Eric & Lesley's Wildlife Blog - Wildscotphotos

Bogey Bird

10/11/2018

We all have a bogey bird - one that we feel we should have seen better, or more often, or in better circumstances. The Sparrowhawk is one for me. Not having a feeding station at home I have only rarely seen one there. My feeding stations in the countryside seems not to attract them or, if at all, rarely.
Today I had a break. In the car I saw one flying low and settling on a post. Before I could get my gear into place two cars came the other way whilst the bird remained. I then approached slowly and enjoyed the male Sparrowhawk for some time. Another car came approaching from the other direction; by this time I was nearly off road and the car approached to ask if I was all right. Yes, it was my day, made by a beautiful bird.

Roe at Dusk

5/9/2018

I like to take pictures from hides where you are likely to see natural behaviour. A car is often referred to as a mobile hide and that can work too. However, as a wildlife photographer who wishes to realise a good range of pictures you need to be flexible in your approach.
Last night I set out to get pictures of this Roebuck. I've tried before with, at best, limited success. As a prey species Roe Deer have superb senses with sense of smell and sight being particularly acute. On foot I am limited in carrying ability so, for once I left the tripod behind and relied on a bean bag to rest on the wall.
You can see it worked; I was able to get a very close but obscured view before the buck moved into shorter grass and showed the whole animal.

Plumage Problems

24/8/2018

We are not long back from a short visit to England, incorporating Lincolnshire, the Rutland Birdfair and the Zoological Photographic Club (ZPC) 2018 Convention.

After that we spent a couple of day looking for birds and butterflies. Many Butterflies were nectaring, in preparation for winter. Birds are feeding too but the other noticeable impression is that there's a mix of young and adult birds. Often the young birds are changing plumage. One sight that is fairly uncommon for us was to see this juvenile Water Rail. Out of the nest it would be black; later it will be much greyer, with a red bill but for now it more resembles a Crake. The striped Crake perhaps.

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.

Northumberland Coast

25/7/2018

A change of scenery was needed, so we decided to head south and visit the Northumberland coast for a couple of days. Not a county we know well. A particular target was Roseate Tern, but there were plenty other things of interest to seek out along the coast. Visiting one of the many coastal wetlands to look for Barn Owl (which we failed to see!) we passed a farm with this Little Owl sitting outside on the wall. Another highlight was a damp meadow with a Grasshopper Warbler in full song.
We did a couple of boat trips and did see Roseate Terns as well as plenty Sandwich and Arctic, but never close enough for good photos.
Butterflies were abundant too with lots of Small Skippers and Dark Green Fritillaries around the wet ponds.

A Clean Beaver

14/7/2018

We have been following Beavers in our area for a while now. This is our seventh season. In that time they have spread, but equally, they have been killed in some places. They now have legal protection but with caveats. For me, as a wildlife photographer they are exciting and challenging but when you get lucky, very rewarding. Last year, for the first time I enjoyed watching mutual grooming and, on a different evening one suckling. The enjoyment was spread over 33 evening visits.

This year's highlight so far has been this one grooming. To me, he resembled a large fat hairy man with a bar of soap in the shower. I even have a short video clip of his behaviour. Since I am not far away and visible a part of the pleasure is when your subjects allows you to share a moment.

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.

Hair of the Dog

2/5/2018

Its been fairly quiet at the hide lately with the usual suspects only. The Red Squirrels are active, chasing one another and gradually their coat is shedding to be replaced by the rich red of the summer months.
I was given some dog hair in a bag so it has been sitting in a corner of the hide for some months. Naturally the plastic bag holding it has been damaged by rodents but its otherwise intact. As soon as I put out the hair the tits - Great, Blue and Coal went for it and teased it before collection and removal. This shows clearly that they have not yet laid their eggs but are close. I'm sure they would advantage of the opportunity of good lining even a few days beforehand - they wont waste a good resource.

An Early Start

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,