Owls of the short eared variety.

Just a small selection of images I’ve taken of the stunning Short Eared Owls found un upper Teasdale this summer. Please feel free to save and share but please remember either link back to my website or socials!

Short-eared owls are medium sized owls with mottled brown bodies, pale under-wings and yellow eyes. They are commonly seen hunting during the day. In winter, there is an influx of continental birds (from Scandinavia, Russia, Iceland) to northern, eastern, and parts of central southern England, especially around the coast. They are of European conservation concern and so are an Amber List species. - RSPB

Canon EOS R7 + EF 600mm F4L IS

Canon EOS R6 + EF 600mm F4L IS

Canon EOS R7 + EF600mm F4L IS

Canon EOS R7 + EF 600mm F4L IS

Local Owls

As some of you may have noticed, I have a thing for Owls.

So, here are a selection of images I’ve taken locally, full size and full resolution for you to enjoy!

Barn owl in flight

Unexpected close up!

Taking a break during an evening hunt.

Surveying the land before coming out for a hunt.

Long eared Owl taking in the early morning sun

A christmas gift!

So, It’s almost christmas, and all i usually have to offer is sarcasm and dad joke style humour however this time around I have a photo for you all.

Feel free to download this cute little snowy robin image. It’s watermark free and in full resolution.

Editing my raw files

Below is a before and after of a recent image I took.

• Run raw file through DX Pure raw. Noise reduction and import to photoshop

• Exposure correction

• Layer mask used to adjust background - Levels/curve adjustment

• Layer mask used to adjust subject - Level/curves and minor contrast increase

• Removal of distractions - Dust spots and a small reed caught on the tail.

  There really isn’t much more to it than that. This is a general idea of what my workflow looks like for most of my wildlife images I’ve taken.
  
  I’ll try to make a few more of these and detail my workflow in more depth in the future. I often get asked how I edit my images so I hope this gives you a bit of an idea!
  
  

A few local walks

It’s been an unpredictable few weeks in terms of weather on the coast that has dampened my motivation to get out and about as much. I’ve also been on the receiving end of abuse when out photographing wildlife in more populated areas. This was unexpected as it’s a well known local wildlife spot with hundreds of animals there.

However, I’ve found a few local walks that away from the general public and the risk of abuse and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed walking several miles a day carrying my camera and a bit of food. They range between 3-7 miles on average which is great exercise when you’re carrying around a pro build camera and 600mm lens (plus my backup camera and lenses!)

I’ve stuck to the coast for the majority for the time and saw everything from common seagulls to a black tern and 4-5 deer grazing in the fields. There’s signs that autumn has begun and I’m looking forward to photographing the local wildlife in the autumn colours.

I haven’t got many exciting images to share however that hasn’t stopped me from grabbing some cute photos of the locals. I’ll drop them below. It’s been an interesting area to walk and I’ve bumped into some lovely people who took a few minutes (or half an hour!) out of their day to talk to me about what I was doing, what they had seen on their own walks, and what they have in their local areas. Some days this is okay but when I’m having a rough day I put my head down and walk by. So if you ever see me out and about and I don’t stop - I’m just having a rough day and need the space. Nothing personal.

A brief social media update - I now have twitter! @ImagesByBH with bare minimum on at the moment however I will link it to this site and my Instagram to keep people updated in a more concise way!

That’s all for now, enjoy the photos!

It's been a slow few days.

I think most people would agree that this year has been a strange one for wildlife. The usual visitors haven’t returned, or they are very few and far between.

That hasn’t stopped me continuing to walk around the countryside looking for new spots to study and photograph. My favourites have been the barn owls by far however recently I discovered some little owls.

I’ve started to venture out a little further from my local area and I’m planning a few trips to some well known areas to photograph some specific species. I’ll keep this updated with each of those trips.

For now though I’ll upload some photos I’ve taken recently.

Recent trips.

Over the last few weeks I’ve spent the majority of my time out and about, camera in hand. I had no expectations in terms of capturing images but I do enjoy having my camera there for when something does appear.

Some of my favourite, in fact most, are the ones that I least expected. For example this Sedge Warbler with a catch. I had roughly 10-15 seconds to capture the image. This was while navigating stepping stones over shallow water while holding up my partner behind me. Thankfully Amy is very patient with me and photography.

Canon EOS 1D mark 4 :: Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L series :: ISO: 200 F/5.6 1/800

Another that took me by surprise was this Little Egret that flew over my head at a local nature reserve. I’d only ever seen these at a distance of around 150ft and never had any useable images of them. Thankfully this particular one was brave enough to do three laps around the hide and allowed me to grab a couple of in flight shots. The lighting was less than ideal, white subject with harsh sunlight, however I tend to use the exposure compensation and under expose by 1/3 stop to prevent any highlights being lost.

Canon EOS 1D mark 4 :: Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L series :: ISO: 400 F/7.1 2500

I’ve been using my Fathers hard drive and well organised folders to navigate my way around the wildlife of Northumberland, North tyneside and Newcastle and one bird in particular caught my attention. A local barn owl.

After speaking to a few photographers that knew my Father I quickly found a spot to park up and watch. My wait wasn’t a long one and I was treated to a 30 minute show while it hunted in neighbouring fields before it turned back and into range of my lens.

Canon EOS 1D mark 4 :: Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L series :: ISO: 1600 F/7.1 1/1600

The light was fading fast but cast a lovely golden light over the owl as it looked for it’s next meal. The light faded fast and the ISO crept up. I have a shot that was at over 51k ISO! That required quite a bit of post processing to make it acceptable.

Canon EOS 1D mark 4 :: Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L series :: ISO: 51,200 F/7.1 1/1600

Between my walks I do need to take a rest occasionally and I’ll find a local hide to visit and take the weight off my feet. Carrying my camera equipment around for miles takes it’s toll.

Most days there’s long periods where no photos are being taken. I’m sat listening to nothing but the wildlife and the wind. It’s incredibly peaceful and relaxing. Both of which are well needed at the moment.

In fact most of the images I’m most pleased with came from walking back to the car from the hide. Like this Sparrowhawk which flew over head being chased by two swallows. Thankfully the 1D and 400 prime is a brilliant combination for fast focusing and at 10fps I was bound to get something useable.

Canon EOS 1D mark 4 :: Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L series :: ISO: 400 F/7.1 1/4000

Canon EOS 1D mark 4 :: Canon EF 400mm f5.6 L series :: ISO: 400 F/7.1 1/4000

I could go on and on about my recent walks but I’ll leave it at that. I’ll drop the rest of the images taken recently in a gallery below.

If you’ve got any questions, comments or want any of these images sent to you. Get in touch, either via social media or the contact me section at the top!

Gallery

St Mary's Lighthouse

St Mary’s Lighthouse

Today I decided to take a walk along the coast at one of my favourite places as there were some nice blue skies and a gentle breeze to help keep me cool.

The lighthouse and adjacent keepers' cottages were built in 1898 by a local company from Tynemouth and It was built on the site of an 11th-century monastic chapel. The monks at the chapel maintained the original lantern. The light house has had several upgrades and changes and was decommissioned in 1984 and a few years later it was opened as a visitor centre and remains open to the public to this day.

The site has two car parks which are both pay and display but they give you access to the island and surrounding beaches. There is also a small nature reserve between both of these car parks. The site has been a Conservation area since 1974 and a local nature reserve since 1992

The reserve is popular for waders and sea birds such as Curlew, Dunlin, Knot, Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Golden and Ringed Plover and Sandering and also Rock and Water Pipits, Skylark, Lapland and Snow Bunting, Shore Lark, Reed bunting and white throat.

I spent a couple of hours walking around the grasslands and reserve chatting to people as I went. I managed to take a couple of photos before a thick fog rolled in. My favourite shot was the male reed bunting chirping away in the sunshine. See below.

Male Reed bunting :: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV :: Canon 400mm f5.6 L :: ISO 200 :: F5.6 :: 1/2000

Shortly after I captured this image a thick fog began rolling in and soon St Mary’s lighthouse began to disappear. This was my cue to head back to the car and call it a day.

Thick fog rolling in.

If you’re planning a visit for the first time you might find the below info helpful.

Map Reference

NZ 353 755

Habitats

• Coastal

• Wetland

• Grassland

Access

There is free access to the coast and beaches. However access is limited for wheelchair users.

Facilities

There are toilets in the main car park closest to the light house. There is usually a refreshments van in the car park however there are plenty of cafes locally in whitley bay.

You can find more information on the north tyneside website.

Click the button below.