Mull, Scotland - wildlife

[Silverpenguin]

EDIT: I am delighted to announce that since this post was made some months ago, my Spring Lamb photo was choosen as the overall winner of the BBC Countryfile Photography Competition for 2007!

Hi all, just returned from my week on Mull.

Just thought I'd share a few shots taken of the local wildlife.

To get this shot of a rock pipit I had to watch him for about half an hour to see what rocks he kept flying to perch on, then wait for him to fly away and crawl slowly to one of them and lay and wait. Thankfully I had my full weather proof gear on as it kept spitting with rain and was windy. The clothing did a good job though as at one point I almost fell asleep! lol

There were oyster catchers everywhere, this being one of my favourite shots as it had just started to rain so he had water droplets on his back:

We also had some wild seals on a small island just off the shore about 10 minutes walk from the house, this required a 600mm to get a frame filler though as they were just out of reach of the 200-400 which is what I had on me the first day we saw them, this was taken on the second day with the 600.

Also found heron all over the island but unlike the ones you get in London these do not like people at all and most the time they were way off in the distance. This shot was taken from the car, it was just a grab shot at the time but when I got back and looked at it again its growing on me because I like the way he is in different surroundings to my usual heron shots which are in tree's or just in a plain sky. I think the low tide seaweed gives an unusual environment!

And finally...

There are sheep and cattle all over the island and one evening we returned to the house to find three lambs going crazy and running around head butting each other and generally leaping about playing. I caught this one mid leap - a perfect spring lamb!

So there you go, thats a few shots from my week on Mull. Its a beautiful place that I can't recommend enough!

 

[Wozza]

Especially love the lamb shot, thats what you call an action shot! Awesome composition and cute too.

 

[Mohain]

Haha, that lamb shot is excellent. Pure Gold

 

[abraxas]

Great shots & the Lamb is fantastic.

 

[Antarctican]

I soooo look forward to your posts, Silverpenguin, as they are always so enjoyable. This series is no exception. The composition and dof are spot on, IMHO, and it's interesting to read about how much effort you went to in order to 'get the shot'. My absolute fave is the lamb shot, followed closely by the pipit and oystercatcher. And I agree that the seaweed gives an interesting background to the heron and seal shots.

Post more!!

 

[AIRIC]

Fantastic captures, loved all of them but that sheep is the image for me as I enjoy action shots.

Eric

 

[Dan28607]

Yep, that lamb shot is "gold Jerry! Gold!"

 

[mmphoto]

the lamb and the seal are adorable! <3

 

[lostprophet]

stunning shots mate

 

[lostprophet]

Well done mate winning the BBC's Countryfile photo competition
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/countryfile/photogallery.shtml
:hail::hail::hail::hail::hail::hail:

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Well done Silverpenguin. :hail:

 

[LaFoto]

Oh wow, Richard!
This is sooo good, the photo as such but also that you won and will be featured in that calendar now! And a calendar for a good cause on top of everything! I am really happy for you!
(And I know you are Richard and not always "Silverpenguin" from the article, see, I really READ it :greenpbl: ). :thumbup:

 

[Silverpenguin]

Thanks for the congrats everyone. I was going to post to tell you all the good news but as I hadn't been on here too much in recent months I didnt want to look like I was blowing my own trumpet lol

Thanks though, I am thrilled to bits as you can imagine

 

[doenoe]

thats awesome Congrats mate :thumbup:

 

[nossie]

Well I'm a fan of the show Country File and to win on that or anything BBC is an achievement. The lamb photo is a cracker! Well done.