Wildlife cameraman make your luck
Wildlife cameraman make your luck could be a command. In some ways it could be a mantra. The truth is that in wildlife filming luck does play a part, but by making the right moves you can improve your chances.
The bird above is a male ring ouzel. We filmed this individual near the top end of Dare Country Park a few days ago. The ring ouzel is the symbol of the park but the species has not bred there for twenty years. Earlier this year we saw one on spring migration but there were no breeding attempts. What were the chances of seeing another ring ouzel on the one day in autumn that we had scheduled to film at the park? Very slim indeed.
All we needed was a sequence to end the programme about Dare Country Park. We all treated the day as ‘wildlife cameraman make your luck’. Green woodpeckers were calling as usual but we couldn’t pin them down. Jays were calling and active too, but highly mobile and not sticking to any particular locality. Thrushes were very active around a single Rowan tree without leaves at the base of a screenwriter slope. That was the decision, stake out the tree.
Sitting around waiting for something to happen is what being a wildlife cameraman is all about. Fieldfare, middle thrush, song thrush, and blackbird all visited the tree. Then the ring ouzel arrived. At first it was side on and we couldn’t make a conclusive identification. But as soon as it turned around it was obvious. I think this was a case of ‘wildlife cameraman make your luck’. The luck part was the fact that it stayed there for some time picking amd eating berries in full view. On the other hand a real live interview was spoiled by an aircraft going over. You win some you lose some!