This blog is really an account of what wildlife I saw during the lockdowns and through the seasons on a local level. It’s an older blog that I didn’t manage to post at the time but have since realised it has some decent images. Most of the stuff I post about is usually quite exotic and from far flung places so it’s about time I photographed and wrote about what I have on my doorstep around Manchester, UK.
Spring is by far my favourite season in the wildlife calendar. In the UK, and especially Manchester, winter is long, wet and drab. The dreary nights of Manchester seem to last forever and are accompanied by an almost constant rain, as the incessant clouds from the Atlantic roll over, and make our landscapes grey and miserable. Then out of nowhere it changes, and in certain years, that change is more abrupt than others. This year (2020) was one of them years and the skies cleared in an instant and didn’t look back all summer. For the first half of the year, I was living at my sisters in Leigh where I am from, near Manchester, in between moving houses. So I had all my old patches to explore that I have not been to in many years, and there are some decent wild spaces in the surrounding area, and fortunately, they are all linked by the Bridgwater canal.
Field Horsetail along the Bridgewater canal in Leigh with a good old Mill in the background. Taken with my iPhone.
The canal itself can be beautiful, and travelling in either direction can throw you into some great habitats, which are looking absolutely stunning during spring. In fact, there is no finer place than the UK in full bloom on a fine day. Sadly those days are few and far between here, so everyone relishes them when they arrive, and I don’t know a soul who takes those hot balmy nights for granted.
The first place I want to talk about is Astley Moss, which historically was the Northwests greatest mossland habitat. Which, in effect, is a wet swampy mosaic of peatland interspersed with birch woodland. This habitat was vast in the North West back in the day, but human settlement dried the lands for agriculture, farming and then more recently extracted the peat for the gardening industry. This had a devastating effect on this type of habitat and now it has reduced to very small fragments around the country. Astley Moss has a reasonable chunk left, and surrounding it is a lot of farmland with some half decent scrubby habitats. So, from living in the concrete jungle that is Leigh, this is a welcome countryside oasis to escape to, away from the madness that is Coronavirus. One of the best examples of the habitats on the mosslands is Little Woolden Moss, and coincidentally, my business, EcoSpeed, funds this project through a carbon offsetting collaboration with the Lancashire Wildlife trust. Interestingly, my grandad worked for the peat cutting firm who destroyed this habitat many moons ago. So walking around this site, enjoying nature, knowing that I have helped restore it, fills me with immense pride and joy. It’s a strange and happy feeling to be involved in conservation at this level.
Little Woolden Moss where my business, EcoSpeed, funds with profits.
Cotton grass, brightening up the vista at Little Woolden Moss, Greater Manchester.
Anyway, my most recent trip was with my sister and her family on our bikes. A run of the mill bike ride that resulted in me seeing some excellent species that I knew where there but didn’t expect to see so easily, and in such good numbers. Highlights were countless Yellow Wagtails which are locally not very common at all, an unexpected Long-eared Owl, which was a real treat for the kids. The whole family saw it and I had to try and explain how good of a bird this was, and how difficult they are to see. I think it went straight over their head. There were also, breeding lapwing, Canada goose and quite a few waders such as Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover and Curlew. Anyway here are some of the best shots I got on the Mosslands.
Canada goose calling away in the very last breath of winter, at Little Woolden Moss.
Dunlin at Little Woolden Moss.
Pied Wagtail, Little Woolden Moss.
Hide, hide, hide! Four Canado Goose goslings trying to hide behind their mother.
Then, all of a sudden, it was time to move house in the middle of a world pandemic. I have been dreaming about where my new house was going to be for many years. The number one requirement was that my back gate was to open up onto a nature reserve. So for various different reasons I ended up moving to Woolston in Warrington, with my back gate opening out onto Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve.
The trail behind my new house at Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve.
I have a 2 year old daughter and it is absolutely essential that I am able to teach / brainwash her about nature every single day, as well as have a place to hone my skills as a wildlife photographer. Strangely enough I have hardly had the time to do any wildlife photography over the last year, as I have been too busy bringing her up and work has been hectic. But here are some of the better shots that I have managed to get, and a bit of explanation to how I got them.
First of all, if you are a wildlife photographer and want to progress, then I think it is really important to keep pushing your skills and knowledge, and trying new techniques. So that I did, and considering I am now surrounded by water, I have been practicing my wildfowl shots. I think the best shots out there are the ones that use a technique called ‘Floating Hide Photography’. It’s actually not so well known, but I think it is super powerful and really makes an image stand out. The idea is that you make a raft with a hide on, so that you can almost lie flat against the water, and have your lens as low as you can to the water. This makes the water in front of the subject look vast, and almost as if your lens is in the water, kind of giving the effect of ‘lead in lines’, which are also used in photography. You then float over to your subject in the hope it doesn’t notice you. Some photographers go to extreme lengths and even have motors to power them around. You will be pleased to hear that I am not that mad, mainly due to the fact that the water at the back is the River Mersey, and knowing me I will probably get myself washed out into the Irish Sea. So instead, I have gone for fishermans waders and a bag hide. So I can either get in the water, or hide down along the banks to get as close to the water as I possibly can. Secondly, I think it is important to have a style, a colour scheme or palette when releasing photos together. You will see from the photos below that they are quite similar yet different. You can achieve that with colour, but also the opposite, by taking colours out. Desaturating certain bold or prominent colours to make the picture more warm and earthy. Another tip, and one that has took me years to put into practice. If the light or weather is good then take your camera out, obviously. If its bad, don’t even bother unless you want a record shot of a particlar species. But no camera can fix poor conditions. Over the years I have realised that it really is not about what gear you have, its all about what you can actually see with your own eyes. If it looks dull and gloomy, then every picture you take is going to be dull and gloomy. If it looks warm, sunny and misty, then your camera will portray that, as the following pictures will testify. All taken in similar, very good, conditions in winter. Sub zero, sunny and foggy.
Anyway I am happy with the results, they really stand out. Please click on the image to see the full effect, as these are just thumbnails.
