New Year Top Ten

Another year comes to a close and while I lost several months of filming due to hip replacement the rest of the year has produced some good photos – top of the list has to be the night I filmed the male Long Eared Owl passing a vole to his female.It was the only time that she left the nest to receive prey from him and I have yet to see any other photos of a food pass between a pair of Long Eared Owls away from the nest. Months of observations also produced other photos of this very special male Long Eared Owl with deep orange eyes. In May I finally came across two pairs of Black Necked Grebes with three young each. Conditions were perfect and in two hours I shot more than 500 photos – the second most photos I have ever taken in one session( the most being 800 on a Polar Bear surrounded by five Ivory Gulls). A single male Waxwing in March produced better photos than the present big influx has. On Islay a Roe Deer with two fawns amongst emerging Royal Ferns provided a unique backdrop.Scotland also produced my best ever encounter with Black Throated Divers and in Wales a Crossbill with fledged young was another first. Finally, our resident male Sparrowhawk posed briefly for his photo while I was in recovery and before Pauline chased him away!