Eric & Lesley's Wildlife Blog - Wildscotphotos

Flying Blue

10/8/2022

Still not much to report regarding birds. If it is happening it will be at the coast which we have not visited for a few weeks. It is, however, just past high season for insect life. I say that because in hot condition insects generally live fast and die young so with the continuing warm their season will be curtailed.
We decided to try to photograph a Hawker Dragonfly in flight. It is a tricky assignment; neither a long lens (not manoeuvrable enough) not a short one (needs a very close approach) is ideal.
Sitting, waiting, you don't know if you will even fire the shutter, but in the end I got some decent shots of this patrolling male Common Hawker.

Small is Beautiful Too

26/7/2022

Most birds are not at their best at the moment. The pressures of raising a family together with moulting means that it is better to photograph them when they are more photogenic.
Mammals, like the Bank Vole opposite, are multiple brooded so it matters less.
This one would come into the open to collect seed, the ultimate food for them. They go through periods of activity for perhaps 20 minutes, then take a rest before repeating. They are a challenge to photograph since (unlike Field Vole) they move fast with very quick reflexes.

Picos

11/7/2022

Since out last blog we have had a foreign trip to find and enjoy butterflies. This was in NW Spain in the Picos de Europa, an area renowned for the diversity of its butterflies as well as other fauna (Not so for wading birds - we saw none!).
Some identification is ongoing but we are confident we saw around 70 species a a week; more that we could get in the UK in a whole year! Problem areas are the Skippers, and Fritillaries.
Even after reading books for distribution and studying prior reports we still turned up some surprises such as the one
pictured. In Scotland we enjoyed the localised Chequered Skipper and on a Swedish trip we found the beautiful Northern Chequered Skipper. Well this one is another localised Skipper - the Large Chequered Skipper.

Rare Butterfly

17/6/2022

One reason for travelling is to find restricted distribution species. Argyll is rich in insect life including species we cannot find in Eastern Scotland. For that reason, we visit once a year in late Spring when there's plenty activity about and the weather is often agreeable with few of the unwelcome insects.
Nine dragonflies are quite possible; if fact we scored eight on this year's visit, missing out on Golden-ringed which may not have emerged given that it seems to be a late Spring. However there are also interesting Butterflies and Moths. As well as the restricted range Chequered Skipper which we saw there is the Marsh Fritillary. We don't see it every year but this year we found, perhaps, four. The underside is distinctive as it is with many butterflies which look much the same on the upper wing. A cloud had come over and thankfully this one settled for a photo call.

Robins

10/6/2022

I am still enjoying the House Martins (see previous post). When their favourite puddle has gone dry I have topped it up with water. We have generally dry conditions prevailing at the moment so its quite gratifying so see how quickly they have responded, coming down to collect more mud for their nest building.
Other birds have been busy and are much further on. (Of course we are not far from the longest day of the year.) Resident birds come into breeding condition much sooner than migrants and my Robins already have young out of the nest. Despite that the young will forever beg for food so long as there's a chance an adult will feed. They make a nice picture with the reflections.

Nest Eggs Coming

25/5/2022

Last year was a disaster for Martins locally. Fewer Swallows and Sand Martins than usual and House Martins seemed even more scarce. Its therefore a great relief to see more House Martins this year.
Like a lot of migrants they arrive keen to get on with the business of breeding. Many House Martins make a new nest each year so its work work, gathering the material - mud and grasses. It was good to catch them in action. Of course, they ideally want typical weather - a spell of rain to create the mud, but not too much otherwise it will all wash away. That doesn't happen every year. You can see that gathering mud is a social activity. Together they brave the inherent danger of being on the ground.

Bee? or Fly?

11/5/2022

Spring migrants are arriving - Swifts arrived yesterday, one of the last to appear. However there are other stirrings.
Insects are emerging - some Butterflies have overwintered as adults but other insects such as the Dark-edged Bee-fly have remained in the pupal stage until now. The latin name is a bit of a giveaway. It is in the genus Bombylius. Without knowing the higher classification it sound like a Bumble bee, however it is a fly with a strong connection to bumble bees since it parasitises them. Fortunately is is harmless to us, in fact it is a pollinator so should be encouraged. The long proboscis is used for feeding and cannot be used as an offensive weapon.
I did not know this species in my youth - it is one responding to warmers Springs.

Reed Bunting

26/4/2022

We don't have many species of Buntings locally. The Snow Bunting is a specialist breeder in the mountains, wintering either on the coast or in the foothills of our mountains. The Yellowhammer is principally a farmland bird as is the Corn Bunting, the so-called Fat Bird of the Barley. The Reed Bunting (pictured), despite its name, is not confined to reeds - we often find it in scrub. In winter both sexes are rather sparrow-like but come Spring the male undergoes a transformation and dons the finery of a black head with while scarf. He sings his little scratchy song, often from a prominent perch, where he hopes to attract a female.

Spring firsts

12/4/2022

If you are keen on birds you tend to note firsts - the first migrant of the year (usually Chiffchaff) then the other early birds such as Sand Martin, Wheatear and Willow Warbler. As the year progresses into summer its less of an issue.
There are some Butterflies which are also notably early. These are the ones that overwinter as an adult. Mostly they are the larger species such as Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. Another is the Comma (pictured). The Comma is new to our area. For a while it was doing rather badly in the UK however it managed to switch foodplants and has made a spectacular recovery, moving north quickly and now is regularly seen in Central Scotland. The warm Spring day when it appeared it was one of four seen together at the site.

Short Stayer

27/3/2022

Its always good to see a bird that you missed last year. Short-eared Owls were quite scarce last year but a few are wintering in our area now. They will move on soon if they haven't already.
Short-eared Owls are a problem species like Barn Owls, Kingfisher and Waxwing. There has been an explosion of photographers and these are species which are charismatic and much sought after. Consequently, some people overstep the line. Six years ago there were three photographers at this same site; this year about three times as many. Fortunately where the owls favoured there was a natural barrier which was well respected and everyone went home happily (I think).
I chose an in-flight shot when the bird (one of two) was scrapping with a crow for possession of the site.