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This page will act as a photographic journal. What I'm using, why I like various bits of kit, how I set up certain shots. Stuff that on the whole would act as a massive turn-off for anyone not interested in wildlife photography. Thick-billed Lark
February 14, 2014
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As you perhaps read on my other blog, I've just come back from a very enjoyable and, dare I say it, successful trip to Morocco. The main aim of the trip was probably to photograph desert birds, and we spent a full day and a half on this, mainly in just two locations south of the town of Guelmin. This is somewhere I will definitely be going back to. The first decent situation we managed to create was with Thick-billed Lark, which was very nearly the first bird we saw we stopped the car along the N1. Whereas mine flew off never to be refound, Mick found a pair at the edge of a tilled strip where it had been carved out of the desert - what the local people hoped to grow I have no idea, but although there was nothing immediately obvious, the birds were sticking around this area. We set up a few rocks for perches and started the vigil. The male wandered off quite quickly, but with patience (we were probably at it for a couple of hours on just this pair as they fed alongside a "field") we got a few decent images of him as well. The day was quite windy, with broken cloud cover, so although I started off in manual mode, it became apparent that the ever-changing light would be better dealt with in AV (Canon's aperture priority) mode. The light was nice under the clouds, and so most images seen below were taken at f8 with shutter speeds ranging from 1/1000s to 1/2500s, mostly at ISO 640 to keep myself in four figures. I used my trusty monopod, which was incredibly useful for supporting and panning to follow these often quick-moving birds around. We saw a few more of these species over the next day and a half, but never really bothered trying to get more on them as we knew we had done pretty well first time around and there were many other things we wanted to do. Thick-billed Lark was high on our list of targets, so to have all of these images safely tucked away on the cameras by mid-morning on day two (day one spent travelling) was a great start.
Thekla Lark
January 22, 2014
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Thekla Larks are everywhere in the Moroccan landscape. Being fairly drab, I didn't pay them much heed unless there was a particularly close one, but they're nice birds to have a bit of a go at, and with a little patience I was able to get some good images. Or at least I think they're OK! Next time I'm out there I want to try a couple of other things, but I was particularly pleased with the cactus as for the most part they rarely left the ground, and in fact this was the only bird of any species that ever posed for me on one. These prickly pear cactuses are everywhere, people tend to use them as natural hedges or to protect their property. There is definitely some mileage in a series of images of birds on cactuses, but for now I've only got Thekla Lark! There are a few more images in the gallery.
Great Grey Shrike
January 20, 2014
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Great Grey Shrike are abundant in Morocco, but I never dreamed I would come away with images. My experience of this species so far has only been of birds in the UK, and these typically remain miles away. So I was amazed on my first evening in the country when slowing down to a bird I had seen out of the car window that it didn't move when I rolled to a stop. I couldn't get the angle that I wanted on the bird, so I moved the car a little way off, parked up and got out to approach the bird on foot! It didn't move! This first image is of that bird.
It didn't work with all individuals I came across, but later on during the trip I was able to approach three other birds relatively closely as well, including one that was absolutely astonishing in its fearlessness. I spent hours with it, just sat alongside its favoured hunting perch. It spent a lot of time checking me out, but continued to fly down to the ground to pick up beetles. Insects must be 100% of its diet, or at least other birds perhaps formed 0% of its diet, as every Shrike I found was in the company of other passerine species that it paid no heed to whatsoever, and who were not afraid of it at all. Perhaps it is only in northern areas that small birds form part of their diet, and that in warmer climes insects are sufficiently common and easy prey that there is no need to add birds to their diet. Or that's my theory anyway.
I absolutely love the detail in this image, it passes all my tests for sharpness with flying colours, but in reality the bird was too close! A 300mm lens, or my 70-200 (which was in the car at the bottom the hill!) would have been really quite useful in this situation. Then again, can you really ever be too close to a Great Grey Shrike? No! There are a few more images in my "Shrikes" gallery.
Black Wheatear
January 18, 2014
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Black Wheatear was one of my main targets in Morocco, but it wasn't until the third day of four that I finally found one. Driving along well off the beaten track, I espied a black dot on a ridge - these birds often take a prominent position. I chatted to the local farmer as I would need to cross his land to get the bird, but he had no problem with that - up I went. A bit of climb, but the views were superb. The birds - there was also a female that I had not spotted - never came particularly close to me except once, but I was able to grab a couple of nice shots as they chatted at me from further away. I had found a truly great little spot, with a Moussier's Redstart, a Black Redstart, several Thekla Lark, and a Great Grey Shrike that will be the subject of my next post.
Moussier's Redstart
January 17, 2014
Moussier's Redstart is abundant in Morocco, literally everywhere you stop - unless I was just really lucky of course. They tend to be inquisitive birds, and came in to check me and my funny squeaking noises. I'd had a good experience with a bird on a prior trip to Morocco, but hadn't quite come away with the perfect image. This time I reckon I'm a lot closer, but I'd still go back for another try! This is just a selection, there are quite few more in the "Chats" gallery.
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