Phil McLean Nature Photographer Blog

I took a picture the other day of a robin.I took it from the car window and Ollie,my springer,was in the back of the car. ‘Do you remember the last time you photographed a robin’,he said.  ’No’,I said.  ’Well, it was last winter and we were sat in the car then as well’,he said.’We were in the garden,snow everywhere and you were using the car as a hide.’That’s right,I remember now’,I said.’You were telling me to sit still and stop slobbering all over the windows’,……    he said. ‘ Aaah,memories’,we said.

Why don’t we take a look back.

The recent image.

The first memory. Now being used in a calendar.

A winter visitor to the garden.

                                                                                                                                                         Ollie hopes you enjoyed your trip down his memory lane.Unfortunately he’s now,also remembering how cold it was last winter and wishes he’d never brought up the subject!

We had a cold spell up here in the Borders,earlier in the week.I decided to go back to the lake at Duns Castle,where most of it had frozen over and the ducks were sliding about on the ice looking for free handouts from the few thoughtful visitors.The attractive mallards were even more colourful with their bright orange legs and feet more visible,but their slip/sliding waddles were anything but elegant.

I sat on a cold,wet grassy tussock for an hour and a half and here are some of the images.

Someone arrives with a bag of seed/bread.

Please Sir,I want more.

The ice acts as a reflector,showing more detail on the underside of the duck.

                                                                                                                                                      That’s all for now,folks.

Last Friday I was back at the short eared owls near Dunbar and what a contrast to the previous friday.When I arrived there was 1 owl sat on a fence.I took a few images using the fence as an artistic lead in,the owl then flew away and that was it.Fortunately I had taken quite a few decent images on the previous visit and because I hadn’t included them all on the last owl blog,here they are now.

P.S  I promise to try and photograph some different subjects for the future.Honest.

Just three more to put up with.

Hope I haven’t turned you off short eared owls forever but if you have the opportunity and they are only there for a limited time,you do have to try and seize that chance.

Hope you return and I’d love to hear from you.   Bye Bye.

There’s plenty of times you set off to photograph one particular subject but for one reason or another, you come back with a completely different set of images.Sometimes those images may end up being better but even if they are not,they will be better than coming back with nothing at all.The short eared owls didn’t always come too close originally and so here are a few images taken at the Dunbar site and on the drive home later in the day.

The resident fox put in a brief appearance one afternoon.S.E.Owls forgotten.

I see very few foxes where I live.See lots of pheasant,partridge and grouse though!

Beautiful animal.

Lovely,calm pastel sunset colours reflected in the water,with a buoy.

Driving home,I just had to stop. Beautiful colours.

It had been nearly two weeks since my last visit to the short eared owls near Dunbar.I was hoping that the throng of photographers/bird watchers had died down and that the owls would be showing themselves more often and a little closer.As it turned out I was right on both counts and I was able to improve on the images I had got previously.

Here are some of the results from last friday.

That’s all folks.

My springer,Ollie takes me for a walk alongside the River Whiteadder most days.I take my camera,more in hope than expectation,as Ollie charges about, oblivious to any wildlife that may be around.Occasionally I get lucky and don’t just see the tail end of things either running,swimming or flying off over the horizon.

Don’t get me wrong.Ollie doesn’t chase wildlife.Most times he’s just nose to the ground,running around having a good time and totally unaware of the wildlife around him.Great fun for him but sometimes frustrating for me.But I love him to bits.

Anyway here’s a small selection of images taken down by the river in the last few weeks.

Ollie doesn’t see most of these.In fact he thinks we must go on different walks.I remind him we sat together when I photographed the otter.Really?,he said.    O.K,whatever,he said.

On monday I spent an enjoyable hour sat on the side of Duns Castle lake with my camera and a pot of bird seed.I got there just before 3.00pm and so made the most of the late winter sunshine.I concentrated on the mallards but also had coot,moorhen and greylag geese feeding in front of me.

Mallards are attractive little ducks and often overlooked by photographers,even though they are so common in our local ponds and lakes.

These little bursts of photographic activity are always enjoyable and so here are some of the results.

Many hours are spent standing around in the cold waiting for any brief sighting of the elusive short eared owls.There may be a dozen or more photographers/birdwatchers strung out along the roadside,eyes peeled,feet stamping and cold noses sniffing because of the cold january breezes coming in off the North Sea.

A call goes up as an owl is spotted coming up over the horizon,and a collective groan as it disappears back the way it came.”Aah but if it was easy,everybody would be doing it”,someone says.

Thankfully they do appear,all too briefly,hardly ever close enough and often as the light is fading.

But next time.And ‘After all,if it was easy…..’.

That’s all folks.

Last week I drove up the coast to a site just outside Dunbar where a few short eared owls had decided to spend the winter months.They will probably leave sometime in March and go back to their breeding grounds in the spring/summer.

For now they are providing opportunities for photographers,but as the site becomes more popular,it means more people,less owl sightings and fewer picture opportunities.

I’ve not been back for a week but here are a few images I took when I was there.

I hope you enjoyed these first few images. Enough to want to come back again anyway.

I’ll be posting some more tomorrow and if you have any comments,I’d love to hear from you.

And finally.

Hi,my name is Phil and welcome to my first post.

I live in Berwickshire,in the Scottish Borders and I will be posting images that I have taken as I travel around my local area.Basically it will be a visual diary of the local flora,fauna and countryside of this attractive area of Britain.

I hope you enjoy it and please feel free to comment if you wish.