Eric & Lesley's Wildlife Blog - Wildscotphotos

April 20th, 2018

20/4/2018

Its been a long time in planning but I was able to have a hide session for Black Grouse locally. After being refused permission that I did not think I need two years ago we have been building towards using a different site.
Getting to the hide meant half and hour driving following by half an hour walking. The birds appeared in the dark almost one hour before sunrise. With that in mind you need to get up at silly o'clock.
Once you have light you are treated to one of the greatest spectacles of British wildlife watching and, of course, you cannot forget the unique soundscape. It's a good lek with at least 15 males struttng their stuff. The intensity noticeably increased when females appeared to watch the show,

Hare Today

13/4/2018

Perhaps we expect too much of our weather but it still seems that the season is limping on towards "proper" Spring rather than galloping. A few projects are underway at an early stage some of which might produce a result - Kestrel, Black Grouse and Badger.
I was parked up by a field scanning for Black Grouse when I noticed three very active Hares running around. They continued carousing around for some minutes and once or twice came in range of the camera.
I suspect that Mad March Hares were more likely to be an April phenomenon in Scotland anyway.

Loch Visit

30/3/2018

Officially Spring is here but the appearance of the countryside says otherwise. We have still to see a genuine migrant. Farmers are reporting that grass growth is 2-3 weeks behind schedule. The immediate weather forecast predicts continuing cold with an east wind to deal with. No doubt the seasons will catch up but there's not much to suggest it at the moment.
We visited a local loch and were in for a treat. Some birds are defying the weather and displaying. These Great Crested Grebes are performing their ritual displays despite people walking fairly close by. They are banking on the Spring with small fish fry available to feed their chicks in a few weeks time. I hope the nest does not get washed out.

A Cunning Plan

13/3/2018

Increasingly I like to work close to home tackling the more difficult challenges or rare animal and birds.
I set myself the challenge this winter of getting pictures of Water Rail.
Perhaps the hardest part was choosing a site - one that was not much visited and where I could work. Eventually I found a spot and baited it. After about a week I needed to see what was appearing. I really wasn't sure but I sat and waited. After about a half an hour of seeing my regular birds the Rail wandered in front of the camera. I did an internal, silent high five. It is visiting regularly now but so is the big bruiser that goes by the name of Pheasant. So my issue now is how to deal with that dilemma. The bold one putting the shy one into the shade so to speak.

No Bunting Like Snow Bunting

11/2/2018

My flu has dragged on, in fact, we both have suffered with it; nevertheless we are well on the way to recovery now but still not quite there.
Earlier this week we had an appointments to fulfil so we visited Grantown. After I had delivered my presentation it ended up as mainly recuperation but we managed to see Red Squirrel, Mountain Hare, Golden Eagles displaying and Crested Tit. Alas, none of these provided a photographic opportunity.
The photographic highlight was provided by the Snow Buntings. Arguably the hardiest of our passerines; they are the only passerine to visit Spitsbergen and have even been recorded at the North Pole. They have also been celebrated in song - see Anne Murray and "Snowbird".
Its seems only appropriate to depict one on snow which is what we did.

Return of the Stoat

18/1/2018

Winter is here - lots of snow and unpleasant weather. That said, it is probably worse both to the North and the South of where we live. The roads can be tackled with care so I ventured out to my hide to get photos of the smaller birds that visit, in particular the Long-tailed Tits. A snowy backdrop is generally very photogenic.
At one point I saw a movement in the distance and thought it was a Squirrel then No, it must be a Stoat. It soon approached giving me an all too brief once-over before departing. Last August I witnessed a Stoat take a vole in exactly the same spot. This time it left empty handed.
A rare moment of thrill for a cold day and it was soon time to return to the car, try to warm up, then head home.

Over Ear

19/11/2017

My hide is at a particular location to get pictures of Red Squirrels so I see them all year around. At this time of the year I am looking to see if the ear tufts are present. There's a little bit of variation; I think that the adults have fuller and earlier ear tuft production but its hard to be sure. The ear tuft season is generally November until March.
The squirrels are still coming to grab my food offerings then beating a hasty retreat. They seem bent on thwarting my efforts in getting a picture, however this day one relented. I had, what I call, moved the furniture around a bit so it was initially a bit confused. As a result it went to the end of the branch and swished its tail to indicate displeasure. Nevertheless it got the food and I got a pleasing picture. Result all round.

Coastal Treats

3/10/2017

A visit to the coast is always interesting at this time of year, as you never know what birds could have arrived or be passing through. At one end of the scale we've had encounters with Yellow-Browed and Barred Warblers this year.
On our recent visit to East Lothian we enjoyed Ruff, Redshanks and a Spotted Redshank that day. The incoming tide brought this foraging Curlew close to us letting us enjoy it's feeding and preening antics. It didn't seem a rare bird to us but recent bird studies have shown that it has declined by half in only 10 years. That's a really worrying statistic.

Life Skills

18/9/2017

As my last post suggested, autumn is very much the time of migration. This is particularly true for birds. They are positioning themselves ready for winter. However, there are other important activities going on at this time of the year. Many birds have bred; what happens next is particular to the species but many abandon their young. It is then up to the young to perfect the life skills which ensure their survival into the next year. Many young birds are unsuccessful.

Here is a Kestrel female which has captured a small vole. For this bird it is looking promising but winter will be a difficult time for Kestrels should we get snow since food can be particularly difficult to find.

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.