DARTFORD WARBLER- FERNDOWN COMMON- MAY 2010

The Dartford Warbler is a small resident warbler, in the breeding season it is confined to the low lying heathlands in southern England. It is particularly vulnerable during harsh winters. I spent some time identifying their territories around the relatively small Ferndown Common area during 2010. Although their numbers have deceased in recent years, my early morning visits to the common results in gaining some excellent knowledge of where to locate these lovely birds. The next step being to successfully photograph these birds in a way that did not interfere or disturb them. I would generally stay close to footpaths as I found warblers close to these areas were generally more approachable but this meant competing with early morning dog walkers. Not an easy bird to photograph as they tend to stay very low in thick gorse where they hunt for food. I found using a good zoom lens with a converter idea for this task. On one occasion I was fortunately enough to locate a pair of warblers collecting and feeding their young. They did not appear to notice my presence as they went about their business which enabled me to secure some usable shots with during a short window of opportunity. These shots are included together with other Dartford Warbler shots taken from Dorset heathland location.