A Hamilton photographer is promoting wildlife in the town with his stunning pictures of birds feeding in the wintry conditions.
Lang Stewart, 74, has travelled around the world capturing all kinds of rare species and is now passionate about sharing what he sees with locals.
The retired telecoms engineer has sought wildlife in places like Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and just last year, Costa Rica. But it’s his beautiful shots in the Avonbridge area of Hamilton that features the latest of his fascinating work.
Lang explained: “Watching wildlife in lockdown is an excellent way to relieve the stress of the current pandemic.
“In just a small area beside the river between Smithycroft and the entrance to Chatelherault Park there is quite a number of small birds in and around the trees with dipper, kingfisher and grey wagtail on the river.
“I decided to visit the Avonbridge area of Hamilton on a cold, snowy and freezing day to photograph birds feeding in the icy weather at -3C. When the temperature falls this low the birds have a problem finding food, but when they do then they tend to eat voraciously and ignore the photographer.
“ If you are patient and move slowly towards them then this is a perfect time to get close shots.”
Lang is passionate about his hobby of bird watching and says the recent icy weather has brought a unique challenge of capturing the creatures desperate for food in the local area.
He added: “Some species like goldfinch, bullfinch and jay don’t let you get close normally so this is a group of birds to target in this weather.
“I normally take a couple of shots, then, when I see the bird is feeding, I move five paces forward, take some more, then advance again.
“In the current conditions this is the closest I have got to some birds.”
Lang continued: “We went to Sri Lanka which was incredible and then Costa Rica this year which had over 980 different species, it’s quite an experience. You normally go to take a photograph and the bird gets distracted with something else so you keep taking paces towards them, but I just kept doing it with these birds and they didn’t move, they’re just so hungry at the moment as the ice is covering everything.
“You need to have your camera set up properly, and have low
light.
“There is an element of using the camera properly as well as good software.
“In the winter they lose all inhibition because they either take a chance of feeding close to you or they just don’t make it to the following day, especially when the ground’s frozen it means there’s no food available for ground feeders.”
Lang continues to promote wildlife in the area and the various sites that people can watch them, plus the Facebook page Baron’s Haugh Wildlife Sightings that people can see what is there before they make the effort to visit.
You can see more of Lang’s captures at https://www.langstewart.co.uk/
