http://www.neilmackiephotography.com en-gb neilmackiephotography.com 2012-4-8T00:00:00Z neilmackiephotography.com http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#116069 March was a poor month for me and wildlife photography. I had a few failed trips for Great Crested Grebes birds were too far away and Mountain Hare also too far away and very skittish understandable when you are white and there is no snow cover. The weather then turned nice and the light was too harsh for any of the subjects I wanted to shoot. Great golfing weather thoughAs a result I have struggled to find a suitable image for this month and thats why Im a wee bit late in putting the image up. I have plenty of images in my library but I like Picture of the Month to be taken in the previous month.Anyway here is this months effort a pair of Great Crested Grebes in the middle of their mating dance. The Grebes will take part in a syncronised dance before diving for weed. The display is fun to watch and is an important pair bonding exercise for the birdsRemember to follow me on Twitter NeilMackiePhoto and like me on Facebook facebook.comNeilMackiePhotography... 2012-4-8 12:16:54 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#113917 Picture of the Month for March is a male Capercaillie. This is a rogue male who will challenge anyone who enters his turf no matter what time of the year it is. He can be quite aggressive and quite dangerous. I will leave him be for the next few months because we are entering breeding time and as a result he will be more aggressive and more likely to attack. I have been busy over the last few weeks editing wedding photos and as you will notice redesigning my website. I have also joined twitter so find me on there NeilMackiePhoto Im also on facebook at facebook.comNeilMackiePhotography 2012-3-5 12:20:56 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#111752 Picture of the Month for February is a female Red Grouse taken during my second Glenshee trip. Unlike last month I didnt have a lot of choice because I didnt get out as much in January as I did in December. That said I am still happy with my Grouse and Hare shots I got in January. In the area I photograph my Red Grouse there are very few high points for the Grouse to stand watch from. Fortunately there is a dry stane dyke that is often used as a lookout post. This female and a male were doing just this. Unfortunately the male was too close to the car to allow me a decent photograph but I quite like this shot of the female poking out from behind a stone.Cheers Neil 2012-2-4 11:50:55 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#110091 Yesterday I spent a very pleasant day in the Highlands photographing Red Grouse and Mountain Hare in some beautiful winter sunshine. With it being winter the sun doesnt rise very high in the sky and as a result the ensuing light is a nice soft yellowy orange. This is ideal for my wildlife photography. Male Red Grouse have combs over their eyes which they can fill with blood meaning that they are more prominent. They do this to attract females in order to breed with them. January is a great time to photograph the grouse because the males have filled their combs with blood and their plummage is particularly bright because it is in January that they begin to try to impress the females.Mountain Hare as the name suggests live in the mountains and hills. Their territory is white with snow in the winter and brown in the summer so the Hare are too. I have photographed Mountain Hare in the past when their coats have been brown in the summer but until yesterday I hadnt had the chance to ph... 2012-1-10 15:14:32 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#109672 Happy New YearPicture of the Month for January is a Red Squirrel. This was a tough choice because I had a really good month and got Capercaillie Crested Tits Red Squirrels and various garden birds in the snow in December. I chose the Red Squirrel because it wasnt the obvious choice. It was great to watch them as they have so much character and are very very cheeky. One Squirrel even ran up my tripod leg and along my lensI hope you all have a great 2012Neil 2012-1-4 11:17:38 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#108946 There are some birders and photographers who work from a list and once they see something they tick it off the list and dont try to find it again. I am definitely not one of these people. Once I have shots of something I am constantly trying to improve on them I have thousands of Dipper and Heron shots for example. For one group of birds though I have strived to get a full house a shot of every bird in the species group.Obviously the more you are out and about the more you see. A few years ago I got my first good shots of a Red Grouse. This was closely followed by Ptarmigan. When I learnt of a Black Grouse site about 2 years ago I started thinking I could get shots of all 4 Scottish grouse species. In February 2011 I got my Black Grouse shots so all that was left was the hardest to find the Capercaillie.I have been after Capercaillie for a long time and I caught my first glimpse of one a few weeks ago. I was back up north yesterday and did a bit better Full house completeHere... 2011-12-19 14:35:10 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#108833 Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable day near Aviemore photographing Red Squirrels and Crested Tits. These are two subjects I have photographed before but I have never photographed Red Squirrels in the Winter when they have their big ear tufts. I have only photographed Crested Tits once before but not with the same success as yesterday. Both species have a lot of character the squirrels are very cheeky and the tits are very vocal This is quite handy because it means that you know when they are around so you can be ready to photograph them. Here are a few shots from yesterday. Have a good Christmas folkNeil 2011-12-16 12:33:55 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#108543 I hope this post finds you all in the Christmas mood and not too depressed that there are only 13 shopping days left. For those of you who are still out there hunting for the perfect gift I may have it for you. I recently had some work exhibited in a local gallery and now that the exhibition is over these two prints are looking for a home. They feature two of Scotlands most iconic landscapes Buachaille Etive Mor and Rannoch Moor. They are framed in a silver leaf frame and are approximately 34 x 24 inches so a good size to put on any wall. They are priced at 163200 each including delivery anywhere in Central Scotland. Here are shots of the two framed prints Thanks Neil 2011-12-11 14:37:55 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#107986 Picture of the Month for December is a Teal.November was a very quiet month in terms of photographing native wildlife. I had my trip to Bavaria at the beginning of the month but other than that I took very few photos. I took a few of the geese migration and this Teal. I was fortunate to find him in nice evening light. December should be a better month with plans to photograph Crested Tit Red Squirrel and Ptarmigan. 2011-12-2 10:58:06 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#107783 Neil Mackie Photography 2012 Calendars are now available. These are great gifts for Christmas and feature photographs of 12 Scottish species taken in 2011 by me. Calendars are priced at 16315 each and if you would like one please get in touch using the contact form and I will then be in touch for payment. Deadline for Christmas orders is this Friday December 2nd. Calendars can be ordered after Friday but I cant guarantee Christmas delivery. Here is a wee previewThanksNeil 2011-11-29 11:12:47 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#106548 Well I am just back from a whirlwind trip to Bavaria to photograph Wolves Bears and Lynx. I have over 1500 shots to go through but I thought I should get some shots on here. These may not be my best shots from the trip but they are 3 I liked at first pass through them. The Lynx was particularly difficult because like all cats all it seemed to do was eat and sleep. Im afraid I am quite tired after a 16 hour day yesterday so I will let the shots do the talking 2011-11-10 10:49:12 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#106142 Picture of the Month for November is a Red Deer stag. This is the same stag as appears further down the blog. He had gathered a group of hinds and was defending them against me. He stood staring at me for about an hour before he decided I was no threat so he lay down to graze. 2011-11-4 09:53:51 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#105796 Afternoon allI had a lovely day yesterday at the Popinjay Wedding Fayre in Rosebank. Thank you to Denise and her staff for their hospitality especially for the tasty canapesAlso thank you to everyone who attended it was lovely to speak to you all.CheersNeil 2011-10-31 12:58:44 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#104497 Majestic. One word Two photographs two completely different subjects. Yesterday I got up at 415am to head to Glen Etive to try and get some photos of rutting Red Deer. I set off with two shots in mind. Firstly I wanted a shot of a stag with his head back bellowing. I particularly wanted this shot because I like the way that when a stag bellows he tilts his head back and I like the angle this creates between his antlers and his neck and body. The second shot I wanted was a shot of two stags just as their antlers collide. I really wanted to show the raw power these majestic beasts have. Well it seems I was rather na239ve. In the past whenever I have been in Glen Etive all of the hinds have been together. I assumed what would happen would be that this would still be the case and that there would be a dominant stag with them and others on the outskirts waiting to challenge. This was definitely not the case. I drove the whole length of Glen Etive and... 2011-10-12 15:41:06 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#103735 Two blog posts in a day. I said Id try and be busier in October I spent yesterday Saturday in Glen Lyon with my brother who was kayaking with some friends. It rained all day and I reckon I was wetter on the bank than the guys were who were on the river With the rubbish weather brought rubbish light and action photography was a challenge. A fun challenge though. Overall a good allbeit long day out. Today Sunday was spent in Moffat at the Moffat Mill who hosted a wedding fayre for businesses in the local area. Again it rained and unfortunately this resulted in a low turn out of brides to be. It was still a good day and nice to see the people who made the effort to come out. Thanks to Thomas and his team at the Moffat Mill for organising the fayre and providing tea and shortbread Anyway here are a couple of photos of my brother kayaking the Lyon yesterday 2011-10-2 20:57:54 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#103734 Picture of the Month for October is a Nuthatch. This shot was taken at the end of the day in a forest in very low light. In the past I just would not have been able to get this shot and it is testament to the modern DSLRs. It was taken at a Red Squirrel feeding station but unfortunately I didnt see and Squirrels this time. Ill just have to go back 2011-10-2 20:54:35 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#102262 Good day in Strathaven today nice to see so many people through the door. Thank you to all who who stopped for a chat particularly those who bought a print. Cheers Neil 2011-9-10 17:56:02 http://www.neilmackiephotography.com/page20.htm#101698 Well I thought it was about time I started a blog. It seems all the cool kids are doing itMy plan for the blog is to give regular updates from my trips and maybe add a photo or two.August was a good month for me and my wildlife photography. The month started quietly but things soon picked up. I visited a favourite spot on the East Coast twice and got some of my best wader pictures to date including godwits Turnstones Curlew Common Sandpiper and Redshank. I will keep going throughout September as more and more birds will be flying in.I also headed up north to try and photograph Pine Martens and Badgers. Unfortunately the Pine Martens didnt show but I came away with my best Badger shots to date.During a seperate trip to the Highlands I went in search of Ptarmigan. I went with a good friend and we decided to try a different location to where we normally go for our Ptarmigan shots. This proved fruitful but the birds are very very hard to spot at this time of year because they hide i... 2011-9-3 12:14:18