First the bad news, currently the weather is very unsettled with plenty of rain and very cold for June. This recent bad weather brought disaster to the local nesting great crested grebes. They had constructed their nest and were incubating three eggs as previously reported. A subsequent visit found no sign of nest or eggs. […]
Author: Brian Rafferty
I am based in Preston. Lancashire. This central location enables me to travel easily to a wide variety of habitats in the North of England. I tend these days not to travel very far as I find that there is plenty to see not very far from home. On my own doorstep are a wonderful variety of habitats - natural woodlands, open fells and hill country, unspoilt river valleys and I have easy access to the delights of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. As you will see from my bird images much time is spent at the wonderful coastal sites forming part of Morecambe Bay and the Ribble Estuary e.g. Marshside and Leighton Moss. In recent years Digital Photography has taken over from Video and as time has moved on I have acquired more and more equipment - as you do!!
I use Nikon Camera Equipment and currently use a Nikon D200 for general work and a D300 specifically for bird photography. The D300m is usually coupled to a 500mm F4 lens which has dramatically changed the quality of images that I am now able to obtain.
I am enjoying being able to post images on Flickr and share the rewards of our wonderful interests with the rest of the world!!!
Stonechats at Longridge Fell
On my recent travels around Longridge Fell I have come across some stonechats. These beautiful little birds can often be seen perching in prominent positions and announcing their presence with their distinctive calls. They are a lovely little bird to photograph and I was lucky to be able to capture some nice images of the […]
Great Crested Grebes
I think I have taken more images of Great Crested Grebes over the years than any other bird. Now that I am able to get about more I have been able to visit locations where I have previously enjoyed looking at and photographing grebes. It is that time of the year when they perform their […]
Back in Action
It has been four months since I last published a blog. I have been out of action following further hip surgery. I am now bionic having had two new hips since July 2018!! I am making a good recovery and am now able to drive again. This has meant that at long last I have […]
Barn Owls at Christmas
I began the year with an account of a barn owl. I am finishing the year with another account of barn owls. The weather so far in December has been awful with rain on most days and very dull conditions. Hardly conducive to good photography but there have been a couple of days when conditions […]
Barn Owls – Brief Encounters
Towards the end of November the weather was settled with easterly winds and dry conditions.I discovered that a local barn owl was coming out and hunting early afternoon on a regular basis.I visited half a dozen times and was rewarded with some great opportunities for the camera.The earliest the owl came out was around 1.30pm.I […]
Icelandic Visitors
It had been many weeks since I had visited the Pilling area of Lancs. I made a couple of trips to the area recently to catch up on the birdlife. As expected a number of pink footed geese and whooper swans had arrived from their Icelandic breeding grounds. The Pilling area is a traditional winter […]
Yorkshire – Deer and Kites
I recently visited Yorkshire for my annual visit to Studley Royal Deer Park. It was dry and cool with no sun but ideal for photography. I found the deer herds in the usual part of the parkland and they were in groups of reds, sitkas and fallows. I spent a couple of hours or so […]