I always think about seabirds in July but this year`s weather has been so drastic,I havent given them a passing thought - in fact I don`t remember the last time I put my lens on a seabird !

So I am going to post a few of my favourites from previous years - back when it used to be sunny in Summer

Gannets are a favourite of mine, not least because of where they breed - if you are photographing breeding Gannets then usually you are on some offshore Island or remote headland surrounded by beautiful sea views and the sights and sounds (and smells ) of seabirds  - oh and they are pretty noisy too !

carrying on with Hungary part 2 the Hortobagy region is very good for herons, egrets etc and we managed to catch up with a few of the trickier ones
Spoonbills have started coming to a new pool which is purpose made for photography - up to 29 have been there at one time !

There were also Grey herons and even a night heron came briefly which was a real bonus

Night heron in breeding plumage...




We only had one day at this brilliant site but I am back again next year so hopefully get them in better light - the weather was appalling and its not the best taking photo`s of waterbirds in grey flat light !

Posted  07/07/2012

Hello and welcome to my new blog

My name is Steve Knell and I live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Allow me to introduce you to my first post of what hopefully will be an interesting Nature/wildlife blog

I also  am just in the process of launching my website which will be at

www.steveknellphotography.co.uk

To contact me, Email me at

steven.knell@ntlworld.com

I am going to share with you a few photo`s from a recent trip to the Hortobagy region of Hungary.

I went for a week in mid-May and although we had mixed weather ,I came away with some half-decent images of birds that are difficult ,if not impossible to do in this country

I was on an organised trip ,so some of the birds were laid on a plate so to speak whilst others were found along the way

This Hoopoe was nesting in a farm wall and had large young in the nest which were just about to leave. 

Another colourful bird that i really wanted to photograph was Roller and thankfully a few pairs were just settling in to breed.

This bird is a male and although males are generally more colourful, the female was difficult to tell apart in this pair

Red-footed falcon `s are communal and there must have been around 10 pairs nesting in close proximity .

In this species, the sexes are really different - the males sooty black with reddish vent and females a sort of orange colour with mottled wings

Whilst doing the redfoots an added bonus came by in the form of Wood warbler - a British species iI have wanted to photograph for a long time

These are my favourite pics from the week - I am going to leave you with these and will be back for part 2 soon....