November 2023 Viewfinder
A new kind of winter arrives in this month's Opposite View Wildlife Photography newsletter.
The phrase ‘winter is coming’ means something different depending on who you are (and whether you've watched or read Game of Thrones).
Fantasy fiction aside, for some, winter arriving is the precursor to Christmas and the joy or stress that the festive juggernaut brings, as we hurtle towards the 25th of December. For others, it is about the weather - whether they are excited about sparkling frost-covered landscapes, or fearful of the cold and wondering how they will afford to heat their homes. For some, the lack of light triggers depression.
I'm trying to say that however you feel about this winter - positive or negative - is reasonable and understandable. I don't presume that everyone thinks about this time of year in terms of their wildlife photography.
That being said, the end of autumn also heralds the arrival of something I feel is quite magical - and I'm not talking about the John Lewis Christmas advert. No, I'm referring to the migrant birds that land on our shores at this time of year. As I write this, social media channels are twittering with excitement as bird enthusiasts across the UK share their sightings. Whether it's skeins of geese flying over homes or flocks of fieldfares devouring berries in the park, it is an exciting time wherever - or whatever - your local patch is.
Now, I think I know what you're going to ask. This mass migration also happens every spring (think swallows and swifts, seabirds and ospreys), so why are these winter arrivals so special? Well, dear reader, you only have to look out the window to find your answer. Unlike in spring, when flowers are starting to bloom and the landscape is awash with colour, everything has got a bit bleak, hasn't it? The sky looks threatening or freezing during the day, and the nights are long. The windy and wet days become more frequent (despite the current bright, cold snap as I write this). Even the burnished hues of autumn are trodden into paths everywhere as the fluttering and crunching leaves turn into mush.
These avian winter wanderers popping up can brighten the drabbest of days. The bright yellow cheese triangle of a whooper swan's bill. The emerald sheen on the head of a male goldeneye. The rust-coloured flash when a redwing flaps its wings. If you stop to notice, the seemingly empty stage of a winter landscape fills with colourful characters. So, I advise you to keep your eyes peeled for these visitors and allow them to warm you from the inside out.
If you need any more encouragement - particularly if you're curious about using social media to keep track of sightings - please look at my recent blogs, including my latest species spotlight, which explains why we're having a waxwing winter and how you can find these berry bandits.
For now, I'll leave you with an image of another visitor to my local patch earlier this month. Grey wagtails have added a splash of lemon yellow to my daily walks. These birds may not be winter migrants, but they are enjoying an extended stay in the field containing the highland cattle, which I walk past most days. These bouncy little birds enjoy picking the insects from the churned-up mud around the coos' trough. While that's where they are most often spotted, on this particular day, I got lucky when one of the birds flew off and perched on the gate with the out-of-focus leaves in the background. It was an opportunity to use those stunning colours before winter arrived and changed them.
Best wishes,
Rhiannon
Opposite View Wildlife Photography
Through my lens
Seek and hide - hiring a hide to develop your wildlife photography skills
It has been exactly a year since I last visited Argaty Red Kites to photograph red squirrels from the comfort of their woodland hide. I'd visited the hide twice previously, although this was the first time since they had to rebuild it after the storms in 2021. I have to say that the team has managed to improve on perfection, with the light and layout even better for our latest visit.
I won't lie; I was nervous the first time I hired the hide at Argaty. Having seen the photos captured there by other wildlife photographers I admire, I was worried that mine would disappoint.
In this blog and related video, I explain how to avoid any feelings of inadequacy and how hiring a hide can help to develop your wildlife photography skills.
Species Spotlight
Waxwing - the bohemian berry bandit
My never-ending quest to photograph wildlife has taken me to some incredible locations: the majestic plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya, the dramatic cliffs of North East England and Scotland, a car park in Bellshill near Motherwell … hang on, what was that last one? A car park? Well, as it turns out, not every exotic species is found in a picturesque location. One bird, in particular, is an urban wildlife photographer's dream - the bohemian waxwing.
Waxwings may be easy to identify, but clapping eyes on them can be a trickier affair. In this blog, I share how to find and photograph them.
And finally…
My trail camera has been sitting in the cupboard for a while, as I am busy working out where to put it next. However, there are plenty of other videos to watch on my YouTube channel - including the waxwing footage and the top tips video I shared in the blogs above.
Please subscribe to my videos to keep up to date.
Keep in touch
Thanks for reading this! If you have any comments or questions, opportunities for photography or if you would like to use any of my images, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
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Rhiannon I think you have excelled yourself this month, your writing and photographs are a joy, well done.