Somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a long time. I'm ashamed to say up until now it's been a go-through to get to the Isle of Mull. This trip was a step in the right direction at putting this right. It's a beautiful place, and the surrounding area is stunning. Making one trip to the area doesn't do the place justice, and it won't be the last time I visit.
Oban is known as 'The Gateway to the Islands'. The name Oban itself literally means “little bay”. It's a fitting description as there are many trips you can take to the surrounding islands, most notably Mull. But the place has so much more to offer, especially if you're interested in the outdoors and, like me, wildlife...
From checking the woodland they used to enter the garden earlier that afternoon on the first day, there was a particular tree that caught my attention, right on the Pine Martens’ route in. This became the first area for the camera trap set-up. Messing about with a combination of flashes, flash power and using flash gels (to change the colour of the flash) I was eventually happy and we moved away and waited in Robert’s garden at an elevated point to watch in hope they would come to us. Robert had set up a sensor in the woods and, sure enough, around 9.30pm/10pm the sensor’s receiver flashed to alert us something was moving through the woodland.
I got excited as there was just enough daylight in the garden. If they came through the woodland, hopefully setting off the camera trap in the process, and into the garden, I was ready with a second set-up using one off-camera flash aimed to balance the ambient light. The idea with the second set-up was to create a daylight image of the Pine Marten at sunset. Shortly after Robert’s sensor receiver started flashing to tell us something was in the woodland on the other side of the garden, the camera trap was triggered making it look like lightning was going off.
This happened repeatedly for 5/10mins at a time over about an hour. Robert and I expected a Wood Mouse was triggering the camera trap set-up. We left it for a while just in case and once it’d had gone too dark for my sunset image (with no luck) we ventured into the woodland to check the camera trap. I was amazed that it hadn’t been a Wood Mouse after all, but that two Pine Marten had been coming and going in the woodland all along.
Another plan during the day was to visit a Red Squirrel hide owned by Philip Price of Loch Visions (www.lochvisions.co.uk). Red Squirrels are a species I’ll never grow tired of. They’re amazing animals with so much character.
I knew from looking up Philip’s hide prior to the trip that there was lots of opportunities to work with different lenses to photograph them. While I do like close-up shots, I’m trying more and more to think a little differently and showing the animal’s environment. Just like with the Pine Marten series above, this is what I wanted to achieve with the Red Squirrels. Philip’s hide was the perfect place in which to do this as it overlooks Loch Craignish and a beautiful landscape either side.
I wasn’t blessed with great weather, but you’ve got to make do with the conditions that are given to you. So I was able to get some close-up photos using a 500mm lens as the first image and the one below show, as well as using a wide angle on a remote trigger for the one above. The Red Squirrels here were very obliging!
Probably my favourite image, and why Philip’s hide is so good, is the one below. Taken using a 70-200mm lens, I was able to show the beautiful view in the background while focusing attention on the Red Squirrel in the foreground.
I still like the one above, more for the oak tree branch though!
To have a hide where you can let your creativity run wild, along with obliging critters to pose for you, is a recipe for great fun!
There are more images from my time with the Red Squirrels in the gallery page, quoted earlier in the blog.
So my last night in Oban came far too fast. I was keen to try again in the woodland area but this time to create a different feel to the images. I decided to use a blue flash gel on 3 flashes for this set-up, trying to create a look of moonlight. I’m not sure how well I achieved that, but I’m happy with the image above and below nonetheless!
The visits from the Pine Marten were far more fleeting than the first night, and the image above is the best from the series.
On reviewing the images on the back of the camera, I was also surprised to see a Hedgehog had found the set-up as well. It was great to add another species to the collection and, more importantly, great to see a Hedgehog! Sadly the species is in desperate need of our help, and their numbers are rapidly declining.
If you live in an area where Hedgehogs are known, and you have a fence around your garden, please leave a small hole to allow them to pass through. While females will stay in a garden and find food, males travel large distances and, without passages to get from garden to garden, they’re restricted. Also, they’re lactose intolerant so don’t leave anything out that will affect them. You can buy specially designed Hedgehog food which doesn’t cost a lot, and leaving a small dish of water works wonders.
To finish this blog, I wanted to make a small mention about the two images below. As above, I was hoping to add to the ever growing collection of Pine Marten images during the day, but the activity at the site in Oban had unfortunately dropped off. I’m sure this will pick up again next year when, hopefully, a Pine Marten mother will have kits and bring them to Robert’s garden.
I had seen on Facebook a friend had posted some images of Pine Marten in daylight not too far from where I was, albeit a 3hr drive away. I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss so, on one day on the trip, I made my way across to Perth and then north to Mark Johnson's newly built hide. There are some fantastic photos of Pine Marten coming from the hide and anyone wanting to see them should look it up on Facebook or via his website;
www.fusionimagery.co.uk
My luck wasn’t in unfortunately - I think it was getting late in the season to see them during the day. It was late July after all. However, a pair of kits did show for about 5mins at roughly 9.45pm. ISO’s were high and shutter speeds were low, but I’m happy with these two images nonetheless.