Birds Talk to your local farmers (wildlife advice), image loaded thread.

L0n3Gr3yW0lf

Hall of Famer
Location
Somerset, UK
Name
Ovi
Hi, I wanted to write this for a week but life kept me busy. I have wanted to do this myself for a while but never got to (so much for taking my own advice) but I happened on this event twice in 6 years: When farmers cut down the fields of grass to be used as hay for their farms it will reveal an abundance of wildlife opportunities and experiences that is worth exploring.

Wildlife has adapted to human presence for thousands of years and they (the wildlife) will take any opportunity they can find to thrive on and after human activity especially when it comes to farming. If you can contact and talk to your local farmers and ask them if they can give you a timeline or notify you when they will harvest specific fields you can get there before or on time to enjoy the spectacle of life. It is worth it because cutting the grass down removes the safety that field mice and insects use and the animals that pray on them congregate there to have an easy hunt. Once the grass is collected the last layer of protection is removed and they have nowhere to go and become easy pickings for their hunters. It's the closest you can get to getting easy shots without going to feeding stations in wildlife sanctuaries and national parks (but animals and birds may have ID tags on them).


I have put in bold the advice I can give you if you wish to read only the more useful parts.

Sunday, 11 June, around 17:00:
I arrived at a field without knowing what I was about to see. I noticed a large conglomerate of birds of prey in the distance but I did not pay much attention to it and thought it was just another day with a few extra birds in the sky. I even noticed the smaller birds, Swallows were very active in the area and I was a bit more focused on them for about half an hour, trying to make pictures that I wanted for a long time: Swallows flying above grass and hunting for insects:

O6091603-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I got a few opportunities and attempts but not much success because I didn't have the right lens with me (it was too long and too slow to keep up with birds flying so low).

So I moved to the next field, passing by a large hedge that obscured the view. When I did get there I saw that the tall grass (almost a meter tall) was cut down and piled up and arranged in straight lines. The scene was most vibrant with many birds and even a little mammal, all paying attention to the grass. Within one hour I saw: Blue Jay, Magpies, Crows, Gulls, Peregrin Falcon, Kestral, Buzzards, Swallows, House Martin

O6091837-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

2 Kestral overlooking the grass field from a large power line tower.

O6091642-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Kestral with a successful catch after hovering above the grass and listening, when it finds its target it dives bomb into the grass and catches it, then flies away to a safe place where it can eat.

O6091696-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Whether it's trees, buildings or large structures, anything that keeps them safe they will land on and enjoy their hard work.

O6092041-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Not all hunts do pay off so there will be some nice opportunities to get landing and takeoffs.

O6092100-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Unsurprisingly, the largest of birds also takes notice of the opportunities (be it knowing the place and the time by memory as it happens every year) or by seeing others congregate around the field. As they fly low, with a bit of positioning, there are many opportunities to get framing of birds with some beautiful background beyond just blue and grey skies.

O6092529-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Not that I did not take the opportunity to shoot the boring shots as well. The truth of wildlife photography is that if you want to capture the right moment you need to make sure you shoot as much as you can (unless you know a subject so well that you can predict its every action and limit your shooting and timing perfectly ... I do not). So I have shot in 2 days over 5.000 images and I even hit the limit of my main SD card of 64 GB (my backup is a 256 GB card that is a bit slower so I didn't lose any shots).

O6092503-Enhanced-NR-Edit.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Kestral hovering above the field, listening to movement in the grass and looking around. They are always a marvel to watch them hunt. For moments like these, I shoot with a costume-AF formation of 11 by 19 AF points in vertical orientation because I know the bird will fly down when it finds the subject and I want to capture the diving moment as well. (PS. I didn't get that because I was too slow)

O6092607-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Another advantage of such moments is that the birds get a lot closer to you without you needing to hide or wear camouflage to stealth your way to the subject. You can fill your frame with the birds in flight with lenses like Oly 100-400mm f 5-6.3/Pany 100-400mm f 4-6.3/Oly 150-400mm f 4.5 PRO or Oly 300mm f 4 PRO/Pany Leica 200mm f 2.8

O6092618-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
At times you can catch the birds sitting in the grass, whether to rest or to eat their catch, you can get more interesting compositions then birds on a stick/tree or in the sky.

O6092661-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

As you can see in the background we were not that far from civilization so you don't have to go very far if you have farm fields near you (I know not all places have them). Normally the birds only sometimes venture this close like then their other hunting grounds are not as productive and need to find food.

O6092667-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I changed my position to the opposite side of the field, from where I started, because there is a hill towering about 25 meters above the grass field and it gets me a bit closer to the hovering Buzzards and a perspective of close to their eye level or even bellow eye level (shooting them from above while they hunt).

O6092694-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I was so close to them that I did not need to crop at all (sorry but the bold font is stuck and I can't seem to be able to turn it off, weird).

O6092756-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Even the Gulls were starting to show up but it seems to be to early for their method of hunting (more on that later, the next day).

O6092467-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

One thing I learned that I did not know was that even Buzzards have the ability to hover in one spot while they hunt, very similar to the Kestrals but they are a bit slower because of their size.

The next positive surprise was this little fellow showing up:
O6092339-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

A very beautiful fox came to hunt in the grass for field mice. Unfortunately, it didn't stay too long because it was spooked but ...

O6092317-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

... I did get a couple of opportunities to photograph the fox's hunting method of listening for the mice and when it found one to jump and pounce on them (spoilers, it didn't catch anything before it ran away).

O6092273-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Coincidentally my first experience with farms cutting down grass fields and bringing wildlife there was with a mama fox and 3 cubs I found 5 years ago.

Day 2, 12 June, around 14:00:
I wasn't feeling like going out but I eventually forced myself to get the camera with me and go back to the field because I wanted more than one hour and more opportunities. I eventually spent around 5 hours at the field as things got significantly more intense the next day. That was because it was harvest day (I did not know):

O6104260-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The tractors came to collect the grass and left the field mice with nowhere to run if they hadn't already made it to safety at the edge of the field or the grass patch under the power line tower (behind the tractor). This has attracted an even larger crowd this day:


PXL_20240610_141800859~2 1.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

These are all Buzzards (I looked at them with my Oly 100-400mm to make sure), I couldn't fit all of them in the frame because I didn't take any wide-angle lenses with me and this is what my phone could capture, there were around 20 of them just before I got to the field.


 
O6103711-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I got caught making a picture :p ... I started at a high position on Monday because I wanted to catch some nice top-down moments of hunting and some eye-level flybys, which I did and I am very proud of. If you are looking for a particular type of shot make sure you get it and once you do get it try something else or different, try to vary your wildlife images.

O6103216-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

This was one of the funniest moments I had that day. The bottom left Gull caught the other Gull's foot to prevent it from flying away and the injured Gull was crying out, while all this time the 3rd Gull got away with the field mouse.

O6104611-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I don't know why but the Kestrels did not show up at all on Monday and it was a fight between the Buzzards, the Gulls, the Crows and (sometimes) the Magpies. This Buzzard was quite successful in catching the fattest field mouse I have ever seen ... it looked more like a rat.

O6104628-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

One of my favourite shots, the simple composition made it perfect for me, it tells the story of where and with a little tail of why (pun intended, look under the bird's tail :p ).

O6103262-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The reason to always shoot action in the fastest burst you can achieve is shown in this moment: just before the Buzzard swallowed the field mouse whole. This image was part of the burst and only 3 out of 40 frames had this moment at 25 FPS.

O6105270-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Not all of the birds are successful all the time. The image is not pin-sharp in focus, unfortunately, but I kept it because I love the overall look of the power of the birds, as the birds I can't be successful with all the shots but they are still worth it sometimes.

O6105828-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Things got very heated between species as well. I was surprised by how brazen and brave the Gulls can be against a bird that is clearly larger and stronger than them. I would have never imagined a Gull chasing down a Buzzard for that mouse in its beak.

O6105832-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

At one point I thought that the Gull was really going to get that Buzzard but he got away with its delicious meal so 1:0 for the Buzzards.

O6105442-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Sometimes the Buzzards would chase each other but they were surprisingly quite cooperative with each other and even flying in formation.

O6104950-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Even some of the Crows got lucky with a nice little catch and they tried to fly away as fast as possible because they were the smallest birds and easy peeking for the Gulls and the Buzzards.

O6105557-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The Gulls had the bravest and most direct tactic of hunting. They would fly above and behind the tractor and as soon as the grass was collected they would search and hover above the empty grass spot for the mice. They were the closest to their prey and often caught them first.

O6105980-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

This Gull caught the mouse just a minute after the image above. The framing helps emphasise it because of the dark (in shadow) hedge contrasts the bright Gull and the highlight from the sun going down on the top right side. I stayed in a specific spot of the field to use the backlight as a tool to make the subject stand out.

O6105699-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The view of a Killer, bloody beak and one very angry expression.

O6105151-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The Gulls would chase and fight each other for those mice constantly, having areal dodge fights and sometimes crashes into each other mid-air.

O6103689-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

If the mouse was small enough they would try to swallow it whole before the other birds had a chance to steal it ... talk about choking hazard (I hope CQC never finds this out or they will be in trouble :p )

O6104216-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

To be honest those 2 days have been the best wildlife moments of my life thus far because I got to see nature being nature without human intervention (to a point of course, because it is assisted indirectly by farmers) like feeding stations. It fully recommend finding the local farmers in your area and trying to convince them to share with you their harvest days to best take advantage of that instead of chancing it on when it will happen.

O6104253-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I haven't even sorted out all the 5.000 images, just edited the most interesting ones as quickly as I could as I was very excited to share them. I will add more later as I get through the images and find more interesting ones.

O6105932-Enhanced-NR.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Even the Swallows had a very good day because the insects lost their safety of the grass and having to hover above the grass to safety at the edge of the field made them a very easy meal for many Swallows. Again I didn't have many opportunities to make images of them because my Oly 40-150mm f 2.8 PRO is broken and the Oly 100-400mm f 5-6.3 is too long and too slow for their speed.
 
Last edited:
Please, Ovi, don't.
We all greatly appreciate your images, but they will always wait until the next day.

Your sleep amount and regularity of patterns is a major (I stress, MAJOR) contributor to mood stability and consistent mental health.
Thanks. I am trying my best, I usually get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep before I have to go to work and about 10 hours of sleep on my days off. Sometimes I do get very excited about the images and sharing them improves my mood and my moral, especially when I have many all day shifts in a row and I don't get to make pictures and/or edit them.
 
It is so important to get regular sleep patterns going, my friend.

Go to bed at the same time, no screen for at least 30-60 minutes before lights out.

Mine got screwed up by some sort of virus, so I have been taking 5mg of Valium each night for 4 nights to help stabilise things, after it took me over 2 hours to settle a few nights ago.
It's working ...
 
Back
Top