world of wings

My friend Anna runs photography instructional courses. Helping folk get more out of their cameras. "Get off Auto", that sort of thing. Although I am a big fan of Auto, I am very keen on wildlife trips, so when Anna said there was space on her birds of prey outing, I jumped at the chance.

Eagle Owl

The venue was World of Wings just outside Cumbernauld. Scotland's largest bird of prey centre, which has an extensive collection of amazing creatures. We would be able to take photos of some of them, both tethered and flying, in natural surroundings. We were 5 in number; Anna, three of her students and myself. The 3 other women had taken a couple of Get Off Auto classes with Anna already and had "proper" cameras. Although I took along my G3 (a csc or mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses) I didn't use it. I haven't used it since I got the TZ100 which is a compact camera. The TZ100 covers all of the ground of the G3 and more. I use a compact as I wouldn't easily be able to run with a larger model. And in decent weather it gives very good results that aren't substantially poorer in quality than those out of full size cameras. Occasionally I get an urge to upgrade to a walking only model when I see the results from friends who have them and know how to use them, but I also see a lot of photos from large cameras that are not particularly special.

First thing we had a quick talk from Anna on what we should be focussed on when taking pics, and a reminder of the controls we should be using on our cameras and making sure we knew where to find them. Although mine is a compact it has the same manual options as a DSLR or mirrorless. I have to say I wasn't very quick or competent about finding the likes of exposure compensation and focus modes. (Anna was VERY helpful and filled the gaps in my knowledge/skill, even though she doesn't often instruct folk with compacts.) It was a useful reminder and I really should spend more time flipping through these options because in my experience wildlife is rarely as forgiving as it was on this occasion, sitting on a stump of wood until you choose between single area focus or tracking. 

Red-tailed buzzard

Lanner Falcon

After the chat we went out to a field where 5 birds were tethered to stumps. We were free to wander about and take photos as we liked. The birds were really magnificent and kind of imposing. I would quietly feel obliged to say good morning and well, not quite introduce myself, but it was definitely a case of meeting another sentient being, and would have felt rude not to at least break the ice before putting your camera in the face of these individuals. 

American Kestrel

I mostly took headshots and close ups as the claws with the jesses and anklets spoke too loudly of confinement and gave the game away. Not that I was thinking I could fool anyone into believing I had snuck up on these exotic creatures (with far FAR more acute senses than mine) and got a quick photo in the wild. Ha! Likely! One of the reasons I take photos of butterflies is because, with patience, you can frequently get close to them. Birds in the wild are just too much like hard work to get anything other than a distant outline in the sky, heading south.

I only noticed afterwards this one had some breakfast on his beak. And there is no way I'd have tried to remove it - like trying to remove fluff from the moving blade of a bandsaw.

The American Kestrel is smaller than the UK one.

Back to the Eagle Owl who was an imposing figure - like a large sullen teddy bear with a stanley knife in his pocket, probably the most indifferent (towards us) of the static birds. Looked like he had seen plenty of cameras in his time. I say "he" but I can't remember which birds were which gender, and had to struggle to recall what species was what. Several were from out-of-town which didn't help.  

Red-tailed buzzard

Lanner Falcon

Barn Owl - easier to remember

Stewart (or Stuart) above was our man for the day. He was exceptionally well informed on all aspects of birds and falconry and happy to answer all questions, intelligent or otherwise. He also had a broad base of knowledge about all things eco and bird-related and a more thoughtful and considered opinion about, for instance, grouse farming etc and knock-on effects for the likes of hen harriers than perhaps some who fight their corner with a disregard of the larger picture. I was suitably impressed and it reflected well on the institution that he worked there. (Suggesting it wasn't just a bird circus pimping exotic creatures for tourism dollars.) All the captives looked in burgeoning health. (Though what do I know!)

the weather was overcast and a bit windy to start (note feathers round face)
but brightened as the day went on.

The Barn Owl (I forget it's name - should have been Barnie obvs.) was the first flyer of the day. You can see the quality of the pics nosedives as I struggled to get decent shots, even though the bird flew back and forth loads of times while I scrabbled about trying to change settings; before eventually sneaking back to Auto while Anna wasn't looking. These flying pics are cropped from larger mostly sky pics! The trouble was I would zoom in to get a decent image of the bird at rest on a log or stump, then it would fly from one place to another while I struggled to zoom back out and get more than just a claw or wingtip going past in a blur. The static birds were very similar to my usual butterfly type pics and so pretty straightforward. Flying things though, much tougher!

We had lunch at some point around now. There was a cafe on site but I can't say it was one of the highlights of the place, aiming for fairly cheap and cheerful rather than high end. There is a menu on the website. Family type snacks and meals. I am tempted to say it reflects a proximity to Glasgow, by which I mean white bread and Irn Bru. However the most exciting thing wasn't the menu but Anna getting out a laptop and asking us to hand over our sd cards so we could have a look and see who had taken the worst photos. It could have been a bit trepidatious but for the amount of fun we were having. I think there might have been surprise that my compact had produced results that weren't similarly tiny and cheap. Luckily, and with something that could have been mistaken for foresight, I had deleted the runts of the litter.

Harris Hawk

The Harris Hawk presented a larger area to capture but moved slightly faster. I see out of the dozens of photos taken, only 3 made the cut-off. 

Next up a Bateleur Eagle. This is a spectacular sub-Saharan eagle whose prey includes venomous snakes, so a short tail that doesn't go near the ground is handy. Even if it looks a bit weird and makes flying harder.

coming in to land

Anna gets a close up with a wide angle lens

that's not a bird, it's a peacock!
quick butterfly intermission while the star of the show is brought out

poop comes out that end
No! Stewart is pointing out the new flight feathers on this juvenile peregrine.

after his hood is removed he perks up, has a shakeout then takes off

We were warned this would be our trickiest subject of the day. Difficult to measure his exact mph but it was superfast! Lots more wingbeats per second on those long narrow wings than I would have thought as the bird did large figure 8s round the central point where Stewart zipped a meat and leather lure in tight circles. I was pleased to see I actually released the shutter at the right point on a few occasions, although the video I shot probably does a better job of showing the speed the bird flew past cruising up into a stall turn before descending on the lure again. What a sight!

The thing that surprised me wasn't that the bird could synchronise wings and claws and catch the lure at those speeds but that when it was over and the bird came back for its reward it was panting like a 100meter sprinter. (I will hopefully put the video up soon.)

I got the feeling this was a favourite with Stewart.

hat back on - lights out!

I didn't ask the question that we might all have been considering. Do the birds ever just fly off and not come back? I noticed they wear radio transmitters when flown, although that only tells you where they are and doesn't bring them home. As we returned to the centre we saw a bird in a tree which had absconded from the arena when it got spooked. A Snowy Owl possibly. Once calmed it was coaxed out the tree, presumably with tasty snacks and a bit of coo-ing. Meanwhile we had a look round the other inmates. Not just birds of prey, but an interesting crew of decorative and unexpected sorts including an odd looking crane, parrots, a laughing kookaburra and some wildfowl.

not playing!

I think this might be a buzzard.

This Little Owl was supremely cute but a little bit shy.

Huge thanks to Anna for driving us there, teaching me how to use my camera, and driving us back again. An excellent day out at a great venue. Highly recommend the place, although we were on a specific photography trip that was pre-arranged, so got special treatment. If you want to learn how to get the best out of your camera I'd highly recommend you get in touch with Anna and sign up for her excellent classes. She is an award winning wildlife photographer and really knows her way round your camera. The group I was with were easy going and good company and it was a really fun day out. And the birds were spectacular.