3 Days
May Only
We will be offering 5 long weekends in May 2024 covering a range of top subjects.
This is the first time I have decided to run a tour myself so I will be on hand throughout the day to help all I can.
The tour starts late on the Friday afternoon where we will be doing Badger and Tawny Owl at the reflection pool, Pine Marten, Daytime Badger, Perched Tawny Owl and hopefully the new Pool hide will be up and running then where we target Otter and Grey Heron.
The following day on the Saturday we will meet at 700am and it will be a mixture of subjects such as Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Daytime Tawny Owl, Kingfisher, Adder, Red Squirrel, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Stonechat, Whinchat, Cuckoo and also a host of other birds like Jays, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Siskin, Redpoll along with many others. Due to time restraints on each day it will only be possible to choose 2 subjects for the afternoon session. The 2 options you will choose from will be Redstart and Pied Flycatcher or Whinchat and Stonechat. The following day you will be switching to the ones you havent done.
Later in the day it will be back to the same subjects as the night before, where you will be doing a different subject this time.
Saturday is repeated on the Sunday so it will be an action packed weekend.
There will be 12 places on each trip, however, due to Covid-19 cancelations in the last 2 years there is already more than half of the places booked, so please do not hesitate if you do not want to miss out as this is sure to be a total sell out.
Meeting Point
Beside the War Memorial at, Ringford, DG7 2AL
Meeting Time
Friday Afternoon
Photography Hide Facilities
Terms & Conditions
By booking this photography workshop you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions.
Additional Information
Despite being dry ground to be on the safe side wellington boots are advised just in case we have lots of rain.
The walk to all the hides except daytime Badger (which takes roughly 10 minutes) are short and easy to get to on foot.
Due to the location of this spot, there are no toilets on most sites except the Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl and Kingfisher.
Max Participants: 12 Persons
Meeting Point & Time
Initial meeting will be on the Friday, with meeting point & times will be emailed in advance.
The cost for the whole trip is £550pp with a £100 non-refundable deposit to be paid at anytime to secure the place. The balance of £450 must be paid in the first half of April 2024.
Please email alanmcfadyen@ymail.com before paying any deposits to make sure there are places available on your chosen date.
FAQ
For the Saturday and Sunday daytime hides you will start at 700am.
The first day sessions will be until around lunchtime where you will be in either the Sparrowhawk, Red Squirrel or Kingfisher hides.
At lunchtime the Kingfisher group of 4 people (along with 2 people from one of the other hides) will then go to do the Cuckoo which is only 10 minutes away. The remaining 4 people in the other hides will transfer to Kingfisher at this point too. This group will be here until the evening hides begin.
The Cuckoo is normally a short session so after the Cuckoo the 6 people will then do Adder which again doesn’t take long.
We will move on to a mixture of Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Stonechat or Whinchat for the rest of the day until the evening hides begin.
Please note it will most likely be a choice of 2 subjects out of the 4 you can choose due to time constraints.
Please be aware it is your choice if you want to skip any part of each day as we appreciate it does take a bit of stamina during the 2 and a half days of photography.
For this tour bring a range of lenses if you can. Most subjects are in the 400mm to 500 range. However the Badger evening pool hide is 70-200mm, Red Squirrel pool around 300mm, Diving Kingfisher 70-200mm and the Adder can be shot at any focal length.
A lot of the hides now have plates and strong shelfs (Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, Night Badger, Tawny Owl, Pine Marten, Red Squirrel, Cuckoo and the Pond hide so a gimble head is ideal or a beanbag.
The Only one you require a tripod is the Daytime Badger and Adder although handholding is an option here as is the Adder.
The Redstart and Pied Flycatcher also requires a tripod and the Stonechat and Whinchat is a beanbag job.
Almost all hides are close to where you park. Some do have a short hill to go up. The only longish walk is the daytime Badger which takes about 10 minutes and it has 2 stiles to cross on the route.
Yes bring what you need for the day as we will have no time to stop at shops.
The Sparrowhawk hide has Male and Female chemical toilets and the Kingfisher and Pool hide have proper toilets. The rest are a few miles from the nearest town.
It is our policy not to give out our number as in the past it caused to much hassle as we were receiving calls all day and night. We were forced to make the decision to only deal with emails, Facebook messenger or Instagram messages.
No!
You are greeted at the meeting point then are told to follow the site manager to the hide. You will need to have your vehicle for the short travelling we will be undertaking throughout the day.
NO!
All bait must be supplied by Scottish Photography hides.
Unfortunately no, We do our best to attract them regularly and have a high hit rate. You must appreciate we are dealing with a lot of different wildlife subjects here so you must understand this can happen.
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