Autumn In Galloway
A lecture tour of Dumfries and Galloway last week provided a perfect opportunity to photograph the exceptional colours showing this Autumn. Even better, overnight one night three inches of snow fell making it a unique combination of Autumn and Winter rolled into one. I managed to visit Clatteringshaw Loch, Loch Ken and Loch Stroan […]
Evening Time
For the birdwatcher two of the main attractions of Islay in Autumn are the Geese and the Chough. From mid October more than thirty thousand Barnacle Geese arrive from Greenland. After feeding in the fields during the day they descend onto the estuary for the night and provide one of the greatest bird spectacles in […]
Jumping For Joy
Having gone to Chanory Point near Inverness especially for Dolphins and failed to obtain any jumping shots it was an absolute bonus last week when we were on Islay to succeed. Not only did we have eight passing Dolphins one jumped in the perfect spot with the lighthouse in the background. Autumn on Islay is […]
Judgement Day
On Monday Parliament meets to discuss the Petition to ban Driven Grouse shooting. All wildlife interested people support a total ban and I only hope that as the debate is late in the day on Halloween that MPs give it the support it deserves. Don’t hold your breath!! During the last week I witnessed another […]
Redwings Return
At long last Redwings are now eagerly devouring the wealth of hawthorne and rowan berries that are ripening for them this Autumn. It has to be one of the best Autumns ever for berries and in particular the hawthorns are hanging heavy with them but as yet no Fieldfares have arrived, despite weeks of favourable […]
Fancy A Slug?
This weeks photo and gallery are of two Hedgehogs that visited the garden a couple of weeks ago. Every night they would appear when it was almost dark, gorge themselves below the bird feeders, then quickly disappear back into the neighbouring woods. The fact that they have not been for a week must indicate that […]
Owl Roosting In Himalayan Balsam
This weeks photo begs the question was there ever a better bird photographed amongst that obnoxious plant Himalayan Balsam? It was a classic find deep in the heart of the Pennines as I searched for migrant thrushes. Clearly a bird on the move and I have failed to find it again since that memorable encounter. […]
Garden Assassin
Just after sunset on Wednesday last week I looked into a darkening garden and noticed a Sparrowhawk plucking and devouring a Goldfinch. I grabbed my camera and rushed upstairs and after carefully opening the bedroom window I rested a 600mm lens on the window sill at a distance of thirty feet from the still feeding […]
Hunting Kestrel
A couple of weeks ago I was watching the Kestrel which features on my blog when it suddenly took off in pursuit of prey. One photo captured the moment of take-off and like most wildlife photography there were no second chances. This weeks gallery is of Spitsbergen’s most famous sea-bird cliff at Alkefjellit. More than […]
Wader Feast
September is a good time to visit Morecambe Bay to film wading birds and this year water levels are just right. During the week I spent three hours one morning on the Bay and was treated to great action from Snipe, Greenshank and Spotted Redshank. In addition Little Egrets were everywhere and even Cormorants had […]