I hadn’t visited Leighton Moss for many months and I was keen to visit again. Autumn had arrived and thankfully the very high temperatures of the Summer were a distant memory. It promised to be a lovely day as I arrived at the Eric Morecambe hide. There were plenty of birds on show especially the […]
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!!!
Pinks, Parasols and a Phalarope
The weather was warm and settled ideal conditions for the pink footed geese to arrive from Iceland. I like to witness one of nature’s spectacles as the geese arrive at Martin Mere for their winter holidays. There were already about seven thousand geese in the area and I was hoping for many more during the […]
Owls Revisited
It was eight years since I had last seen Long Eared Owls up in the Pennine Hills. Paul Foster had found them and I was privileged to have seen this elusive owl hunting over it’s territory up on the moors. Out of the blue Paul recently rang me to say he had been back to […]
Back In Action
I am pleased to report that I am now mobile and back in action following recent surgery. I was looking forward to return to some of my favourite locations to catch up on the comings and goings. For my first visit I chose to go to Mere Sands Nature Reserve to hopefully see the kingfishers […]
Out Of Action
It is a month now since my last posting. I am presently recovering from hip surgery and it may be many weeks before I am able to get out and about again with the camera. To keep the blog alive I am therefore publishing a few images taken before I went into hospital Apart from […]
Bowland – Early Doors
At this time of the year with plenty of daylight I like to make early morning excursions into Bowland. Bowland’s lanes and backroads are very quiet and especially so early on a summers morning. I left home around 4am and before I had reached Longridge I came across two roe deer feeding close to the […]
Marshside – Avocets and Godwits
It has been some time since I last posted.I have some images from previous trips pending and as I will be going into hospital soon I thought I would try to bring the blog up to date.In the middle of May I visited RSPB Marshside to find recently hatched avocet chicks showing very well in […]
Dozens of Dunlins
A couple of weeks ago I visited one of my favourite locations. Rossall Point has easy access and is a favoured roosting site for waders. There were good numbers of dunlin present and most of them were wearing their summer finery. They will have now probably departed for their Arctic breeding grounds with the current […]