You should have seen the one that got away!

/featured/you-should-have-seen-the-one-that-got-away-mr-bennett-kent.html”> Nankeen or Rufous Night heron Near Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia[/caption]

Happy Wild Bird Wednesday :0)

Click the link below to see photographs from many talented folk around the world and feast your eyes on our fine feathered friends!!

I am not sure how well this title translates globally, but this is a dig at the pub boasting of fisherman using their arms to show just how big the fish they ALMOST caught was!!!

Taken near Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia, this is the Nankeen or Rufous Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) coming in to land.

I seem to have gained the confidence of this beautiful specimen and I spent the best part of an hour, just sitting in his company and it really was an honor.
It is one of those experiences which can make wildlife photography so much more than simply pressing the button :0)

The Mother of all Geese

Greylag Geese on the Isle of Mull Scotland

Happy Wild Bird Wednesday :0)

Click the link below to see photographs from many talented folk around the world and feast your eyes on our fine feathered friends!!

The Greylag Goose (Anser anser) is believed to be the ancestor of most modern day domestic Geese. It is the largest of the native UK and European native Geese and, to my eye, it is very similar in size to a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis).
This beautiful bird is officially classed as amber status in the UK, meaning moderate cause for concern for the population numbers.
In the South of England release of birds has been on going for a number of years to help re-establish their population with some success, but the population found in Scotland are from the original native stock and retain more of the natural behaviors of true wild birds.
This was taken on the Isle of Mull, the second largest of the “Inner Hebrides” off the West Coast of Scotland.
Another first for me on a really rather wonderful trip to magical Mull :0)

Shot with the my trusty Canon 100-400mm f/4.8-5.6 L lens wide open on the Canon 7D to get the shallow depth of field to give the soft focus bokeh of the 2 Geese in the background

An encounter with the magnificent White Tailed Eagle on Mull

The magnificent White Tailed Eagle on Mull by MBK Wildlife Photography

Happy Wild Bird Wednesday :0)

Click the link below to see photographs from many talented folk around the world and feast your eyes on our fine feathered friends!!

My apologies for many weeks without a post. Normal posting will be resumed from today, but I have been struggling with health issues.

A few weeks ago I drove from Kent to the Isle of Mull, one of the “Inner Hebrides” islands off the west coast of Scotland in search of Otters!

Mull is a wildlife enthusiast’s dream as (notwithstanding Seals, Dolphins, Otters and Minke Whales), it is one of the very few places in the UK where you can see the White – Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

This is the largest bird in the UK and less than 100 can be found in the UK

It has a wingspan of more than 8 feet and is similar in size the the American Bald Eagle. They are also known as the Sea Eagle and primarily feed on fish, but will take lambs, otters and any other creature unfortunate to be spotted by these huge predators!

The sheer cliffs of Granite, interspersed with Grass and Heather provide the rugged natural background
A truly awe inspiring example of wildlife to encounter!!

I have been fortunate to have been able to travel to some remarkable parts of the world in my time, to see magnificent wildlife, but this really does rank pretty much at the top of all these amazing experiences :0)

Avocets crossing bills

Avocets crossing bills

Happy Wild Bird Wednesday :0)

Click the link below to see photographs from many talented folk around the world and feast your eyes on our fine feathered friends!!

A square format photograph of a pair of Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) at Elmley Marshes in Kent, England. Very similar in appearance to the American Avocet (Recurvirostra Americana), but lacking the apricot coloration. Delightful nonetheless. I had one of those moments which sometimes happens to wildlife photographers, when everything works in your favour and caught these two in perfect crossed beak symmetry. These beautiful birds are something of a rarity in England, officially Amber Status with 1,500 breeding pairs in the UK, confined largely to the East cost in Summer (where these were) and in the South West over winter. They are a huge success story and had been absent for many years until a few pairs arrived in East Anglia in the 1940s and began to breed. The importance of this successful breeding gave rise to the Avocet being used as the emblem of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (The RSPB).

Taken on the Canon 7D with my trusty canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L lens

Rainbow Bee Eater, Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia (Wild Bird Wednesday)

Rainbow Bee Eater in Port Douglas. Beauty on Chains

Happy Wild Bird Wednesday :0)

Click the link below to see photographs from many talented folk around the world and feast your eyes on our fine feathered friends!!

This Wednesday is rather special: Stewart, who spearheads the weekly Bird photography blog exchanges and links which make Wild Bird Wednesday (WBW) such a valuable source of photographs and web links is today hosting his 100th WBW!! He has selected 15 of his favourite WBW photographs and posted to his blog. They really are spectacular, so do click the link below and enjoy them. Links to this weeks participating Blogs (around 70 )from around the world can be found on his page, so do drop in and enjoy the weekly event which is WBW :0)

Today is my third WBW blog posting, so a long way to go to catch up with Stewart’s landmark figure and after last weeks British bird, I have chosen to return to an Australian bird, the spectacular Rainbow Bee Eater (Merops ornatus)

You will never forget your first encounter with this beautiful bird and the brightly coloured feathers have an almost metallic sheen to them.
I took this shot in a Park near the Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.

I have a number of shots of these birds on branches and plants, but there is something about the mix of the modern steel chain with the stunningly beautiful colourful bird which makes this one that bit unusual and a personal favourite!

The bokeh background is provided by a Paperbark tree (Melaleuca spp), a stunning tree, superficially resembling a Eucalyptus, but unrelated, with a soft bark often hanging off in huge multilayered sheets – hence the name.

Click here for more of my bird photographs – enjoy!!

Common Myna (Wild Bird Wednesday)

Common Myna In Cairns

Happy Wild Bird Wednesday :0)
Stewart Monkton has set up a weekly page with links to bird photographers from around the world’s pages each week
Follow this link to see links to all the submissions and feast your eyes on our Feathered friends!!

Here is my first WBW and this is a Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis), also known as the Common Mynah under the shade of a Eucalyptus tree by the Boardwalk in Cairns, Queensland Australia. These are a medium sized bird of the Starling family and a bout the same size as the European Starling. They are disconcertingly clever and will watch you with knowing eyes and I clearly remember, as a child, people having these as Pets un the UK and that some could say a few mimicked words. These are pretty tame when near to cities as the get used to humans easily, so I did not need much bush craft to get close enough for this shot, but it was still a thrill to see one of these birds I saw caged as a child living free. I personally love them, but they are hated by most Australians as a pest and known as “Flying Rats”!. The shadow has made for a fairly richly coloured shot with the bright yellow beak, seeming to shine out, and the dappled light on the multicoloured leaves on the ground around the bird make an interesting diversion

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Australian bird, Brush Turkey

I shall never forget my first encounter with the Australian Brush Turkey (Alectura lathami)

They are a strange looking bird, appearing to have been made from pieces of other animals!

They have the body of a Black Swan, the vibrant colours of a parrot, the neck and wattle of a turkey, the bald head and the beak of a vulture and a strange vertical fan of tail feathers tail resembling a Shark’s tail

I met this fellow in woods near Barron Falls, near Cairns, Queensland, Australia and spent some quality time in his company until he wandered into a pool of light into the undergrowth, when I took this shot

They make huge mounds of earth and vegetation up to 4ft high and 13ft across and the male controls the size to maintain incubation temperature

A truly fascinating bird!

Magpie lark (Peewee)

Magpie Lark

Here we have the delicate and delightful Magpie-lark, (Grallina cyanoleuca), affectionately known as the Peewee, singing her little heart out!
The white throat shows this to be female, as the male has a black throat.

It is neither a magpie, nor a lark, but gets its name from the magpie colours and the lark-like song.
They pair for life and as their partnership lengthens and strengthens, their songs synchronise. They duet, and take turns to sing their love songs, with one taking over as the other finishes in short bursts, so that birds in long relationships can have such smooth transitions that they sound like a single bird in song

Not the most beautiful Australian bird, but one which I shall long remember from my trip as utterly enchanting

This was taken just behind the Esplanade in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Pelican portrait 2

Pelican portrait 2

I make no apologies for another shot of this fascinating bird – when you find an accommodating pelican, you really do have to make the most of the opportunity ;-). The angle of the shot gives you a view of the subtle blue in the sea of yellow surrounding the eye. In breeding season this become a dramatic large dark blue and gives the comical clown like appearance I mentioned in my earlier Pelican portrait. The Australian Pelican is not pretty in everyone’s books, but few would argue that they are dramatic and eye-catching and you will never forget your first encounter with them

Welcome to my wildlife photography blog :0)

Follow my blog to see wildlife photography from the UK and my travels to Florida, America and Queensland,Australia.

 

Birds will feature prominently, along with reptiles, amphibians, mammals (stay tuned for Humpback Whales!!) and insect macro photography. I shall be giving you background to photography techniques and technical detail about the wildlife. I look forward to sharing my passion with you :0)