Photo 1/25

Kittiwake Ahoy!
I was taking the ferry back to the Scottish mainland from the Orkney islands … that’s the island of Hoy behind the kittiwake. It had been a fabulous day with all kinds of great shots, and anything else I got would be an extra.

When this kittiwake came up behind the ferry, I had the feeling it wanted me to see it. So, I waited and waited until I had got the focus perfect. Then as soon as I had taken the shot, the bird flew away.

This was far from the last bird to leave me with the impression it wanted to be seen.

Shot with my zoom set at 85mm, because I wanted the landscape, not just the bird.

@ Kittiwake Ahoy!
Button begins its photographic tour of Northern Light: Birds.

Photo 2/25

The Brathay Mallards
Whilst in Cumbria, on my last holiday before my hip operation, I limped over to the River Brathay to take a look. The tree canopy shut out the sunlight from everything else but one rock in mid-stream. I saw a mallard with her ducklings on the far side of the river and told her God made her well. Would she share the sight with my viewers?

At once she set out for the rock, arranged her ducklings in front of her and waited until I had taken all the shots I wanted. Then she and her little band went straight back where they had come from.

If she had not come when called, I would never have had a shot. Unless you like shiny rocks in dark streams …

@ The Brathay Mallards

Blue And Copper Egg
The first painted eggs came from Mesopotamia, and because eggs were forbidden food during Lent, people painted eggs while Lent was being observed—after Lent, they would eat the eggs on Easter Day.

Beautifully decorated eggs “pysanka” are associated with Ukraine, and the oldest painted egg that was unearthed in northern Ukraine is dated to the end of the 17th century.

Photo 3/25

Miss Potter’s Sparrow
I had just taken a look round Beatrix Potter’s house in Near Sawrey and was on my way back to the car. Outside the Tower Bank Arms was a bush. A male sparrow kept flying into the bush and out again, never in the same direction twice. I concluded he was trying to draw my attention. So I looked round the bush for an angle to shoot, and found one hole through which I could get a shot. The decaying foliage framed him perfectly. As is so often the case, once I had taken the shot, the bird flew off and went about his normal business.

@ Miss Potter’s Sparrow
David has never been drunk. He's seen it done; that's what put him off.

Photo 4/25

Dovedale Rook
I went down to Dovedale with Sarah to take landscape shots. Once we got past the stepping stones, we found a flock of rooks which were shamelessly exploiting the tourists. They were not so much fearless birds as aggressive beggars. Sarah threw them some bread. Getting a close shot has never been easier.

@ Dovedale Rook
David would like a model railway, but in 63 years he has never had one of his own that worked.

Photo 5/25

Head Turner
I was on my way to Bakewell when I caught a glimpse of this cock pheasant over a hedge. I keep my camera set up for the most likely shot I could need to take in a hurry. This was just that sort of shot. The bird carried on strutting across the field whilst I got the shot from the car. Preparation for the unexpected can be everything.

@ Head Turner
David's favourite book is "The Silmarillion" by JRR Tolkien. He says you have to get past the first third, then it makes LOTR look unimaginative by comparison.

Photo 6/25

Head Scratcher
I was driving around nameless roads in North Derbyshire with a friend when this bird ran across a field. There’s something very wrong here! Pheasants are supposed to look like the other one I took a shot of. I think this one’s mother bred with an imported Japanese green pheasant; the farm nearby kept a few exotic animals like llamas. I wonder if this guy has started a new fashion for blue pheasants in North Derbyshire? By now they might all look like him!

@ Head Scratcher
David's dog followed him to school one day, over a mile away, just by following his trail. Perhaps he should have changed his socks more often?

Photo 7/25

Simply Red
This bird is the reason ordinary people had to fight for the right to walk on the Derbyshire hills. The red grouse is a game bird. Way back the landowners refused access to the public so they could be sure of a good flock of birds to shoot in season.

Now you can go just about anywhere in the wilderness lands of North Derbyshire; but if you stray off the paths, you had better know what you are doing, or you will end up in a bog somewhere no-one can hear you scream. The red grouse will hear you. But quite likely nothing else bigger than a worm will be within a mile of you, while you carry on sinking into the ground.

@ Simply Red
David's dog taught him not to save. David asked for a block of toffee at the local sweetshop. His mother said he must save some for another day. He had two pieces and left the rest in the middle of the table along with the little hammer. Then he went for a walk to the library with his mother. When they got back, David had a little hammer and the dog had a guilty expression.

Photo 8/25

Young Blackbird
Young male blackbirds are not yet the rich dark black of their maturity. They are common birds in Britain; I did not get as far as my car before I took this shot one morning. But their song is more gaudy than the cock pheasant’s plumage; they are magnificent singers. I once stood three feet beneath one perched safely on a branch above my head, while he serenaded his dowdy mate, hidden in a bush ten yards away.

@ Young Blackbird
David invented the 'gap year' by forgetting to fill out his forms for university. Instead, he spent the year cycling about ten thousand miles.

Photo 9/25

Scarborough Gull
Gulls are not hard to find. They will more often be pestering you for food than flying away to safety. This one was sunning itself on the ruined walls of Scarborough Castle (in North Yorkshire). Shooting north into the deep blue sky away from the sun, I could never have a better chance to get a balanced picture of such a bird in strong sunlight.

@ Scarborough Gull
David says he has learned more about Christianity from the local rabbi than from any Christian minister in the last 25 years, and the rabbi isn't even trying.

Photo 10/25

My Consolatory Moorhen
There are days when Northern Light can drive a photographer to despair. I had gone to a historic industrial site to get some atmospheric photos, but the atmosphere was against me. This moorhen was walking by the side of the Cromford Canal, and saved my day. They are cautious birds, so this shot needed a big telephoto.

@ My Consolatory Moorhen
David's first dog used to take him for a walk. Whenever the gate was open the dog looked for him and then bolted. It always stopped in the same spot for him to catch it and always came home wagging its tail. He never caught on that the dog intended to be caught until the dog was dead.

Photo 11/25

Owl by Daylight
I am not keen on taking pictures of captive creatures, but this one seemed happy with his lot. He was perched in the open and asleep (as he should be) at a local butterfly centre. Owls are usually mobbed by other birds when they appear in daylight, but this one was safe from avian attack, due to the presence of all the sightseers.

@ Owl by Daylight
David can remember random moments from his infancy, some even before he was two years old. But he can never remember where he has put the TV remote!

Photo 12/25

Peregrine Falcon
Falcons are well adapted to working with humans. Centuries ago, invading armies would take them along to catch rabbits to feed the troops. They are in many ways just as well adapted to living with humans as dogs or cats. This one was proudly showing off his wings at the butterfly centre.

@ Peregrine Falcon
David was trained as a Systems Analyst in the steel industry and would have loved to stay in that role forever.

Photo 13/25

Muncaster Heron
Muncaster Castle has a tradition of feeding herons. It happens at a regular time of day and the herons turn up in advance. Instead of waiting to spear fish in a pond, they perch in trees to wait for the free fish. They don’t seem to mind crowds watching them.

@ Muncaster Heron
David heard 'Born to run' on the radio and thought Bruce Springsteen was from Birmingham (UK) because the radio station was based there. He went out and bought the album, which convinced him otherwise. Then he went out and bought the other two (there were no more than three then!) Until 'Born in the USA' he barely met anyone who had heard of Bruce. He was most grateful to Lisa for showing him Asbury Park, NJ, and laughed out loud when he saw what ‘Highway 9’ was really like.

Photo 14/25

Peacock
The peacock's tail is a wonder, but his head and neck are a striking display even when his tail trails behind him.

@ Peacock
David decided to cycle every road in Derbyshire when he was about 18. By the time he was 24 he had done three quarters of a county road network of 3500 miles. Much of the time he had to cycle thirty miles out and thirty miles back just to find a road he had not cycled before. After he turned 24, he learned to drive and got a life.

Photo 15/25

Mallard Feathers
Everyone notices the striking plumage of the mallard drake, his green head and the flash of blue on his wings. But just look at the texture of his feathers!

@ Mallard Feathers
Oh look ... you won a little pet!

Photo 16/25

Barn Owl in Flight
Barn owls are so called because they like nesting in barns. Farmers like them nesting in barns almost as much as barn owls like doing so, because they are excellent hunters for rats and mice.

I once drove a car down a narrow country road behind a large white barn owl flying silently ahead of me. It was waiting for rodents to be flushed out of the verge by the sound of my engine. Their flight is absolutely silent.

@ Barn Owl in Flight
At university, David was captain of his hall of residence table football team. He actually did weight training to develop powerful wrists.

Photo 17/25

Barn Owl at Rest
Here’s the same barn owl held by its handler at Muncaster Castle. The Castle has extensive aviaries for birds recovering from injury. If they wanted to fly off, they would. But the food’s great and life is easy …

@ Barn Owl at Rest
After school, from ages 5 to 11, David would go 'home' to his grandmother’s toy shop, where his mother helped out. He never got any free toys, he had to save up; but he did get to fix all the broken ones!

Photo 18/25

European Eagle Owl
The moment I saw this bird extend its wings, I knew I had to run. Though they are so big they can carry off newborn deer, that was not the reason. When I saw the light coming through its wings, I knew I needed to be 90 degrees to the sun and twenty yards away or more. That way I could get this incredible shot with the wings lit from behind. Those wings can have a span of between five and six feet.

@ European Eagle Owl
David hated secondary school (11 to 16) intensely and was so badly bullied he never finished his time there. He went to a 'college of further education' and rebuilt his education from scratch in a place where students were treated like human beings.

Photo 19/25

Drinking Wren
The wren is the smallest of British birds. There is only one type in Europe; small, secretive, but with a song too big for its boots. This one was wetting its feet in the River Lathkill, which in many places is more like a flowing meadow. Though just a few feet away, it took every inch of my big telephoto to get a decent shot of the three inches of this tiny bird, weighing just one third of an ounce.

@ Drinking Wren
David's favourite book is "The Silmarillion" by JRR Tolkien. He says you have to get past the first third, then it makes LOTR look unimaginative by comparison.

Photo 20/25

Robin Redbreast
A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage
~ William Blake
This one was standing on the bed of the Lathkill, which is often dry in summer, disappearing in one place and reappearing further downstream. I am sure this robin could find plenty to eat in what was effectively a damp meadow. Five inches long and a bit more than half an ounce, the European robin is unafraid of man. Unlike many British birds, they stay for the winter. Often they can be seen perching on top of a spade handle, waiting to see what the digger turns up.

@ Robin Redbreast
David's first computer was a ZX Spectrum. If anyone told you David was 'on the spectrum' he would think they were referring to a time in his life when he spent all his free time programming!

Photo 21/25

Lathkill Jackdaw
This bird was standing close to the source of the Lathkill, where it flows out of the rocks near Monyash, several miles from the place where I saw the robin and the wren. It is rare for this stretch to be dry, and rare for jackdaws to be alone, so this shot is doubly unusual.

Thirty yards away across a small wooden bridge is a small dell in which wild orchids grow. From there you can hear the blackbirds sing to one another across a deep gorge between limestone cliffs. Here Cales Dale meets Lathkill Dale. This is, in my mind, my home forever.

@ Lathkill Jackdaw
David's first dog used to take him for a walk. Whenever the gate was open the dog looked for him and then bolted. It always stopped in the same spot for him to catch it and always came home wagging its tail. He never caught on that the dog intended to be caught until the dog was dead.

Photo 22/25

Lord of the River
The male swan, known as a cob, can be five feet long, four feet tall and have a ten foot wingspan. He has no fear of humans and will advance on you hissing if you approach the nest. But apart from that, he’s just magnificent.

This one lived with his mate on the Lathkill; I saw him there for two years. Mink, descended from those released from fur farms by those who do not understand the consequences, have made it almost impossible for swans to raise cygnets on the Lathkill. I saw him fly away, never to return, when once again his offspring had been food for an alien species. That was ten years ago. He might well still be living somewhere else in North Derbyshire; but his mate stayed there alone after he left.

@ Lord of the River
David's favourite colour is orange, but he has no idea why.

Photo 23/25

Tending the Nest
The Lathkill is a narrow river which was subtly modified by earlier generations. There is a long thin island just before the weir at Conksbury Bridge. If you look at the sides of the island, it appears either the island was man made, or the banks have been reinforced.

It is highly unusual to find a swan’s nest anywhere humans can get within thirty yards of it, but just ten feet across shallow water lies the island of the swans. Six feet above the river bank, I am teetering on a step ladder, brought specifically to take pictures down into the nest. The Queen of the River is unperturbed; she knows me well. She has rolled her eggs again after an hour perched on them, and will roll them again in an hour’s time. Meanwhile, she tends her nest with infinite care; every blade of grass must be right for her cygnets when they hatch.

@ Tending the Nest
David's favourite book is "The Silmarillion" by JRR Tolkien. He says you have to get past the first third, then it makes LOTR look unimaginative by comparison.

Photo 24/25

Queen of the River
Swans gather in flocks to find a mate and then pair off. Who says where they are going to go when they have done so? I think it is the ladies.

I think this swan was born here on the Lathkill. She may well have been the last swan born here to live to maturity. She sleeps in peace on her nest, knowing the water protects her and nothing will dare attack her whilst her eggs are on the nest. Her mate sails the waters nearby, like some warship of the animal kingdom, strong in his strength.

But once the cygnets are hatched, mink will take them again and again. The Queen will long remain; but unusually, her mate deserted her after yet another brood was lost to alien vermin.

When I took this shot I thought I had got as rare and precious a shot of a swan as one might hope to get, their nests usually being out of reach and out of sight beyond the water. But I was wrong.

@ Queen of the River
David’s parents tried to have a child for seven years, then gave up and left the matter to God. David arrived shortly afterwards. They chose his name from the bible to give thanks for being given a son.

Photo 25/25

The Perfect River
If you should ever find a river where shallow water is so pure and clear that you can take a picture of a swan, her reflection and her shadow together, can it be any other than the Lathkill?

The beauty of God’s creation, perfectly displayed, three ways.

@ The Perfect River
Button has now completed its viewing of Northern Light: Birds. As it prepares to go home, it receives a wonderful gift!

Button has enjoyed its photographic tour of Northern Light: Birds, but it is time to go home now! "Northern Light" is over now, but there will be more events in PnF soon!