Black & White Wednesday

Posted on October 14, 2020October 11, 2020 Posted in Black and White Wednesday., Coastal, Ireland, wildlifeTagged Bird watching, Black and white, black and white photography, Black and White Wednesday., Coastal, County Down, monochrome, monochrome photography, Mudflats, nature, nature photography, wild birds, Wildfowl, wildlife photography4 Comments

Had a few days break from work and was happy the sun decided to shine those few days. So I spent one of them at a few spots along the County Down coast. The tide was out and I was not counting on much wildlife on the mudflats. But the day left me with some grand photographs. So todays image is one of a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) fishing in a fresh water stream that runs out through the mudflats.

So it turned out a enjoyable day and may you all enjoy your day.

George.

Camera: Nikon D750 with a Sigma 150-600 mm lens

Data: f/6.3 @ 1/2000 sec: ISO 360, focal length 600 mm

Black & White Wednesday

Posted on June 17, 2020June 13, 2020 Posted in Black and White Wednesday., Ireland, outdoors, wildlifeTagged bird photography, Bird watching, Black and white, black and white photography, Black and White Wednesday., black headed gulls, coast, Coastal, County Down, Irish birdlife, mud flats, sea birds, seagulls, Shore life, Strangford lough3 Comments

This weeks black & white image was taken on the shore of Strangford Lough in County Down in Northern Ireland. The photograph shows a Black Headed gull drinking from a small river that flows into the lough. The gull is in its summer plumage where the head is a dark brown to black colour with a white ring around part of the eye.

Black headed gull, summer plumage. ( Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

Camera: Nikon D7200

Lens: Sigma 150 – 600 mm telephoto lens

metadata: f 7.1 at 1/800 sec: ISO 250

edited in Lightroom and finished in Nik Silver efex pro 2

Thank you for visiting and please comment.

George..

Early Mornings

Posted on April 28, 2020April 28, 2020 Posted in General, Ireland, irish landscape, outdoors, wildlife, woodsTagged bird photography, Bird watching, Blogging, Chaffinch, country walks, County Down, Dunnock, history, Ireland, Mistle Thrush, Mountains, Mourne mountains, Northern Ireland, outdoors, photography, roe, Roe deer, wildlife, wildlife photography5 Comments

My how life has changed for most of us, restrictions, work closures and social distancing to name a few. So for the last six weeks I’ve been at home, fuel prices are down the weather is great but I can’t go anywhere. Travel restrictions are in force so traveling to the coast is not going to happen. I have been walking in my local area and get out for sunrise most morning. I walk in a local wood for a few hours and explore trails that take me away from the beaten path. I don’t carry my camera every morning but will use my mobile/cell to photograph sunrise’s and landscapes in the woods. I post to Instagram most days, link at the bottom of the page. So any photos on this blog are taken with my Nikon DSLR. The following where taken over a period of time.

This shot is across County Down with the Mourne mountains in the back ground.

The remains of a small hill farm for days long gone.

Been trying to find out more about this Cross on a distance hill. (most of this photos are shot with a telephoto lens which creates a compressed perspective). I have been told it was a site of a Mass rock. Link: Mass rock

Will be finding out more about this cross and I have to find if there is public access to it.

A cool frosty morning in this shot with frost lying on the fields in the foreground and the hills on the other side of Belfast in the background. A view around 25 miles away. The next shot is to the west and is of Scrabo Tower above the town of Newtownards in County Down. Again this would be around 25 mile away. Link: Scrabo

Given the warm weather we have been having and the cold nights we get the valley’s full with mist early morning and late evening.

Where I grew up in Ireland these mists were known has ghost mists due to the distortion effect on objects around you. If you saw somebody walk into the mist you would understand why….

Going to finish the landscape side with another old hill farm shot, this you can just see through a gap in the trees.

Next a few of the wild life I have managed to photograph on my walks.

A one legged Mistle Thrush. Link : Mistle Thrush

Dunnock: Dunnock

Chaffinch: Link Chaffinch

A young buck and doe deer.

These photographs are of Roe deer. I was lucky to get these shots has the first sight or smell of humans and they disappear . I still had my camera in hand has I make my out of the woods, just rounding a bend I spotted them feeding. I slowly pushed into the foliage beside me and stood still. Having a 150 – 600mm lens on the camera helped me get these shots.

I have a list of the birds and animals still to photograph, so my early morning walks will continue while work is suspended.

Thank you for joining me on my walk.

Stay safe and well.

George.

What’s happening on this site.

Posted on March 14, 2020 Posted in General, Ireland, outdoors, wildlifeTagged bird photography, Bird watching, birding, Birds, County Down, Ireland, Northern Ireland, photography, sea birds, sea shore, Shore life, Strangford lough, wild birds, wildlife photography9 Comments

Here we are in March 2020 and I’m writing the first blog post of the year. It’s been a busy couple of years here in my world. Had and have some plans for the site for the start of the year but I’m a little behind, now we have the Coronavirus ( COIID-19) spreading across the world. With every aspect of life effected some of my projects might have to be sidelined for awhile depending on travel restrictions.

So I have been out a few times with the camera around the coast here in Northern Ireland, so below are some for the birds wintering here.

Ringed plover.

Black headed Gull

Barred tailed Godwits

Little Egret

Brent Geese

These were all taken at Strangford lough. Here

Thank you for visiting and hope you enjoyed my images, please comment on this post.

George

Black and White Wednesday

Posted on February 20, 2019 Posted in Black and White Wednesday., outdoors, wildlifeTagged beach, bird photography, Bird watching, Birds, black & white, black and white photography, Black and White Wednesday., Blogging, County Down, Grey Wagtail, monochrome, monochrome photography, nikon, Nikon cameras, outdoors, Rocks, sigma, Sigma lens, wildlife, wildlife photography2 Comments

This week’s photo was taken last summer on a beach on the County Down coast. It is a Grey Wagtail sitting on a litchen covered rock.

IMG_20180127_201912_183 Enjoy your day and thank you for visiting.

Portmore Lough

Posted on May 20, 2018May 20, 2018 Posted in wildlifeTagged bird blind, bird hide, bird photography, Bird watching, Black-veined butterfly, butterfly, common terns, damselfly, gulls, irish birding, irish loughs, Irish wildlife, lough, nesting rafts, nikon, Nikon D7200, Portmore lough, red damselfly, RSPB, Sigma lens, Sparrow, terns, water fowl, wild birds, wildlife photography5 Comments

Portmore lough is in County Antrim here in the north of Ireland. It is one of the RSPB nature reserve’s I like to visit Portmore a few times a year. Spring time brings in the Common Tern to the nesting rafts on the lough and so on a hot sunny spring day ( note these are not words we use a lot in Ireland ) I arrive at the reserve. With only a few cars parked up it meant the hide by the lough would be quiet. The walk to the hide showed butterflies and damselflies were out, but a breeze blowing made closeups difficult.

Blue Damselfly. Getting a shot of this was hard work, even this one could have been sharper.

Yep it’s a red Damselfly. These seemed to land on the ground which helped with the wind, but hard on the knees.

Black-veined white butterfly. This one is a little battered, it was the only shot I got plus a workout. Then it was into the bird hide or bird blind depending when you are from. Two women were there and after a short update on what was seen I set up the camera. There are three nesting rafts and has well as Common Tern’s there was Blacked Gulls nesting.

A Common Tern bring in lunch. I sat and watched the coming and goings around the rafts for an hour. I find by spending time studying these birds, patterns arise. This helps to get photographs, so lets meet the Common Tern and Black Headed gull.

This photograph shows the Common Tern ( left) and the Black Headed Gull.

This gull is a young immature Black headed gull. On the way back to the car park I stopped close to the feeders and shot this Sparrow.

I believe this is a House sparrow. So it was back to the car and pack my gear away and the 40 minute drive home.

Thank you for visiting.

George.

Garden birds.

Posted on March 10, 2018March 10, 2018 Posted in wildlifeTagged bird food, bird photography, Bird watching, Blue tit, Coal Tit, garden birds, Ireland, Irish birdlife, Irish wildlife, nikon, Nikon D7200, photography, Robin, Sigma lens, Sparrow, wildlife photography6 Comments

So after my short problem walking I’m back to form. Earlier this week while being a little fitter to move I shot some birds in the garden. With a few feeders near by it was a matter of waiting to see where their waiting perch was. So installing myself in a large bush close by I settled in. Giving the birds some time to get used to me there, soon they ignored me. Shooting with a Nikon D7200 ans Sigma 150-600 mm lens on a mono-pod I could get some close up shots.

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So first up is a Robin which is a ground feeder and gets the seed and nuts that others drop from the feeders. They are happy around humans and come close. While working in the garden they will perch on tools waiting for you to turn up insects or grubs. Flying down around your feet for a free meal.

Here we have the House Sparrow with some hair from the ponies in the field beside me. The lining for a nest somewhere close by. Known to nest in some of the out buildings. Below are a few more different poses of them.

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The marking above the eye on this Sparrow shows its still a juvenile.

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Another Robin.

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This one is a Coal Tit, look closely and see a nut being felled between his feet. They hold it there while they peck at it.

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I could not get a shot of the smallest of the Tit family away from the feeder. So had to settle of this one of the Blue Tit.

Time for a coffee, I hope you enjoyed your time watching a few garden birds.

Thank you for visiting,

Take care.

George

A mixed bag.

Posted on December 10, 2017December 10, 2017 Posted in wildlife, winterTagged bird photography, Bird watching, country walking, County Down, Fieldfare, frost, Ireland, landscape, landscape photography, nikon, Nikon D7200, nikon D750, Northern Ireland, Redwing, sigma, Sigma lens, snow landscape, snow scene, Starling, wild birds, wildlife photography, winter, winter sun, Winter weather11 Comments

Went to bed Thursday night and the fields were green, woke Friday and the place is white. First snow of the year and it was evening before I could get time to head out of a walk around the local roads. There’s not a lot of great shots around here with it being just grazing and most of the old buildings pulled down and new homes replacing them. The one weekend it would have been great to be free I’m busy, snow just won’t last more that a few days here. Anyway back to a few photo’s.

Beside these trees there was a lovely old ruin, a home from over around 200 years ago with a little history.

Murder in Carricknaveagh

Scroll down the page in the above link to read the story of this spot.

Not much traffic here.

Above details and textures.

Winter sun.

These next Photos I caught at the last minute and were shot to be silhouettes has I metered off the black bird with spot metering against the bright sky.

This next shot is not something I do often but I enjoyed creating this. It was taken down by one of the many small lough’s we have around here.

And we have some visitors here at the moment, Redwing’s migrate here for the winter along with the Fieldfare both members of the Thrush family.

Above this is the Fieldfare.

The Redwing is the one in the foreground.

The next set of Redwing photo’s see the bird spit out a Hawthorn seed from the berries they were feeding on.

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Did not know till I process these photo’s I had caught this, all the bird shots where taken with a 600mm and chopped in production. One more to go.

In this photo we have three Fieldfare’s and one Starling, So spot the odd one out.

Thank you for visiting and take care.

George.

Natures lovers.

Posted on April 1, 2017April 13, 2017 Posted in GeneralTagged Bird watching, Black and white, Co. Monaghan, Irelands wildlife, Irish wildlife, lake, mating ritual, monochrome, monochrome photography, Mute swan, nikon, Nikon D7200, water fowl, wildlife8 Comments

There’s a different look on the lough, with the winter water fowl and duck’s away the summer residents have made a show. Back are the Great Crested Grebe, Mallard’s and the Mute Swan’s. Mute Swans pair up for life and seldom divorce. Courtship takes place in late winter with synchronised head dipping and necks and breasts pressed together. With their S shaped necks a heart shape forms during this ritual.

I shot this photograph last year and converted it to black and white. It shows the heart shape they form doing the above ritual.

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Thank you for visiting

332/365 Shutter release challenge

Posted on October 8, 2016 Posted in 365 Shutter release challengeTagged B & W, bird photography, Bird watching, Black and white, County Monaghan, Ireland, lough, monochrome, monochrome photography, Mute swan, Nikon D7200, reeds, swans, Water birds4 Comments

Reed Swan

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When out working around the garden I like to keep the camera handy, A couple of swan’s landed on the lough at the gardens edge. Walking down I got stood still till they got use me and managed to get a couple of shots before leaving them to their feeding. This shot was taken through some reeds which I did knowing they would be out of focus. I like the effect of them framing the swan.

Thank you for viewing

George McNeill Photography

Tag: Bird watching

Black & White Wednesday

Black & White Wednesday

Early Mornings

What’s happening on this site.

Black and White Wednesday

Portmore Lough

Garden birds.

A mixed bag.

Natures lovers.

332/365 Shutter release challenge