Great crested grebe courtship display, mating and nesting

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 07:06PM
Tags: wildlife, video, sony, ex3
Filed in: Webfilm and video production
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As part of my involvment with the WWT wetland nature reserve in London I was lucky enough to film the extrodianry display of these breeding Great Crested Grebes.

It was the first time I've seen this, let alone film it, and was thrilled that the light was so good. It was great to witness the whole sequence of the initial display, followed by the collecting and showing-off of weeds and then nest building and mating. It all took place during a few hours in the morning.

I used the Vinten 3AS tripod, that Vinten have kindly lent me, which is defaintely a big step up from my old head for these kinds of zoom levels.

HD video of Chiffchaff filmed at Exminster Marsh

Friday, March 26, 2010 at 06:56PM
Tags: wildlife, video, sony, ex3
Filed in: Webfilm and video production
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I filmed this at Exminster Marsh nature reserve the other day.

You can view the 720p HD version here.

Equipment: Sony EX3 with Sigma 100-300 F4, Adaptimax lens adaptor. Manfrotto 503 head.
Shutter Speed / frame rate: 1/250th, S+Q Motion 60fps.

Filmed black tailed godwits and avocets at Bowling Green Marsh nature reserve, Topsham

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 12:52PM
Tags: wildlife, video, sony, ex3
Filed in: Webfilm and video production
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On Saturday (20th March) I filmed these black tailed godwits, avocets, widgeon, grey heron, and a little egret at the Bowling Green Marsh RSPB nature reserve in Topsham. This sequence is just roughly cut together and isn‚Äôt meant to be viewed as much more than a selection of clips from a morning's filming.

I used my new Sigma 100-300 F4 lens with my Sony EX3 to get these shots. I was very lucky to get to the reserve and find the black tailed godwits about 15 feet away from the hide! A flock of bar tailed godwits were also on the reserve, visible in the first shot of this sequence.