Suffice to say my 1st visit was back in July when I managed to have the Goshawk in my frame for all of 30 secs after spending in region of 18 hours in the hide from 1700-2200 and then from 0400-1700 the following day.
Now not sure if it was complete madness or just seeing the images my friends were managing to capture of these very secretive yet stunning birds of the forest but when I got the chance to return in October I jumped at it.
Well after spending the entire Saturday from 0600-1800 without even hearing a Goshawk I thought surely it can only get better on Sunday,the local lads had been getting fairly frequent visits for the previous couple of weeks so must just be a wee hiccup.....fast forward to 1725 on the Sunday,11 hours plus into the day
and again no sign or sound of a bird......then 5mins later squawking Jays in different directions....a woodpecker frozen rigid on a log in front of the hide could only mean 1 thing surely??? Bingo! The next 40+ mins I had the pleasure of not 1 but 2 Goshawks a female and male both paying a visit to the perch,although the light was by now well on the way out and shooting was at ISO 3200-6400 and shutter speeds down to 1/100th at times I made the most of the chance!
1/
2/
3/
4/
5/
6/
7/
8/
9/I spent the Friday afternoon at another friends hide nearby where the main attraction waited an entire 5 mins after I arrived to make her first appearance
Female Pine Marten known to everyone who visits as Tinker.
10/
11/
12/
13/
Ross
