St Johns Pool Bird Photography
SJP Bird Photography opened in April 2016 and specifically geared towards bird photography enthusiasts, but a unique and unforgettable experience for any level of birdwatcher from beginner to battle-hardened twitcher! Two water-level hides are available for hire.
Hire rates:
£10 per person / per hour
£125 per person for a full day
Minimum hire is 2 hours.
Both water level hides accommodate up to 3 people but ideally 2 for long periods.
Additional access information available upon booking.
Payment via Paypal, cash or cheque.
The main season runs from 14th April - 31st July with the focus during the breeding season on Sandwich Terns, Arctic Terns and range of waders and wildfowl.
In addition, there is potential for an exciting variety of migrant species for which St. John’s Pool has a long track record (check http://www.stjohnspool-birds.co.uk/?page_id=190 for the full list on St. John's Pool and Loch).
Tern Hide – St. John’s Pool has the only inland breeding colony of Sandwich Terns in Scotland. There has been a colony of 20-50 pairs of Sandwich Terns since 2013 as well as summering Arctic and Common Terns, which have also bred frequently. The Arctic terns peaked in 2013 with 130 pairs.
This hide is submerged, and offers water-level viewing and an intimate insight into the bird’s daily activities: displaying, feeding, fighting. Optimum lighting from dawn til dusk is made possible by windows on 3 sides with one-way glass offering plentiful opportunities to capture the perfect shot.
Tern Hide features landscaped sandbanks specifically designed to attract Sandwich Terns, with birds as close as 20 metres. Later in the season, adults bring chicks to roost during the day. Many species of wader and wildfowl also come within very close range of Tern Hide.
The hide can accommodate up to 3 people and is situated 150 metres from the car park, with screened access via a combination-locked gate. The views available are exclusive to this hide.
Wader Hide – Overlooking the pool’s biggest mud area, Wader Hide provides the optimum site for capturing photos of all breeding and migrating wader species. These include Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Snipe, Black-tailed godwit, Whimbrel, Greenshank, Wood sandpiper, Green sandpiper and Common sandpiper. Rarities such as Greater yellowlegs, Grey phalarope, Red-necked phalarope and Pectoral sandpiper, have all been seen within close range of Wader Hide. Wildfowl, terns and gulls also congregate around Wader Hide in good numbers.
This hide also accommodates up to 3 people and with viewing possible on 3 sides there is ample opportunity to capture beautifully-lit images from dawn til dusk. There are exciting viewing opportunities not available from any other hide.
For all booking enquiries and further information, please contact: Julian Smith
Mob: 07743371169
Email: smith57ja@gmail.com
Public Hides – These hides are open year-round with the exception of the peak breeding season when they will be open from 1000-1800 only.
The John Corbett Memorial Hide can accommodate larger groups and offers panoramic overviews of St. John’s Pool. The facilities have been widely acclaimed by our many hundreds of visitors over the years. These include interpretation panels highlighting many of the regular and scarcer bird species as well as butterflies, moths and bees recorded to date.
Please be aware St John's Pool is a private bird reserve and is mostly supported through private funding by Julian and Rosemary Smith.
SJP Bird Photography has been created in order to maintain and manage the reserve for the benefit of birds and allow free access to the public year round.
The photographers using the water level hides require exclusive access at optimum times, so unfortunately access to the public has had to be restricted during the peak breeding season.
We would be very grateful if visitors using the main public hides would respect these new opening times and also the customers who have paid to use the photography hides.
Please see our Twitter page https://twitter.com/SJPBirdPhotos for further info.
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @sjpbirdphotos
PHOTO
Sandwich Tern -Photography www.daviddeveonportphotography.co.uk
Postal Address
St Johns Pool Bird Photography
St. John's
Brough
Caithness
If you contact this Business, please let them know, you found them in the Caithness Business Index
