A Seal is Born

 

Click the image for video of a seal pups arrival…….

NB: The video was shot using a Kodak Playsport 1080p handheld video camera. We’re pretty happy with the job it did, you guys can make your own mind up I'm sure :-)

Annual Report

And so we get to the end of 2010, the end of the year and the end of the first decade of the 21st Century. In personal terms this year has been nothing short of a bloody nightmare – family matters – we miss you so much Trish - , but in terms of our photography and wildlife watching – which is, after all the reason d’ etre for this blog, we have had the proverbial ball. 

So, just for the moment, let’s forget the personal and concentrate on the lovely animals and the photo adventures Seri and I have enjoyed this year…….

2010 has been our most “productive” year ever in terms of photos added to our database and collection. As of today – 31st December 2010 – we have added a pretty astonishing 90,859 images to our database – we have never approached this number of shots in any previous year. I should point out this is not the overall number of shots, but rather the number that have survived the cut. We probably shot 40-50% more than this…….

So – a few, ok, a lot of,  boring statistics –

Month	Number of shots
January	4993
February	5185
March	6415
April	8537
May	11597
June	9087
July	7629
August	8842
September	7464
October	8316
November	8756
December	4038
Sum	90,859

Not all of the above were wildlife shots, of course, we tend to take one or more camera each with us wherever we go to. Also it is true to say that cameras with a high frame rate (8 frames per second for our D2h and 7 Frames per second for the D300s) tend, on the whole, to generate more output simply due to the fact that more shots are taken in shorter periods of time.

So more boring statistics – which I shall read in future years, which in itself makes this a worthwhile effort - So the cameras workload:

Camera	Number of shots
Nikon D2h	8344
Nikon D200	14339
Nikon D300s	54659
Nikon D50	11870
Lumix FZ28	650
Olympus U850sw	281
Pentax Optio S40	70
Fuji S5700	141
Konica-Minolta Z1	82

As you can see the Nikon D300s is our most worked camera, hope it survives LOL

Lots of very old equipment as you can see – but hey it works and it costs a great deal less than buying new……

Our database lists 93 different locations for the shots we took this year – most of them are in the Coventry and Warwickshire area – where we live at present.  We did however manage to get out and about between periods of illness and so on. Brandon Marsh Nature reserve figured largely, no surprise to anyone who knows us, in our photo activities and we shot 56040 images on the site, spread over 158 visits - as you can imagine we didn’t miss a great deal :-)

We also managed to visit Bradgate Park in Leicestershire 9 times shooting 5774 images, Coombe Abbey Country Park in Coventry 8 times – 4266 shots, Donna Nook Seal Rookery in Lincolnshire twice shooting 2610 shots, Draycote Water 4 times – 1960 shots, Groby Pool 7 times (it’s close to Bradgate Park) – 1477 shots, Rutland Water twice – 1090 shots, Slimbridge Wetland Trust twice with 3560 shots, Warwickshire University Grounds – 4356 shots and Seri visited her parents in Malaysia returning with 484 shot in tow. We also made a trip to Wales, our old homestead for our “summer holidays” shooting Red Kites and a May Day trip to the Cotswolds – to the Bird of Prey Centre at Batsford Arboretum. Not a comprehensive list – but these are the main places we visited.

In terms of what we have taken photos of this year, well, anyone who knows us knows that we shoot anything that is in front of the cameras – so we have taken lots of scenic shots, especially at the beginning and end of the year when snow was on the ground. We try to place our images in context in our database, so if we go to Bradgate Park to shoot the deer, we will also shoot the scenery to place context into the overall trip’s portfolio. As I said, we shoot everything, plants, fungi animals, birds and so on…….

So this year we have taken 8637 invertebrate shots (insects, spiders, snails and the like), 6658 vertebrate shots (not including birds) ranging from dogs and cats through to rare Great Crested Newts and all manner of mammals, 59247 shots of birds ranging from very rare Bittern and Osprey through to the most common Pigeons, Starlings and so on. We have also photographed Deer 3217 times (Fallow, Red, Muntjac and a few shots of Reindeer). 1830 shots of Fungi, 3751 shots of people and  1669 of ourselves, 3951 shots of plants and flowers, 4896 shots of scenery and landscapes and so on and 1535 shots of Grey Seals.

In amongst the above are 103 shots of Osprey and their nest site and chicks, 314 shots of Bittern, over 800 shots of Kingfishers and 2371 shots of Robins – what can I say, we like Robins :-)

Highlights of the year, undoubtedly our two trips to Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, and the two trips to Donna Nook for the seal breeding, and also our trips to Wales and to the Batsford Arboretum.

The first  two locations could not be more different to one another – Slimbridge teems with captive and often highly endangered species of wildfowl from all over the world. All nice and tidy each species or breed has an enclosure suited to its needs, with manicured pathways and lots of staff to care for them. Donna Nook is a stretch of beach with a fence, some 2000 seals, at the peak, and several hundred interested and excitable people all trying to get a view, and more often than not a photograph of the new-born pups.

Both of these sites are gorgeous in their own way – it is not accidental that we visited each twice  - and are well worth the pain and effort required to get there and back, and indeed the week or so of bed rest required after such trips.

The trip to Wales is, for us a trip home. We saw hundreds of Red Kites in the air above our heads at Nant yr Arian – a site to remember forever. Batsford Bird of Prey Centre was similarly memorable – to see large raptors such as the Golden Eagle and European Eagle Owl swooping above one’s head has to be seen to be believed. Some great trips this year :-)

We have had a great year in terms of our photography……… hope it continues into next year and beyond :-)

You probably noticed there are no photos in this posting – the reason being – we have posted hundreds of shots throughout the year. View the other posts on this blog, or visit our Flickr sites or the Brandon Marsh Galleries to see what we have been up to.

For now we wish everyone we know a Happy New Year and I’m off to prepare our equipment for 2011. We shall be at Coombe Country Park tomorrow – 1/1/11 a visit we have made each New Years Day for the past 3 years.

So Happy New Year – and if we see you, we will probably take your photo :-)

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To Donna Nook and Back Again…..

Donna Nook is an RAF bombing practice range, and a terrific site to see nature in the raw, so to speak.  Situated on the North Lincolnshire coast,  close to the village of North Somercotes these salt marshes and accompanying sand dunes are home to a wealth of bird life and are home to one of the most important Grey Seal Rookeries in the UK with an estimated 33% of the UK Seal population using this important breeding site.

These figures are possibly contentious, but Donna Nook is certainly the only place in the UK where one may approach to with a few feet of a breeding colony of rare mammals.  The seals haul out at Donna Nook in late October in order to give birth, moult and breed. Last year the site, as reported by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, produced some 1,300 pups. This year, as of November 15th, there are a reported 396 bulls & 778 cows present with 513 pups born.

In order to protect the seals, and the visitors, there is a double fence in place “guarded” by a small group of Seal Wardens. These guys are wonderful, very friendly towards the visitors, and knowledgeable about their charges………..

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So we went to Donna Nook, this was our second visit to the site this Autumn, and it was wonderful. Donna Nook is such a special place for wildlife that it is worth the pain and effort required to get there and back. A drive of about 160 miles each way, we were pretty amazed to find the car park full when we got there at 10am :-) having left home very early.  So, on arrival we naturally went to see the seals first, this is, after all, the reason d etre for the visit…. well lets say, to a point. Anyone who goes to Donna Nook and just looks at the seals and then leaves is missing so much.

The seals are birthing pretty much at a constant rate, and we were lucky enough to see a new born pup making its first contacts with its mother. These little animals are such bundles of fur when they are tiny, although at a 14kg birth weight tiny is a relative term :-) they are just so cute, and highly photogenic…… Many of the pups die in their first year, very sad, but that, unfortunately is nature and the natural world…….

Seals at Donna Nook VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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As the site is situated on England’s East Coast so it becomes a fly over point for many species of migratory birds. Each time we have visited we have made conscious effort to walk as far as we can into the other side of the beach from the seal observation point. Unfortunately, due to health issues we can’t get that far into the site, but still far enough to see all manner of species.

Starlings abound, swirling in flocks of several hundreds, a large flock of several hundred Brent Geese have been resident on the beach on each of our visits (first time we have seen these gregarious birds). The geese take off for a circuit of the beach quite often giving great views of them and  their flight. Egrets and Shelduck are all over the place, with a lot of Redshanks showing on our most recent trip. We also saw a couple of Curlew , a Kestrel, Dunnock and lots of Black Backed Gulls, including a few feeding on an unfortunately deceased Seal cow.  We were also very lucky to see a flock of Bewick Swans flying in.

The only problem with the site for birds is the distances involved for the photographer. This probably explains the number of idiots one sees hopping over the ropes and the signs which say “please don’t walk on the beach” – is it worth disturbing the animal life in order to get a shot? for us the answer is a resounding NO…..

Birds at Donna Nook VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After taking some 2256 shots and a bunch of videos we went home happy, and content Donna Nook is a great place to visit.…….

NB: Problems viewing albums? Try: “View this album on Windows Live SkyDrive” from the album pages……