Nick Hurst

@nickhurst.bsky.social

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Photographer based in Suffolk, United Kingdom. Simply inspired by the natural world around us. Workshops and prints available through my website. 🇺🇦 www.bearprintsphotography.info

Newly hatched chicks are able to swim almost immediately, though they tire quickly. Their attentive parents protect them constantly, carrying them on their backs to keep them warm, safe, & hidden from predators.
Protecting her young, this female Grebe chases after a dominant male that encroached on her territory.
It's been over seven months I've been watching three pairs of Grebes close to home; and as the seasons change so does their behaviour. More challenges await as they raise & protect their young chicks.
Gannets wheel, glide, & plunge across the chalk face with breathtaking precision. Moments captured from the incredible seabird colony at Bempton.
Atlantic puffins are perhaps the most sought-after birds at Bempton. Around 4,000 breeding pairs are thought to use the cliffs and surrounding coastline. Unlike many puffin colonies, where birds nest in burrows, Bempton's puffins often use rock crevices in the chalk cliffs.
The view looking out to sea from the cliff face at Bempton. My favourite time of day, when all is still in that twilight hour, just before sunrise.
Moments captured from the meandering coastal path which frames Bempton Cliffs. The most iconic resident is the northern gannet. Bempton is home to England's only mainland gannet colony, with more than 11,000 breeding pairs nesting on the cliffs. These large white seabirds, with black-tipped wings and pale golden heads, are masters of the sea. They feed by plunge-diving, folding their wings and hitting the water at speeds of up to 60 mph (97 km/h) to catch fish beneath the surface. During the breeding season, visitors can watch pairs greeting each other with elaborate bill-fencing displays, head shaking and mutual preening. Gannets will often return to the same nest site and partner year after year.
Lost in contemplation along the cliff face at Bempton. Bempton Cliffs remains one of the finest places in Europe to experience the drama and diversity of seabird life.
Nestled along the cliff face at Bempton Cliffs. Gannets are long-lived birds and often return to the same nest site and partner year after year.
Shape and form as gannets ride the thermals along the cliff face at Bempton.
The first rays of light cut and reflect off the sea, framing this Razorbill at sunrise.
The briefest of moments, captured along the cliff face at Bempton, as Gannets rise with the thermals.
Razorbills share many of the ledges with the gannets. With black plumage & thick, blunt bills with a distinctive white line; they form strong pair bonds. Courtship displays involve bowing, bill-touching & mutual grooming.
Gannets rise & fall catching the thermals along the cliff face. Their grace, & poise is captivating in flight. Bempton is home to England's only mainland gannet colony, with more than 11,000 breeding pairs nesting on the cliffs.
A pair of courting gannets captured along the spectacular chalk cliffs of Bempton, on the Yorkshire coast. Home to one of the most important seabird colonies in the United Kingdom, rising more than 100 metres above the North Sea; these towering cliffs provide ideal nesting ledges, crevices and sheltered sites for hundreds of thousands of breeding seabirds each year.
Lost in the wash....
A fleeting moment captured along the lake, as the mist lingered during the twilight hour. Grebes are such incredible creatures and I thought this composition just lent itself to monochrome, (with a hint of a cyanotype tint).
The venerable Nikon 200 F2 has a tendency to melt transitions with a razor thin DOF. Not bad for a lens of 2007 vintage which Nikon has yet to beat on its current line up. Brief encounters on the Isle of Skomer.
The heavens had opened and the wind was whipping across the lake. Despite the inclement weather the grebes were happily oblivious.
Whispers of the sun reflect off still waters at day break. In this perfect stillness, a Grebe shepherds her chick along the margins.
Grebes develop an enduring bond during the breeding season. Having closely observed these creatures over the preceding months, the chicks grow quickly, carefully tended under the watchful eye of both parents. This selection of moments forms part of an ongoing project which I've been working on over the past six months.
A very wet and blustery morning, just before sunrise, as courting Grebes dance along the margins.
I typically work from a low perspective, close to ground or water level. Lowering yourself to your subject’s eye line can often transform the way an image feels, creating a sense of intimacy & connection.
A wider perspective of this family affair. A female grebe shepherds her chicks during the twilight hour.
A fleeting moment....
1/30 of a second, in dismal light with a 600mm lens to constrain the ISO. It's hit and miss, but sometimes you get lucky.
Soft, muted tones frame these courting grebes close to home.
A misty morning, which lingers along the lake. With the sun yet to rise it almost creates a duo-tone effect I rather like.
The first two weeks of the chicks is their most vulnerable phase. They weigh just a fraction of their eventual adult size, constantly riding on their parents' backs for warmth and protection.
Great Crested Grebe chicks will constantly ride on their parents' backs for warmth and protection, during the first three weeks. Despite the slow start, their primary goal is to convert their parents' frequent fish deliveries into skeletal growth and core downy body mass.
When the back-riding phase ends, both parents divide the brood, with each adult taking responsibility for feeding one or two specific chicks. Weight gain accelerates as they learn to hunt for themselves.
The chicks are at their most vulnerable phase during the first two weeks, constantly riding on their parents' backs for warmth & protection. By week three they start to swim independently.
The striking markings of Great Crested Grebe chicks. Incredible how these chicks put on weight so quickly. They are perhaps a couple of weeks old now, & already Mum is struggling to carry them on her back.
Just sitting, and waiting along the margins this morning during the twilight hour.
A moment in time. A great crested grebe takes to flight.
Courting grebes around 5am this morning down by the local lake. I love this time of the day, when the light is so soft & diffused. All is still and all you can hear is a theatre of rich sound from the local wildlife.
Contrasting views of the intense colours of the Dunlin's summer plumage, as they busy themselves along the Hebridean shoreline.
Dunlin feeding on sand worms & crustacea, in amongst the rocks along the shoreline, North Uist. You soon find yourself immersed in their world through the prism of your viewfinder.
Second in a series of images of the shoreline along North Uist. I/4 second exposure, panning with the camera as the waves rise & fall.
One of a series of images of the stunning shoreline along North Uist. I/4 second exposure panning with the camera as the waves rise & fall. I just liked the colours, movement & flow.
Uist lies on the East Atlantic Flyway, attracting 1000's of small waders like Dunlin and Sanderling. They arrive in spring to refuel, some winter there, & a few breed locally, before migrating to their Arctic breeding grounds.
Windswept Oyster Catcher along the Benbecula shoreline, Uist, Outer Hebrides.
One of the few sightings of a Short Eared Owl on North Uist. Unusual, but It's been a very wet winter on the isles, and likely this has hit the vole population, (their natural prey).
Otter cub along the Benbecula, Uist, Outer Hebrides. You typically work with the tides when searching for otter, but they can appear anywhere along the shoreline, & at any moment. The twilight hour, when the world is still, is always a good time.
Encounters on the Benbecula shoreline. The bond between mother & cub remains close for about a year. She raises the cubs alone, teaching them how to survive in freshwater & coastal environments.
Otters are creatures of the edges, moving for the most part unnoticed between salt and freshwater. A very welcome encounter, with this young cub from a recent tip to Uist, in the Outer Hebrides.
Traditional fencing management using sustainably harvested, wood such as hazel, willow, chestnut, and oak at Arger Fen.
Taking in the scene at sunrise at Arger Fen. Oak, ash, field maple, holly, crab apple, alder and hazel provide the backdrop to a sea of bluebells. Incredible colours and texture hailing the onset of Spring.
An early morning walk under the woodland canopy at Arger Fen, on the Essex / Suffolk border. Ancient coppice, which at this time of year is a wash of bluebells along the woodland floor. A wonderful location at sunrise.
Five days, (not that I'm counting), and back out to the Outer Hebrides. I've missed that shoreline.
Hunkering down along the Wash on the East Coast, in the company of Avocets.
Grebes along the margins at sunrise.
When you observe a particular species over a period of months, it's just incredible how much you learn about the subtleties & nuances of their behaviour. Such a rewarding journey.
Transitions tend to blur and highlights can be easily managed photographing the grebes in the early morning mist. Such incredibly elegant creatures.
An early morning mist lingers on the waters' surface, and a soft, diffused light frames this breeding pair of Great Crested Grebes.
A courting pair of Great Crested Grebes rise simultaneously from the water, as they reaffirm their bond during the breeding season.
I just felt the prevailing light worked well here, framing this mallard along the riverbank.