Wildlife Photography Project

[shepherd550]

I'm doing a photography project to raise money for charity and need help from the good people of Sheffield. The idea is to photograph all the different owl and bird of prey species found in the British Isles. This going to take some time and i will need massive help from you guys. The idea is to put all the photographs together either in a calendar or a gallery to raise awareness for all the birds on the list and all the money will go to a local charity in Sheffield.

 

What i need are really good hotspots where any of these birds can be found. Looking in the rspb guide there at least 6 species of owls and 16 species of birds of prey that i need to get to complete this challenge. Obviously a lot of these are rare and on the red list so it would be appreciated if anyone has any locations that they private message me to ensure the safety of all the birds and eggs.

 

I would like to make this open to anyone that if they know of any good locations, that they can come a long with me and be involved in the project and get a mention and credit for your help.

Some birds are going to involve travelling long distances for but for know i would like to start local.

If anyone knows were there a good sites to see barn owls, kestrels, sparrowhawks, hobbies, merlins, etc then please please contact me and we can meet up. I would perfer it if some of the locations are off the beaten track so that we don't attract too much attention and also disturb the birds themselves by having crowds of people. If anyone is part of a local trust like the sheffield bird study group or the rspb or knows anyone who is, who could help please direct them to me for there guidance.

 

Depends how well this goes i would like to make this a fun project were more people can come a long and join in i'm sure there are people out there who would love to the say that they've seen all the species.

 

If you've read this far thanks for sticking with me and if you want to see some of my images my flickr page name is SHEPHERD550

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shepherd550/

 

Thanks for any help and assistance Richard

[richarda]

I take it that these will be photographed in Autumn and winter ?

[shepherd550]

some of birds will have to be due to spotting them is easier and also some are r protected when photographing at the nest site. nest sites would be a good start so i can scout possible shots and ideas for the spring. a barn owl nest im watching at the minute still have five chicks that haven't fledged. so any info will be grateful. sparrowhawks is one of the more common species im having trouble with. i understand that if anyone knows of good locations they don't want every tom dick and harry knowing so please pm me to protect the birds

[richarda]

So as you would like to photograph some birds at the nest next year and are Schedule 1 birds, do you have a permit

[shepherd550]

i have applied for a schedule 1 licence a while back and sent photos in of various nest sites and and have met all criteria the only stumbling block I've come up against is knowing somebody else with a schedule 1 to give a recommendation to complete my liecense. i was hoping to meet like minded people whilst doing this project a long the way. photographing at the nest is not the b all and end all for me. just getting the shots of the adults is the goal the idea of knowing the nest sites or area is just to make the task of finding these birds a lot easier

[shepherd550]

Still struggling on the sparrowhawk and now the hobby, as a tip i was sent was a kestrel nest