchaffs can be herd singing in woods and hedgerows. These small olive brown warblers are one of our smallest migrants and also, our earliest.

It’s not only our skies and hedgerows that that are filling back up with our summer visitors. Watch out for queen Bumble Bees looking for suitable nest sights. I spent a wonderful 15-20 minutes the other day watching one queen looking for suitable nest holes. After a lot of house searching and investigation nothing obviously suitable could be found and she moved on to another location.

As well as signs of spring there are also some signs that our countryside and animals in particular have had a hard time with such a cold winter. Recently we have been looking for Great Crested Grebes. Well to be more accurate Great Crested Grebes performing courtship displays. But there seems to be a distinct lack of Grebes at any of the lakes we have visited. One lake which normally boasts a good population had one solitary male. Hopefully, the lack of numbers just means that the birds have moved nearer the coast to escape the worst of the winter and will return. Let’s hope that the winter hasn’t taken a toll on the population. Fingers crossed.

Mind you, having just looked at the latest weather forecast, I see that the Met Office have issued an early warning for snow tomorrow. Maybe we should revise our thinking about the arrival of spring. I am just off to turn the heating up.

Until next time.

A new beta version of Adobe Lightroom has just been release. Beta 2 is available for download from Adobes website . This new beta version contains new features not seen in beta 1 and some changes that have been requested by users during the beta 1 testing.

The main differences between beta 2 and 1 are

Performance Adobe have improved the overall performance
Luminance has been added to the noise reduction
Importing images the default is now the full screen version of the dialogue.
Watermarking the function has been greatly improved

If you use Lightroom this is your chance to influence what appears in the version 3 release. Download the latest beta version and join in the debate and maybe make a request for a feature that will help you.

When you find a new bit kit that makes a big difference to your photography all you want to do is, tell everyone just how great it is and how it changed your life. So the topic for today’s blog is not going to be much of a secret. We have found a great new bit of kit and we want to tell the whole world about it.

The kit in question is Colour Confidence’s Grafilite desktop daylight simulation light. For many years we have used the big yellow ball which sometimes appears in the sky, as a light source for assessing and colour correcting prints. I have been using this trusted light source when correcting prints for over 30 years. First when printing silver based colour prints and recently when producing digital inkjet prints. The only problem with daylight is the lack of it, and it does vary quite a lot. Clear blue skies can produces a colour temperature of about 12000 Kelvin, while a nice overcast evening is more like 4500 Kelvin. This can be a bit of a problem, as you may have to wait for a more suitable time of day to assess your prints. Printing after sunset causes major problems.


Copyright Colour Confidence

We first came across these colour print viewing lights in a Speed Graphic’s catalogue, we saw them and both thought, ‘what a great idea’. But as with many good ideas thinking about them was as far as it got. Then while visiting a friend just before Christmas last year we saw and had a play with the real thing. We were able to try viewing some prints under the lights and see how good they were.


Copyright Colour Confidence

We were impressed that they fold down, which also turns off the light. But when folded down it makes storage very easy, as they take up very little space. They plug directly into the mains socket and don’t need a separate transformer, which helps keep the number of wires and transformers down. When opened the lights provide an even bright light which more importantly, simulates daylight. Each single light comes with an A4 sized grey mat providing a neutral background to view your prints against. Rather that just a single light we decide to purchase the X2 package. This kit is two Grafilites and an A3 grey mat. This gives you about twice the illuminated area, about A3. This works well with A3 prints but more importantly with a bit of juggling you can also successfully view an A2 print.


Copyright Colour Confidence

So at this year Focus on Imaging show we made our way to the Colour Confidence stand. Either the single light or the double unit are reasonably priced and are a cost effective solution to providing a colour corrected illuminated area. We therefore recommend these Grafilites to anyone who does a fair amount of printing or if you do most of your printing in the evenings.

Until next time.

One of the charities we support and collect funds for is The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust . The trust is based in Kenya and is perhaps best know for looking after orphaned Elephants; after its’ work was featured in the television program Elephant Diaries first screened by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the UK. The trusts 2009 Newsletter  makes interesting reading and highlights the work being done by the trust. We would of course urge everyone to support the work of the trust as we do and to give you some idea of the work done by the trust here is a short overview of the 2009 Newsletter.



The trust rescued 54 orphaned elephants during 2009 nearly double the number of any previous year. What cause of all these orphan elephants?  Two very different forces one natural the other man made. Nature, in the form of drought plagued Kenyan and much of East Africa for the first 10 months of 2009. During this drought many Elephants found it very difficult to find browse and water. This has lead to deaths due to starvation. Subsequently many of the orphans rescued by the trust were in very poor condition. In turn, this has resulted in many of the orphans not surviving. The most depressing statistic is that despite all the efforts and expertise of the staff at the trust’s Nairobi orphanage for the first time the number of deaths exceeded survivors.

Humans have also have had a major impact on Elephant number. Ivory poaching is on the increase across Africa and unfortunately Kenya is no different. The money being paid to the poachers has risen from K. Shs. 300 to K. Shs. 5000 per kilo for Elephant ivory. This incentive has lead to many more people taking up poaching to support there families.

Elephants are coming under increasing pressures with less than an estimated 140000 individuals in Africa today. It is about time that The International Convention for the Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) woke up to the fact that the ivory trade is the biggest threat to wild African elephants today. If something is not done soon it won’t be long before we have to visit a zoo, in order to see an African Elephant.

Luckily the trust recognises the poaching problem and has a number of initiatives to reduce poaching. In Tsavo, the trust runs anti poaching patrols. These patrols go out into the bush removing wire snares used by the poachers. Over 8000 wire snares were removed last year alone. Community outreach programs run by the trust also provide support to local schools, teaching future generations the benefits of preserving wildlife.

The trust is currently supporting 20 young orphans in the Nairobi orphanage and a further 41 in the camps in Tsavo. As well as the anti poaching patrols and outreach programs the trust supports many other projects supporting wildlife. We have chosen to support the trust because of the holistic approach it takes to wildlife conservation. Conserving not only wildlife, but working with the local communities changing attitudes. Why not visit the trusts website  and see for yourself the work done and maybe like us, financially support the valuable work they do.

Until next time

High pressure produced wonderful, cloudless skies over the last few days, great weather for taking photographs. We decided it would be good idea to visit a site we use to take pictures of Red Kites in flight. The weather was just perfect; unfortunately it turned out to be average in terms of the pictures, due to lack of co-operation by the Kites.

It was however, a great day for watching the kites. At one time we counted 14 individuals, flying, riding the thermals then gliding along the hill ridges. Meeting up with other kites and trying out a bit of display flying. Occasionally, ganging up on the local buzzards to give them a hard time. It is a good time to watch kites and other birds of prey. They take to the air on good days trying to find a mate. So you stand a better than normal chance of see the birds in the air. Look out for the display flights but also keep listening for there calls as this can be the first indication you get a bird is nearby. Also, look out for birds visiting old nesting sites. Old nests will be in need or repair and both birds will be busy to get the nest ready for egg laying.

March is an interesting month, as the countryside makes a change from winter to spring. Lengthening days starts warming the soil, triggering plants and trees, dormant throughout the winter into growth. One of the first flowers is the Snowdrop. They provide a splash of white, against the dull browns and muted greens. Here in the south some Snowdrops are already starting to set seed, where as in Dumfries, Snowdrops are just coming into bloom.

If your walk takes you into damp woodlands, keep an eye out for the sulphur yellow of the Lesser Celandine. It will be providing a splash of much needed colour in our bare woodlands. The Coltsfoot, also a yellow flower but, commonly found on ground which is water logged can be seen at this time of year. On the same type of ground you may also find the weird looking Butterbur.

Because of the lack of flowers at this time they are great places to see insects. Butterflies such as the Brimstone and Peacock which over winter as adults, will be on the wing on warm days. Brimstones are the easiest to spot as there bright yellow colour stands out against the dull foliage. Both Brimstone and Peacock roost in evergreen shrubs and after a warm March day, these are a good place to look for the butterflies.

Find a large open field and keep an eye out for Mad March Hares. The mad title comes form the females who getting tired of being chased by the males, will turn around and fight off their advances. Fur flies and the leaps into the air, spinning and boxing have gained them the name mad March hares.

Lakes and ponds are worth a visit. Later on in the month, Great Crested Grebes will be displaying. The dance, with both birds standing completely out of the water and doing synchronised movements across the water is wonderful to see.

Enjoy the longer days and keep looking for signs of the coming summer. Lastly, if you are out and about at the beginning or end of the day, keep a watch out for Foxes. This is the time of year females will be bringing new cubs above ground for the first time. Keep a look out towards the end of the month and you may be lucky to see a new family on one of its first outings.

Also out in March Goat Willow, Blackthorn, Greater Stichwort and Lesser Periwinkle.

Until next time.

Time to update you as to what’s been happening with our Drobo generation two drive. As we have written earlier, we have been having a long running problem with one of our Drobo drives units. The dive has been corrupting files for the past couple of months. After exhausting every possible external reason why the drive was corrupting files, finally Data Robotics agreed to replace the unit.

Data Robotics have a no loss of drive swap policy on faulty units. This was one of the influencing factors when we were investigating purchasing these drives. The way it works is that Data Robotics ships a replacement unit. Once you receive the replacement drive, you then return the faulty unit. All appeared to work well with this system. The replacement Drobo drive took four days to arrive. We then arranged for the defective to be returned. This all seemed to work well without fault, even if waiting in for couriers was a bit of a waste of a day or two.

All the drive swapping happened while we were away in the Cairngorms, so it was only when we returned we were able to test fully the replacement Drobo drive. The news so far is that the replacement drive is working and so far we have had no more corrupted files.

The problem we have is that the replacement drive Data Robotics sent us is a generation one drive. The one it replaced was a generation two drive. As soon as we realised we had been supplied with an older, less well-specified drive we contacted Data Robotics. They were very apologetic and arranged to ship a second-generation replacement to us this week. So we are waiting on another courier to deliver and collect. Has this latest episode given us any more confidence in Data Robotic and the Drobo drive units?  As we have said before, with the problems we have had we would find it very hard to recommend these products to anyone.

So with a bit of luck, by the end of the week we will have the correct specification drive, that is fault free. While we are waiting, we still need to check about 30000 or so files, to see if any have been corrupted by the original faulty Drobo drive.

Until next time.

The snow of January was replaced by cold and wet weather and the odd snow flurry during February.

We were only in the south of the country for first two weeks of the month, which gave us plenty of rain. We were away on a shoot in Scotland for the last two weeks of the month experiencing very different weather. Average day time temperatures in Speyside were about -6°c, with night time temperatures falling to -16°c – a bit chilly. The Highlands of Scotland as you may have read from our blog has been experiencing the worst winter for 30 years. Heavy snowfalls have caused misery to both the wildlife and human population. Although skiers have had the best snow conditions in Scotland for many a year.

On our return we were greeted with heavy rain and flood warning reports from the Environment Agency. However spring is supposed to be on the way, I do hope so.

March may bring the much needed warm and sunny days. We can look forward to Spring flowers and some colour in the countryside.

The weekly mean average temperatures for February were,

maximum temperature          8.9°c
minimum temperature         -2.4°c.
*(please note we only measured 3 out of 4 weeks due to our Scotland trip)