Well what a year 2019 was for me, photography wise.
One of my favourite insects is the Banded Demoiselle and I normally visit a country park where it is possible to see 100+ at the right time of the year. Below is my favourite photo I managed to take of them in 2019. It was not setup and the other male Demoiselle flew in and landed just as I took the photo!
For many years I had been trying to get a decent photo of a Kingfisher. In 2018, I managed to get a few pictures for a nature reserve in Sevenoaks but I finally managed to get a closer photo from a local nature reserve in October 2019, of a male. Below are my two favourite photos I managed to take:
The Kingfisher is one of my favourite species and I will always want to try and capture more photos of them. After reading posts on Facebook, that a Kingfisher had been seen and photographed often at Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, I used one of Christmas days off and spent had a few hours there. Upon arriving at the bird hide I met a few other photographers and was informed the Kingfisher had visited a few times already in the morning. Sitting quietly, I waited and it was not long before I heard the distinct call and a male Kingfisher landed on a perch. Before I got chance to focus it flew off across to an area of reeds way in the distance. After a few fishing attempts it came back towards the perch but decided to then fly off into a nearby tree.
Finally, after waiting for around an hour the male Kingfisher came back and I was able to get some photos. Using rapid shot, I took over 50 shots and I have kept four I most like:
One of my friends alerted me to sightings of Short & Long Eared Owls at Elmley National Nature Reserve and so, on my final Christmas day off work I spent a few hours there. When arriving I had never seen the car park so full and there were a number of photographers around the fence area. Carefully looking you could see two or three Long Eared Owls in the hawthorn hedge, however the hedgerow growth made it difficult to take any good photos. I still managed to get some photos and added a vignette around them in Photoshop.
On the way back, a Kestrel flew across the road and started to hover, looking for food. I managed to take a number of photos, using rapid shoot, and my favourite ones are below:
(My Overall Favourite)
So, what will 2020 bring. Well you will have to follow my blog and website to find out.
Happy New Year!
