British bird-photographers
14 H. Morrey Salmon
Plates 7 6-80
Colonel H. Morrey Salmon, in his late seventies but still going strong,
must now rank as the father of British bird-photography. His interest in
birds began with a small collection of eggs when he was still a junior at
school and he has kept notes of his observations ever since 1903. In
1908 he acquired his first camera, a quarter-plate folding model fitted
with a Rapid Rectilinear lens, to which he added an extending back to
allow a closer approach to his subject. His first photographs were of the
nest of a Dipper Cinclus cinclus and, shortly afterwards, he made the
climb necessary to secure a picture of the nest and eggs of a Rook Corvus
frugikgus. That same year he met the pioneer of bird-photography,
Richard Kearton, who greatly stimulated his interest and fired his
ambition to photograph the birds themselves at their nests and not just
the latter alone. The following April he took his first such photograph,
of a Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, by using an electrical shutter release
which he himself had designed and which he fired from a distance. A
few years later he met R. B. Lodge, brother of the famous bird artist
George E. Lodge, and adopted his methods, especially in the use of
long-focus lenses. At this period quite a number of photographers were
using half-plate cameras, so Morrey Salmon graduated to one of these
and at the same time began to evolve his own style which was then
looked upon as unorthodox. For instance, when photographing
ground-nesting birds, he would aim to include the horizon by using a
very low viewpoint in order to show how the bird was related to its
habitat. It was with this equipment that he took a photograph of a
Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus perched lengthways along the branch of
a tree (plate 79b), still a unique achievement.
In 1911 Morrey Salmon met G. C. S. Ingram, another keen ornithologist and photographer, and thus began a remarkable partnership in
Welsh ornitholoev. For the next so vears thev worked together in the
field and during that time they produced a whole series of Welsh
county avifaunas. In 1934, too, they wrote and illustrated Birds in
Britain Today, a book full of careful observations and valuable information. Geoffrey Ingram suffered from poor health and failing eyesight
from the 1950's but by the time of his death earlier this year he and
Morrey Salmon were still close friends, as they had been for 60 years.
501
502
Bird-bhotograbhers: H. Money
Salmon
Morrey Salmon joined the Zoological Photographic Club in 1912;
he has been a consistent contributor to its portfolios ever since and was
President from 1934 to 1936. As enlargers became steadily more
efficient he reverted to quarter-plate, this time turning to a reflex
camera to which he could fit either of two Ross Telecentric lenses
(17-inch or 13-inch) or a Ross Xpres yf-inch: all three were compatible
with the same 'between-lens' shutter. He remained faithful to this
equipment for the next 40 years.
In the 1920's, quite unlike most bird-photographers, he continued
to use lenses of the longest practicable focal length and pioneered their
use for photography away from the nest. The male Red-backed Shrike
Lam'us collurio taken in 1920 (plate 79a), the Dunlin Calidris alpina in
1923 (plate 77c) and the Great Northern Diver Gavia immer in 1929
(plate 77b) are typical of his work of this period. Up to that time nearly
all bird-photography had been done at the nest because the photographer could then focus on a spot to which the bird would be sure to
return. But Morrey Salmon was fascinated by the challenge of photographing migrants and other birds away from the nest, where their was
normally no pre-arranged spot on which he could focus. With his
reflex camera and long telephoto lenses he managed to stalk near
enough to some of them and thus began a vogue more and more in
e v i d e n c e t o d a v . T h e G r e e n l a n d W h e a t e a r Qmanthe
nensinthe leurnrhnn
Curlews Numenius arquata (plate 80a), one of the very few occasions
when these birds have been photographed in a flock at night.
and it must have been even more difficult to take such a good photograph with the cumbersome equipment of that period. Another
outstanding achievement, dating from 1933, was the mass of Manx
Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus taken just after sunset as they assembled in
thousands a mile or two offshore, waiting for darkness before coming
into land (plate 77a); it was a real feat to photograph these birds in poor
light with a heavy camera and long lens which had to be held steady in
a moving boat.
Morrey Salmon pioneered other developments in photography. In
1924 he was the first to use photographs as a means of censusing large
colonies of seabirds, such as the Gannets Sula bassana on Grassholm.
In the late 1920's he began to use flash to portray nocturnal species: in
1933 he must have been the first to photograph Manx Shearwaters and
Storm Petrels Hydrobates pelagkushj night at their nest burrows, using
flash powder synchronised to fire when the camera shutter was wide
open. In 1949-50 he obtained his first electronic flash outfit, designing
and making his own synchronisation gear. In 1956, with the cooperation of Arthur Brook, he secured a unique series of photographs
of Swifts Apus apus flying to their nests with throat pouches greatly
distended with food for their young (plate 76 and Brit Birds, 55:
plates 10-17), as well as some remarkable shots of a nocturnal roost of
Curlews Numenius arquata (plate 80a), one of the very few occasions
when these birds have been photographed in a flock at night.
Bird-photographers: H. Money Salmon
5o5
Early in 1959 he made his first visit to East Africa, taking a 35 mm
camera with interchangeable lenses. At that time he began to turn to
colour photography. Since then he has travelled a great deal—to the
Far East, Canada, Cyprus and Spain, as well as to both East and
West Africa—always accompanied by his wife who shares his keen
interest in all his pursuits.
Colonel Money Salmon distinguished himself on active service
during both World Wars, being awarded the Military Cross with Bar
and appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He is
a member of many organisations and has served on various councils
and committees, giving freely of his time to further the protection of
birds and the conservation of nature. As recently as September of this
year the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds awarded him its
Gold Medal for services to bird protection, especially in Wales: this
was presented to him by the Society's President, Robert Dougall. It
was typical of Morrey Salmon to reciprocate by handing over to the
Society in return one of the two copies of his carefully compiled history
of the Red Kite Milvus milvus in Wales.
ERIC HOSKING
P L A T E 73. Above, Herring Gull Larus argentatus with chick at nest on an aircraft
hangar, Hclston, Cornwall, 1970 (pages 478, 485) {photo: RNAS Culdrose). Below,
two adult and four young Kittiwakes Kissa tridactyla on warehouse window-ledge,
North Shields, Northumberland, July 1970 (pages 480, 486) {photo: J. C. Couhori)
P L A T E 74. Part of a colony of Kittiwakes RJssa tridactyla on a flour mil) about
ten miles up the River Tyne at Gateshead, Co. D u r h a m , July 1970. This species
first nested at Gateshead in 1962 and across the river at Newcastle three years
later; all other sites have been coastal (pages 480, 486) {photos: J. C. Coulson)
P L A T E 75. The oldest surviving colony of Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyta on man-made
structures, dating from 1934, at Dunbar, East Lothian, May 1971. Several dozen
nests are shown here on the warehouse; the rest lie across the harbour on a low
cliff partly covered by an old stone -wall (pages 479, 487) (photos: J. C. Con/son)
P L A T E 76. Swift Apus apus flying up to nest with throat pouch greatly swollen by
large ball of insects, Radnor, July 1956 (pages 501-503) {photo: H. Morrey Salmon)
P L A T E 77. Top, part of an assembly of 100,000 Manx Shearwaters Puffirms puffinus
waiting for darkness off Skokholm before coming to land, June 1933. Centre, Great
Northern Diver Gavia immer just starting to moult, Glamorgan, March 1929. Bottom,
winter Dunlin Calidris alpina, Glamorgan, November 1923 (photos: H. Morrey Salmon)
P L A T E 78. Male Greenland Wheatear Oenanlhe oenanthe kucorhoa on spring passage,
Glamorgan, May 1936. Below, female Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus at nest with
half-grown nestlings in down, Pembrokeshire, July 1935 (photos: H. Money Salmon)
P L A T E 79. Male Red-backed Shrike Lam'us collurio, Glamorgan, June 1920. Below,
Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus lengthways on a branch, Glamorgan, July 1913, and
Corn Bunting Emberk(a calandra, Merioneth, June 1914 (photos: H. Morrey Salmon)
P L A T E 80. Curlews Numenius arquata at night, Radnor, August 1956. Below, Colonel
H. Morrey Salmon (on right) presenting his history of the Red Kites in Wales to
the R.S.P.B. President, Robert Dougall (page 503) {photo: Keystone Press Agency)