Eric & Lesley's Wildlife Blog - Wildscotphotos

The Phoney Winter

27/1/2020

After a rather cold November the weather has been not at all wintry. No scraping ice from car, no snow and barely any frost. Many of the winter visitors have moved on but where? No Waxwings are around any more and very few Thrushes remain. Some may have gone to their breeding grounds. The comparative mildness has brought surprises though. There are a number of Great Egrets in Scotland. Until recently that would be a real shock but the northward colonisation continue pace with many species involved.
At the coast things are more normal. A flock of Ringed Plover is easily disturbed, even by birdwatchers although more often by dogwalkers and their pets. I guess when spend time on the tide line disturbance is a way of life.

A mixed Day

8/9/2019

There were large tides at the start of the month so I got ready and went to my hide on the East coast. The forecast had been for clearing weather around or just after high tide and so it proved. However, it also predicted it would be very windy and unfortunately that was also correct. This can affect the behaviour of the birds but worse, it also affected the height of the tide; as a result it didn't come far enough to properly flood in front of me. I had to content myself with taking flight shots of birds, mainly Curlew.
When it was time to leave I checked and found an Osprey sitting on a post just outside the hide. (I wish it was a more attractive post). Slowly and very carefully I pulled the camera in from the front and slid it out the side of the hide. The bird stayed for a couple of photos before it flew towards me and over the hide. A nice ending to the visit,

A Surprising Swimmer

22/4/2019

The tide is an important factor to be aware of as a wildlife photographer. I am lucky enough to have a hide on a tide line. However, so that it is never swept away it has to be placed for the highest tides. At most, these are once a month for two or three consecutive days. In March, there was one usable day but in April we had two days of the perfect height - enough to immerse the landscape in front of the hide but not too much or the birds will go past. Redshank, Curlew, Dunlin and Godwits all fed close by.
One view I sometimes get is of waders swimming. I have seen Knot swimming but most often it is the commoner Redshank crossing a flooded stream. They look comical, concentrating on getting to the other side quickly.

February Skylarks

27/2/2019

Out to the coast in warm sunshine on a February day - who would have thought it! And to add to the feeling of Spring, we found singing Skylarks filling the sky with song then descending to feed on the grassy ground below (as this one pictured shows). Its easy to understand how the New Zealand colonists missed the song so much they introduced them to the new country. We only have to do without for a few months and we still miss that joyful sound.
There were also pairs of Stonechats in the dune grasses flying from perch to perch. Fulmars seemed to be picking their nesting ledges too. We found Oystercatchers on the beach, but also inland in fields already anticipating spring.

Swallowing

11/8/2018

Its a quiet time away from the coast where bird migration is in full swing. Around us, we are seeing plenty of butterflies enjoying the sunshine and warmth, notably Painted Lady and the locally uncommon Commas.
The dry weather has one obvious benefit in that the remaining water attracts wildlife more than ever. The pool in front of my hide is attracting more bird bathers than any previous year but I needed a bigger pool for today's photo. I noticed a wet flush where Swallows were drinking so I waited and over a ten minute period I only took one burst of two pictures. As you can see, Swallows are able to drink on the wing such is their flying skill.

A Fox Find

29/6/2018

Its high summer now. Birds are difficult to find since they are often with young or active only very early and late in the day. It is, however, high season for mammal and bug watching. Today we found ten species of butterfly with a few dragonflies thrown in for good measure. Since we are in a heatwave they are relatively easy to find but a challenge to get close.

With mammal watching you either have to get up incredibly early or stay out until dusk. Earlier in this week I was able to stay out until some Foxes came out to play. In all I saw five foxes but had to be content with fewer in any one picture. In my part of the world there are no easy Fox pictures so this was a thrill. I'm sure I've seen many more dead ones than live ones.

May Time

12/6/2018

Last week we spent the whole week on the Isle of May in the Forth. Like other places we visit on our travels it felt a real privilege to be there as part of a fairly exclusive club.
It was the height of the bird breeding season. Oystercatchers were widespread, piping away, protecting their young from the marauding gulls, however the Terns were causing anxiety since they were late to arrive and even later to settle down.
The stars of the show for us were the auks, and in particular, the clowns of the sea - the Puffins. From the start of the week they began hatching their eggs. We know this by the fact that they carried sand eels increasingly as the week wore on. Being resident meant being able to use the whole of the day for photography which was a hoped-for bonus once the sea haar dispersed.

May Break

3/9/2017

Just back from a week spent on the Isle of May, staying at the Bird Observatory. August can be a special time to be on the island however the hoped-for fall of migrants did not happen. The nagging west/south west wind put paid to that. Out of the wind we enjoyed the long spells of sunshine. That said, there was plenty to enjoy from the still breeding Fulmars, the burgeoning Rabbit population, and the building numbers of seals preparing to pup and then start the next generation.

Some small birds were passing through. As expected, the most numerous species was Willow Warbler with youngsters dominating the count. Here is one making that extraordinary journey to Africa for the first time.

One Good Tern

10/5/2017

It has been a while since we visited the East coast. The reason for this is that for the best part of the last six weeks the wind has been from the East. The result is that when the weather has not been poor light, a very cold wind has persisted. Today we visited and were not disappointed; that said it was slightly chilly.
We had hoped to encounter some Auks and Terns which would be firsts for the year. In the event, we only saw distant flocks of Razorbill, with the odd Guillemot mixed in. With the terns we did better. A few Sandwich Terns flew calling my name (Some wag in the past suggested they say Errric!). However, the day was made by one Arctic Tern.
I shuffled up to a reasonable distance taking pictures. It was clearly at ease since it was frequently wing stretch horizontally. Once it did the vertical stretch and I was hooked. It took a further half an hour before I got the picture (opposite). You need to leave a lot of picture space for those wings.
Recent storms had deposited a huge amount of kelp on the beach so it was no surprise to find waders enjoying the feast of sandhoppers and other goodies. Particularly noted was a flock of Turnstone in various states of plumage enjoying the banquet.

East of Eden

3/4/2017

Spring is really here although, as soon as that is said, there's usually a sting in the tail. However it is fairly warm and sunny for the time being.

Many wintering birds are feeding up ready for migration. Waders, at the coast and estuaries are frantically feeding before making a journey - some short, some long. Amongst them are Black-tailed Godwits (picture). Some of them develop their breeding finery before they set off. Its always been an aim of mine to properly catch one in that stage. Finally, with the big tides of last week I managed. The supporting cast included Curlew, Redshank, Knot and the diminutive Dunlin.