Behind the Lens | David Dinsley

David Dinsley, who you may also know as “Nature North East”, is a wildlife photographer and warden at RSPB reserve, The Oa. After getting into birdwatching in his mid twenties, and initially taking images on his phone camera through a telescope to document the rarities found on his local bird-watching patch, David eventually bought a camera, and the rest is history. His shots beautifully capture wildlife, with a particular focus on birds found in Scotland. David tells us, “I’ve always been drawn primarily to birds, they are my main interest after all, but I also look to photograph reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and occasionally dabble in landscapes.” After admiring his work for quite some time, we got in touch with David and asked him to share the stories behind some of his favourite shots.

I was heading back out on the reserve after lunch one day, and as I did I watched this female merlin cut through a flock of hundreds of finches, singling out one unfortunate goldfinch. Snatching it in flight, it disappeared from view. As I drove down the farm track, I met into her again with her prize. Managing to grab a few shots from the Land Rover as she began her meal, I kept the aperture wide to blur out the background and focus on the falcon - isolated as a subject. This was a very special encounter, although merlin are relatively common here in the autumn and winter months, they are very shy falcons and this chance meeting at close range was a very memorable one. Vehicles can be the ideal mobile bird hide.

Throughout the autumn and winter months we do a lot of management work to improve corncrake habitat, here on the Oa. It’s always a little nerve-racking as we get to May, anticipating the potential return of corncrake to site. Fortunately, most years we do have at least one male visit the reserve, calling loudly in an attempt to breed with a passing female.

Fortunately for me, as I live on site, our garden is one of the key areas of corncrake habitat here; this occasionally allows me fantastic opportunities to photograph them in their habitat. For this shot I sat, hidden in the Defender at dusk with my camera ready, and as this male would occasionally break cover to call, I would be press the shutter as the golden evening light brought him to life.

"When wielding my camera to photograph a subject or scene, I develop a one track mind. My brain focussing on what’s best for the shot, and with it comes a sense of mental clarity and focus. My mind locked on to capturing that exact moment in time. So in a way I do it for myself mostly, but I love to share my content with my followers on social media. Particularly sharing images of the more undervalued species such as corncrakes and twite, whilst still sharing images of British wildlife staples like puffin and red squirrel."

Otters are relatively common around the coast of Islay, but having a close encounter requires patience and fieldcraft. Through observations, I learnt the approximate times of the day that this otter would come out and hunt amongst the shallows. As is standard practice with otter photography you advance upon their position as they dive under the surface. Hidden amongst the rocks, I captured this portrait of this one as it looked up from the lobster it was happily devouring. Shot on a 500mm telephoto lens and focussing on the eyes, I wanted to convey a sense of intimacy with long lens shot.

Late spring is the height of the breeding bird season here at the Oa, and off the back of that, the main focus of my time is to survey our breeding species. Some of these surveys are nest site specific, such as hen harrier and golden eagle, which involve long nest watches on a fixed point. Whilst others are performed along transect routes - so lots of walking through different habitats.

I took this shot of a common sandpiper as I passed through its coastal territory. It was perched up on a rock at around head height, allowing me to use the rocks and sea thrift in the foreground to create a blurred element to the bottom of the image. The white rocks of the foreshore beyond helping to make the sandpiper pop from the background.

"As warden at RSPB The Oa, my main responsibilities are monitoring our wildlife, particularly the red-billed chough population, working with livestock, managing habitats, and maintaining site infrastructure. The reserve is 2,100 hectares, a large site to maintain; thankfully much of the landscape is managed by our livestock for the benefit of our key species. Our habitats range from extensive areas of peatland, to dramatic sea cliffs, moorland, freshwater lochs, coastal grasslands and heath."

Whinchat are without a doubt my favourite summering songbird, spending the winter in Africa they return to breed in April and remain until September. It’s always exciting when they return to the reserve.

This male was singing his scratchy song on territory, and perching quite nicely on the top of bracken stems. As he was perched below the rise of a hill, I didn’t want a messy background or alternatively a blown out sky to the image. So, I decided to get down to eye level with mr whinchat. Using the out of focus bracken in the foreground to lead your eye up to the bird, creating a nice soft and blurred texture to the majority of the photo, helping once again to highlight the subject and emphasise the bird in his habitat a little bit more - or at least, that was my intention.

The life cycle of the common cuckoo is fascinating, they’re a relatively common bird here on The Oa, but staying for the shortest amount of time; usually just a few months. Skittish by their very nature, the adults are incredibly difficult to photograph, the juveniles however, can be a little easier I’ve found. These large youngsters are in my opinion even more photogenic than their adult counterparts. This individual was being fed by several much smaller meadow pipits on a beautiful late summers evening. I sat low in the heather opposite, waiting for the cuckoo to get its feed.

"At The Oa, we operate as a four man team and have a full in-house working farm operation, providing high nature value farming to this site, we operate with around one hundred breeding cows and several hundred sheep. A population of wild feral goats graze the reserve coast providing additional habitat management for chough, but in areas a little too wild for us to effectively graze with sheep. It’s a really rewarding job and though the weather can be harsh, it adds to the drama of the landscape, and when the weather is good it’s just stunning. Living and working on the reserve full time has afforded me some unforgettable encounters with golden eagle, hen harrier, otter, corncrake, and more."

From October, Islay is invaded by thousands of geese travelling south from Greenland, the majority being Barnacle geese. A small black and white goose, they are a staple of autumn and winter here on the island. A visual spectacle as they fly, and providing a soundscape across the island during the colder months of the year. I have yet to achieve a shot of these geese I’m particularly fond of, but this is about the closest.

Something a little more tropical than the west coast of Scotland, I photographed this palm tree frog in the cloud forest of Mindo, Ecuador. I was obsessed with the crazy cast of creatures that call this rainforest home and performing night photography using a flash was such incredible fun. It was also a style of photography I wasn’t used too, so I could really get my teeth stuck into the new process of creating compositions to my liking with colourful and different subjects. Shot on a macro lens, with a flash diffuser, I approached this shot with a minimal aesthetic to it; the red line of the leaf edge slicing through the image, the tree frog in the centre with a black background providing no distractions, and below a little bit of red hinting to the underside of the leaf.

Thank you so much to David for taking the time to tell us the fascinating stories behind these stunning shots. If you'd like to follow David on Instagram, you can do sohere. We highly recommend you do!