Bempton Cliffs nature reserve

Here are some photos from that amazing place, with those steep limestone cliffs and about 250,000 birds nesting there.
I only had 2 hours for me there in the evening which is far too little but it was awesome to see the multitude of different birds.
What I saw then was Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemot, Puffin, Fulmar, gulls, Kittiwake, Whitethroat, and last but definitely the best the Barn owl.
The Barn owl I saw at the end of the stay which was a shame for it was getting a little too dark and because I simply did not have more time to shoot it.
But I managed to get some photos of the stylish owl, so i was happy about that.

Now there will be no blogging on 3 weeks, beacause I'm going to the summer house in Croatia. And there i will work on the house, sunbathe, swim, and just enjoy.
Have a nice summer, blog readers and blog friends.

Bempton Cliffs

Puffin/Lunnefågel

Barn Owl/Tornuggla

Razorbill/Tordmule



Kittiwake/Tretåig mås

Barn owl



Fulmar/Stormfågel

Guillemot/Sillgrissla

Gannet/Havssula

White throat

Whitby a cozy little fishing village

Me and my wife went away last Saturday to the North York Moors National Park it is a NP that goes all the way down to the sea and ends with lime and stone cliffs.
Some bays contain fine sandy beaches but who wants to swim in the ice cold North Sea :))
It's a beautiful coastline with many beautiful hiking trails around the coast if that's what you want to do.
We drove to a small cozy fishing village instead to just stroll around there.
Whitby as it is called is Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk.
The city's name comes from Old Norse and means "white village". The city has 13,594 inhabitants living mainly on the fishing industry and tourism. The ruins of Whitby Abbey is on display in the city. In Whitby is also a Dracula Museum, as part of Bram Stoker's famous novel set in the city.
Captain Cook lived there for a few years and learned seamanship before he sailed away on his adventures.
In the evening we went off to Bempton Cliffs which is an incredibly awesome nature reserve but more from that tomorrow.

Photo contests

I have during my time as photographer sent in some contributions to various photo contests.
As you probably guessed this might cost, and it can vary from £0 to £30.
To compete with the images might sound strange, I mean how can anyone judge whether one's images are good or bad...? You have to consider if its sharp, the light in it, angles, composition. Yes, there is a lot of things that need to be "perfect" for a picture to win.
But one of the biggest "issues" are that the picture must appeal to those who are judging.
I think there is a lot luck involved when competing with pictures.
But, if you are lucky and win something at the bigger competitions, then you can get quite a lot of money or gadgets but also get that picture published in major magazines and also get a lot of attention in other media. Which of course can be fun especially if you want to progress from a hobby photographer to more serious. This could be the start of your career.

I have so far competed in a Swedish photo contest on Fotosidan.se and got a 5th place but also an honorable mention on another image in the same contest.
Another one is in one of the English magazines, Digital Camera, where I got the 3rd place.
But the biggest thing is that I am in the finals with two images on one of the English major photo contest, British Wildlife Photographer award. And that feels as funny as hell ;)))

Here are the pictures that have been in magazines and competitions.

My Hovering Chaffinch in the English magazine

The original picture

My Dipper in the swedish magazine

The original picture, this one also got thru to the final in the big English competition

The swedish magazine

The swedish magazine, Fotosidan Masters competition

And the last one, this got honorable mention in the Swedish fotosidan masters and it also got thru to the big English competition

 

Four evenings with the Ring Ouzel

As I wrote in the previous blog post, I would try to photograph the Ring Ouzel.
Now I have been away four evenings in a row to a place called Stanage Edge which is located in the Peak District National Park.
I've biked from home around 17:30 for an hour later arrive to Stanage edge.
Then I continued on foot to look for the birds, the first day it was relatively easy to find them, it is just  to listen for the male singing  among the rocky landscape.
Second and third day they had moved about 1,5 km other way so i had to walk a bit.
But since the weather has been wonderful with almost no wind and about 18 C and sun, I could not complain.
I have truly enjoyed cycling the long and hilly way up there, but like I said, I definitely think it has been worth it.
Yesterday was the last day I tried to get some good pictures of them, but unfortunately I did not really get the photos I wanted.
I've been there every evening until the sun has gone down and then cycled home, on the way home, I have been looking for owls but have not seen any just heard and I've even heard the cuckoo every evening.
I will return to the Ring Ouzel later this year when hopefully their second brood with young have hatched, then maybe I get even better pictures.
Why shoot these birds then, because for they are rather unusual and I think they are lovely and a bit special.
Next week I will try to shoot Badger we'll see how it goes :))

Camera equipment that I used: Nikon D90 and Nikon 200-400mm f4 vr2

Male Ring Ouzel

Female Ring Ouzel

Female

Young Ring Ouzel

Female

Male and young

Enjoing the sunset

Nice colours

 

Some mixed photos

Here are some mixed photos from my walks in the woods, it's really full speed for the birds in the woods.
It is an everlasting screaming for food in boxes and holes in trees that work as natural nests for the birds.
I have seen that it starts to be fledglings and they can sometimes be seen running along the ground, but they are incredibly good at hiding itself so you have to have your eyes open.
Last week it was lousy weather with rain and wind, but now they have promised sunshine and around 20 C, so I'll try to shoot ring thrush this week.
The hard part is that I have to ride a bike 8km to get to where the birds are and the road goes up almost all the time. But then you get some exercise at the same time. :))
And then you also haft to find the bird too, which is not the easiest thing, but it should be a little easier now that they have to find food for the young ones.
So I hope to find them and also get close enough to get some good photos of them.

Song Thrush



Great tit

Water vole

Song thrush

Robin

Tufted duck