The Dartford warbler has been on my radar for some time now so this week I decided on a little road trip down to the south west coast in search of these little stunners of heathlands.

Having managed to finish work early I opted to make the long drive that afternoon and spend the night in the car ready for an early start at first light the following day in order to take in that very special light of the golden hour.

Having done a fair bit of research as to where my best opportunity would be to see my first Dartford warblers and hopefully get one or two nice images, sadly I was met with disappointment at my first destination as it appeared that there had been a recent fire and there was a distinct lack of flowering gorse which these little guys love and more importantly for me it wouldn’t allow me to achieve the images I was hoping for, plus it wasn’t the type of location I had in mind being in the middle of a housing estate and the last thing I wanted to see was houses or any form of human habitation, so not my type of environment at all.

So it was a case of plan B which meant another couple of hours drive which meant that I would be unable to check the area out due to it being dark on but it did seem to tick that all important box at being completely in the middle of nowhere, Once I’d found a nice safe layby to get myself settled and get get my head down for an early start I set my alarm for an hour before first light, giving me plenty of time to get my kit together.

Needless to say I didn’t sleep that well due to the excitement of knowing that I was at the beginning of another adventure and a new location to explore.

As per normal I woke well before the alarm and took a little stroll as the light began to break through and the dawn chorus slowly began, quiet at first but as the light increased louder and louder, what a magical sound!!!!!

Having made my way down a short public footpath that took me to the beginning of the Common there was no mistaking that I was in the right place as this time I was met with a bright yellow seaof flowering gorse with open patches of Heather and bracken, it was exactly as I had imagined for my adventure, a proper heathland that was exactly as nature had intended.

I quickly returned to the car and got my kit together and set off to explore this new wild place! Well new to me anyway.

As I made my way I was pretty sure that I faintly heard a cuckoo in the distance but that was very quickly forgotten as I got my first fleeting glimpse of the Dartford warbler as it flew by me then quickly disappearing deep into the gorse but in all honesty I was in no rush as it was still a little dark for any decent images. 

I continued my walk as I sussed the area out, waiting for my best opportunity in allowing them to come to me, time was on my side and with the best light yet to come with sunrise and sunset over the next couple of days.

Well the trip really couldn’t have gone any better to be honest and I got to not only see my very first Dartford warbler but I managed some lovely images that were exactly as I had imagined in my minds eye including the classic shot perched high on the gorse amongst the sea of it’s yellow flowers. As you would imagine it really was a haven for all manner of wildlife including good numbers of Linnet, Yellowhammer and of course the Stonechats and even Woodlarks all be at distance, but it was the Dartford's that I was here for and they didn’t disappoint they really didn’t.

Will I return, absolutely I will as I’m already looking to come back later in the year at the end of summer when not only will the gorse be in flower but also the Heather will be in full flower too and the opportunity for a Dartford perched on the purple Heather would be nice, so watch this space as they say !!! But for now here are just a few of the many fabulous images I was able to experience in my quest for the Dartford Warbler, I hope you enjoy my images as much as I did in creating them.