J.R MacDonald Photography

28/04/2024

Few from the weekend.

07/05/2023

Another Hen Harrier image from South Kintyre.

Please note that this was taken on the 2nd of April this year, and is part of a hunting sequence; the end part of which was originally posted here on 3/4/2023.

06/05/2023

Female Wheatear this evening, Machrihanish area. Nikon D850 Sigma 150-600mm

06/05/2023

Ridiculously excited to have House Martins building nests outside the bedroom window. Awesome :)

25/04/2023

Nice little male Wheatear today, photographed in the harsh mid afternoon sun near Kilkenzie. The autofocus on the the Nikon D850 is so precise, that the bird's back is more in focus than the head - and from a distance of about thirty feet...

Settings, if you're interested. Nikon D850 handheld, Sigma 150-600mm Sports 1/2000 sec F9 ISO 450 Spot metering, continuous Group AF.

14/04/2023

Watched a pair of Golden eagles displaying to each other today, above an area of clearfell that used to contain a nest site. Very sad.

11/04/2023

Somewhere between Westport and Machrihanish last month. Nikon D850, Nikkor 24mm.

04/04/2023

3 years ago, I photographed a Male Stonechat on exactly the same post, taken last Sunday, I wonder if its the same bird?

03/04/2023

Yesterday was my birthday. It was sunny and almost warm for what felt like the first time this ''Spring'' so, I thought I would visit an old haunt to see if there were any Hen Harriers around.

It was always a great spot in the early Spring, located on a mainly dry low hillside. southwest facing, and about a mile from the sea. It attracts raptors of all types. Lizards, voles, and small birds in abundance see to this. I hadn't been for a few years, and the wall I used to sit behind for hours on end has almost collapsed now, however I was able to make myself reasonably hidden, and before long I saw a male Hen Harrier hunting low over the hillside above me. He seemed very successful, and on 12 different occasions over the afternoon I watched him float low over the rushes, occasionally twisting backwards in mid air, and pouncing on some unfortunate creature below. Fantastic to see, and I was happy with my modest images of him from some distance away. Right as I was starting to think of my dinner, and heading off, I saw him again.

He flew to within about 80 feet, then once again he twisted, and crashed into the grasses. I could see him mantled over his kill, and he spent a good ten minutes eating, then finally took off and flew towards me. Autofocus locked on, and I managed a few shots before he finally saw me, and disappeared quickly. Probably as good as it gets for me. You can see the blood from the last kill around the birds face. A beautiful, rare, and difficult to photograph bird. Sadly still highly persecuted in The British isles. NIKON D850 SIGMA 150-600mm Sports.

30/03/2023

Hi, its been a while... I have equipment again, and will hopefully be adding more images in the coming months.

I haven't been on this page for a long time, and as such, I have missed some comments, and private mails. Unfortunately a lot of my back catalogue is located on other older computers, and I would find it difficult, if not impossible to access a lot of these files in their best quality - so apologies to anyone who has asked about buying images, I'm afraid its just not really an option now.

However I do have high hopes of adding newer and hopefully higher quality images in the future. So, with that in mind, here's a shot taken of the moon last night. Nikon D850, Sigma 150-600mm sports. F8 1/200 seconds ISO 64

18/01/2022

https://www.facebook.com/SimonMcleanPhotography/

Landscape and aerial photography. 2022 will see me develop my portrait and wedding photography skills. One of these days I may even acquire the skill and patience required for nature and wildlife.

08/05/2020

Weasel, south east Kintyre, April 2020.