Robin in the woods at Bolton Abbey (2)

Another Robin - I could photograph Robin's endlessly!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/250s, 150mm, hand held

Blue Tits and a Great Tit at Bolton Abbey

2 more photos from the woods at Bolton Abbey - a tiny blue tit and a blue tit and a great tit together. These were taken outside the bird watching shelter up in the woods.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/5.3, 1/160s, 240mm, hand held.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/500s, 165mm, hand held.

Robin in the woods at Bolton Abbey

This is a viewpoint high above the river Wharfe, close to the Strid, at Bolton Abbey. There's a bench just next to it, but I prefer to sit on the ground further back to watch the birds that hop around the area picking up seeds.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/250s, 150mm, hand held.

Robin perched on a wall at Bolton Abbey

Robins are my favourite bird but we never get them in our garden, so I was so pleased to be able to get close to this one at Bolton Abbey earlier this month. We were just crossing the bridge over the river when a pair of them landed on the wall and spent a good 10 minutes hopping around watching us.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/160s, 180mm, hand held

Late winter afternoon at Blackpool's north pier.

I took this one in late December last year. I love how the shape and textures of the clouds seem to mirror those of the sea.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/100s, 18mm, hand held.

Birds on a wire.

I took this photo whilst walking around Hollingworth Lake in July last year. I was photographing the lake and surrounding foliage and just happened to look straight up and see these birds, perched very still on a phone wire, silhouetted against the cloudy sky.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/8, 1/250s, 50mm, hand held.

Sparrow snacking on seeds.

I took this in my garden in June last year, having set up my tripod on the patio and sat very still to wait for hungry birds.  I really want to do another bird photography session, but for some reason they seem to have got bored with seeds! I'm planning to get a new feeder soon and try them with something else, so hopefully some new photos will follow soon....

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s, 170mm, tripod.

Gull Crag cliffs and Lilburn Tower at Dunstanburgh Castle

I took this whilst on holiday in Northumberland in August 2013. This is on the north-eastern edge of the 14th century castle's grounds. As the name suggests, these cliffs are full of gulls - perched, swooping around and making lots of noise.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/50s, 18mm, hand held.

Birds flocking over Blackpool's North Pier at dusk

Back from my Christmas break now with a new set of photos to play with! I took this a couple of days ago in Blackpool. My husband and I walked from his parents' house to the seafront with the dogs and I took my camera 'just in case'. Glad I did, because the light was beautiful as the sun went down. We also got treated to a show from these birds (starlings?) flocking around the pier, creating different patterns of dark waves against the sky.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125s, 48mm, hand held.

Distant crows amongst bare trees

I'm sure this picture isn't going to be everyone's 'cup of tea' but there's something about the textures and mood that I really like. I took it in February this year, in woodland above Jerusalem Farm in the Luddenden valley. I was drawn to the silhouette of the bird perched on the post and watched it, expecting it to fly off. When it stayed still for so long I decided to try to get a picture of it and, as I did, the other one flew into the scene.

I was shooting landscapes so had a wide angle lens and was unable to zoom in any further, but I like the fact that the surroundings are there for context and that this represents my actual view from a distance.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/100s, 55mm.

Sparrow picking up seeds on my garden wall

I took this one in June this year. I'd scattered a few seeds on the wall close to the bird feeder and set up my camera and tripod a few feet away on the patio. I then sat very still with the remote release in my hand and waited for the birds - a good lesson in patience (which I really don't have much of!).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s, 165mm, tripod.

Gulls perched on wooden posts across the Serpentine, Hyde Park.

This is one of the last photos I took on our trip to London in March this year. We had just been to a photographic exhibition at the Natural History Museum and decided to walk through Hyde Park on our way back to Kings Cross station. I thought the birds would probably fly off whilst I got my composition right, but I suppose they're used to people milling around and, happily, they stayed put for long enough to take the photo.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/80s, 55mm, hand held.

Young wood pigeon on a garden wall

This is from my first attempt at photographing birds in my garden a few weeks ago. We have some lovely big chubby wood pigeons that visit the garden - this is one of their 'babies'.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/200s, 90mm, hand held (resting camera on knees!).

Blue tit perched on a garden feeder

Up until the end of last year, the only birds that came near our house were usually in the mouths of one of our 3 cats! Now that we're down to only 1 cat, we decided to try to encourage some 'live' birds into the garden, so bought a bird feeder in January. It's been a slow process, but they've gradually learned that it's (fairly!) safe to visit and this week I started to photograph them.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/250s, 155mm, hand held.

Lauch gangway on the Thames riverbank

I took this picture whilst walking along the South Bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge on my visit to London a few weeks ago. The sun was setting, giving everything a blue-ish hue, and I liked the contrast of the yellow lights inside the gangway. I also really liked the line of seagulls perched on top of it.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/80s, 36mm, hand held.