Moonwatch and Stargazing 17 and 18/05/21
by martin on 20/05/21 12:49, under Dark Skies
My work life is split between wildlife safaris, photography workshops, pelagics and dark skies events, and with the recent easing of lockdown restrictions the reopening of the award-winning Battlesteads Hotel meant the reopening of the observatory too. I had the privilege of leading the first ever event at the observatory (for the solar eclipse in March 2015) and our staffing rota gave me the first two events this week after more than 6 months of closure 🙂
Monday started with rain, and a rainbow, before the guests arrived to great views of the moon through the 11″ SCT, and an eagerly anticipated bright, and long, passover by the ISS coincided with two Starlink trains. People have conflicting emotions about the number of artificial satellites currently being launched, but they’re an impressive sight! Two thirds of the Summer Triangle (Vega and Deneb) put in an appearance, along with Castor, Pollux, Arcturus, Mars and the Plough.
Tuesday had a better forecast…and more cloud! The guests were still able to look at the moon’s craters and mountain ranges through the 11″ and Arcturus and Vega both appeared between the fast-moving clouds, with more stars, and Mars, visible towards the end of the evening.
Back on the North Sea; NEWT’s 4hr pelagic 12/05/21
by martin on 17/05/21 10:06, under North Sea
As we spend so much of our time on, or by, the sea it seemed poetic that as restrictions eased sufficiently to allow us to start running tours again, our first trip was a pelagic. The North Sea was at its ever-shifting best; lumpy swell and whitecaps eventually giving way to oily-smooth water reflecting the colours of the setting sun 🙂
Going back to basics
by martin on 03/02/21 10:58, under Photography, Uncategorized
NEWT having a period of hibernation, while we deal with another enforced lockdown, has been an interesting time. We’re walking every day (1.6 miles in a morning or at lunchtime, then 6-10 miles on both Saturday and Sunday). Occasionally I’ll carry my big lens (150-600mm) with me, but mostly I prefer to travel light…
Like many photographers I have a lot of kit accumulated over the years, often with a specific function in mind. Until a couple of years ago my photography was mainly offshore wildlife, and nightscape, using lenses that were purchased specifically for those (70-200mm and 14-24mm). I was leading a photography holiday in Glencoe over Christmas 2018 and during the briefing I said we’d have a constructive critique of our images after dinner each evening. “Only if you agree to put your images up for discussion too”. I don’t usually carry a camera during workshops, but agreed to put one camera body with a 50mm prime lens, and no other accessories, in my rucksack, along with lunch, first aid kit, emergency group shelter etc.
The effect was extraordinary. All of that kit, and I fell completely in love with a lens that cost me less than £100. Through all the challenging times of the last 10 months, it’s been rare that I would leave the house without that lens mounted on my D810 and in my hand. It’s provided a stable point of focus (apologies for the unintentional pun…) and keeps my mind occupied. Here’s a little gallery of images I’ve taken with it, from Glencoe in December ’18 through to a walk in the woods 2 days ago.
Of course, I’m now finding lots of situations where 50mm is slightly too much reach…note to self – research 35mm primes 🙂
Stay safe and well, and we’ll see you on the other side of this 🙂
Murmurings; Otter mini-Safari 29/10/20
by martin on 30/10/20 12:10, under Uncategorized
Other than a few nights at the Battlesteads Observatory, I’ve had a month at home with my feet up recovering from an operation in late September to fix an old foot injury. Even the drizzly, murky weather didn’t curb my enthusiasm for getting back out with clients so I met Maria ahead of a few hours searching for Otters…
Teal, Gadwall, Shelduck, Mallard, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Red-breasted Merganser were all constantly stirred by Marsh Harriers drifting over the pool, Lapwing and Curlew flew by and then the Starlings started arriving. Here’s Maria’s video 🙂
NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 22/09/2020
by martin on 09/10/20 11:26, under Uncategorized
Our pelagic season ended with a 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic, and the sea demonstrated what a fickle mistress she is. The previous afternoon we’d had White-beaked Dolphins and good conditions offshore…and now the sea was ominous and brooding as a stiff southwesterly started to pick up and we were treated to a sea that was majestic and choppy…
NEWT’s North Sea Pelagics 21/09/2020
by martin on 09/10/20 11:20, under North Sea
Our final 4hr daytime pelagics for 2020 were very contrasting. Our morning sailing was a great few hours offshore but didn’t produce any cetacean sightings so in the hour between sailings, I suggested to Allan that we should just head straight out in the afternoon…and just at the point where we were about to turn and head back to shore, there were the White-beaked Dolphins 🙂
Light on the water; Bespoke Photography 10/09/2020
by martin on 11/09/20 09:33, under Bottlenose Dolphin, Northumberland Coast, Photography
Yesterday was a trip we were really looking forward to after what has been a really challenging year in so many ways. Emma and Janine have been on a couple of photography holidays that I’ve led since late 2018 and yesterday’s trip was organised for Janine’s birthday. Water and wildlife were the specific requests so I’d discussed how to structure the full day with Sarah and we thought we’d got a workable plan…
We started with wildlife; Dunlin, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Turnstone all exploiting the rich food supply available on freshly uncovered sand and seaweed as the tide fell. Low-angled sunlight and mirror-calm water were everything we could have wished for and after a morning of wading birds we headed off for an excellent lunch, and outstanding views from our window table, at the Jolly Fisherman.
Post-lunch we stretched our legs and walked towards Dunstanburgh Castle as the tide turned and surf started breaking over the rocks in the foreground while we sat close to the rising water. Juvenile Gannets were diving offshore and I was thinking that there must be plenty of fish when I spotted a couple of dorsal fins and for the next 5 minutes we watched a group of around 10 Bottlenose Dolphins that seemed to be on a mission to get somewhere away to the south 🙂 Heading back south down the coast our final stop was at Howick Haven/Rumbling Kern as the tide started to flood in below the Bathing House.
Lovely entertaining clients who are pleasure to spend time with, fantastic light, obliging wildlife and the Northumberland coast. There can’t be many better ways to spend a day 🙂
Joyriders; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 02/09/2020
by martin on 04/09/20 10:11, under North Sea, White-beaked Dolphin
Wednesday’s 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic sailed with the intention of heading out to the furthest reaches of the Farne Deeps but just over 2hrs in, Mark and Martin looked at the weather and decided that it wouldn’t be safe to head as far offshore as planned. Checking the forecast for the rest of the day, and the bathymetric chart, a new course was set…and there were the White-beaked dolphins 🙂 52 minutes of mayhem later they departed as suddenly and mysteriously as they’d arrived, leaving behind a boat filled with grinning clients and memory cards filled with images and video 🙂
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