Pegler Birding

Early February Shorties

2012-02-09T11:35:00.000Z

I'll try and keep this post somewhat shorter than my last one!

Thursday 1st February

We came back from Scotland on the last day of January, and I was champing at the bit to get out and see if the Short-eared Owls were still at my local site. It was 16.35 before two owls showed, but I still managed to get some images. It looks as if the bird shown in the second image (different to the one in the first image) is my old cross-eyed friend!

Short -eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

It started getting dark soon after this and I started heading for home. For some reason I seem to have made a habit of grabbing a last minute shot in terrible light, and then coming up with something that I quite like. This day was no exception, with some images back-lit by light reflecting off the lake behind the bird. The dark splot to the left is an island in the lake.

Short-eared Owl - Ashby de la Zouch

Sunday 5th February

Having been pretty much preoccupied with processing hundreds of images from the Scottish trip, I didn't get out again until this day. I couldn't resist trying to get some images of the owls in the sunshine, with deep snow on the ground. Arriving just after 14.00, two owls were located almost immediately. However, disappointingly, the only shot I managed which showed any amount of snow was a distant one.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

The disappointment was partly allayed by some flight images where the underside of the bird was beautifully lit by the light bouncing off the snow below. I've never seen a SEO looking so white underneath!

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

I managed to get some further shots of one of the owls on a post, and the other in a tree.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

After this, the clouds suddenly started rolling over, it went quite dark, and looked as if it was going to start snowing again, so I beetled off home, not even stopping to take the parting shot. Now I must try and re-connect with the Little Owls - not seen one since 17th January!

Speyside Break - January, 2012

2012-02-06T20:43:00.000Z

My wife and I recently had a winter break at the excellent Grant Arms Hotel at Grantown on Spey. This was our fourth stay here in 18 months, so you might conclude that we are rather fond of the place!! I should point out that this was a holiday, rather than a serious bird-watching trip!

Wednesday 25th January

It's about 500 miles (800km) from home to Grantown, so we break the journey with an overnight stop. This allows us to take some scenic diversions en-route. On this occasion we pulled off the A1 near Bedale and had a picnic near Thorpe Perrow. Having finished our picnic we decided to try and see some scenery by setting the SatNav to 'shortest' route to Barnard Castle. This was nearly our undoing as we found ourselves on a road which degenerated into a farm track with no places to turn round, so we kept going. For about a mile the track was so badly rutted (the ruts being filled with muddy water), that the underside of the car was scraping on the centre ridge! Eventually we made it, and kept to the main roads for the rest of our journey to the outskirts of Newcastle.

Thursday 26th January

Still determined to take a scenic route, rather than the quickest route, we headed off on the second leg of our journey. We stopped for a coffee at the Dalmore Inn, just before Blairgowrie, and ended up having an excellent lunch there.

We next stopped at the Glenshee ski area in the hope of seeing Snow Bunting, but were not successful. However, we did find a a group of mountain ponies nearby in their white winter coats.

Ponies - Glenshee area

This was followed by a brief stop at Braemar (comfort and shop). As we approached the ski area of Lecht, I noticed a flock of small birds rise up from beside the road. It turned out to be about 50 Snow Buntings. I tried some photos but the snow was blowing at ground level so my photos of them on the ground came to nothing, but I did manage an image of some of the flock in flight.

Snow Bunting - Lecht

Everywhere were Red Grouse, but distant. I didn't bother trying to get images of them on this break, but here's a token image of one taken on this day!

Red Grouse - Lecht

We arrived at The Grant Arms to be greeted with the news that I'd won one of the two runner-up prizes in the hotel's Bird Watching and Wildlife Club's (BWWC) annual photographic competition - not for a bird image but one of a Red Squirrel! Now that's a good start to the break!! An excellent dinner that night sealed the feeling of well being, and so fortified we set off for Lochindorb, being an open area with virtually no light pollution. Our target was to see the Northern Lights and although it was probably 80% cloudy we were successful - a lifetime first for both of us! .

Friday 27th January

Since our last visit, the BWWC have put up feeders in Anagach Wood, behind the hotel. We started the day, after a good breakfast, by visiting these. I've seen Crested Tit on Speyside before, but this morning I was to get my first ever image.

Crested Tit - Anagach Wood, Grantown on Spey

I guess no visit to Speyside would be complete without seeing a Red Squirrel. I didn't really bother with them on this visit, but here's one that I took that morning whilst waiting for the Cresties.

Red Squirrel - Anagach Wood, Grantown on Spey

After this we set of for Cairngorm in the hope of seeing Snow Bunting, and maybe something more exotic. We arrived to find that there was little snow, but had a look round and couldn't see anything, so called in at the Ranger's office. He seemed quite upset as he told us that this winter was the first for fifteen years that he'd not seen Snow Bunting there, and everything else was only at a higher level. We gave up and set off on a scenic route back to Lecht.

We arrived to find that no Snow Buntings were visible, but we only had to wait a few minutes before eight of them landed on the apex of the ski centre roof. I made sure that they were watching as I laced the top of a wall with seed. I'd only been back in my car for a minute or two before they were down. I'd really not thought things through as, although I took well over a hundred shots, most of them clearly show 'the bait' - something that I don't like to see in images - the distant background of the ski centre was not as 'lost' as I'd expected it to be, and for virtually all images the focus was soft (I don't know why). Here are some of the better ones, although not good. The plumage of these birds at this time is very variable and to a novice like me it is difficult to tell males from females. I am pretty sure that the first is a female, and the second (with the white wing bar) is a male I'm less sure about the 3rd and 4th images.

Snow Bunting - Lecht

That night, after another excellent dinner, we went to Lochindorb again, where there was a star-filled sky, and somewhat better views of the Northern Lights - fabulous!!

Saturday 28th January

Our destination today was the Moray Coast. I was particularly keen to try and catch up with Long-tailed Duck, as I'd only got some relatively poor images of them from our previous January visit in 2011. We arrived at Burghead to find a group of Eider and a female Long-tailed in the harbour. Game on !!

Long-tailed Duck (female) - Burghead

On the wall on the opposite side of the harbour mouth was a group of Cormorants, sunning themselves (it was a beautiful still and sunny day).

Cormorant - Burghead

I thought that the lighting on the drake Eider in the harbour was interesting.

Eider (male) - Burghead

We then walked round the harbour and had a walk up the steps that lead to the head. I then noticed a pair of Long-tails just outside the harbour and set off back on the side of the harbour that the Cormorants had been on, taking a few shots of them as I passed. I always describe myself as a novice birder, and I can now reinforce this claim by admitting that I'd not noticed that the Cormorants had been joined by a Shag (third from left below) until I got home!!

Cormorants, plus Shag - Burghead

As I passed by, they all took flight except one, which was very confiding, so I took some close-up photos of this - and still the penny didn't drop!!

Shag (juvenile) - Burghead

The rest of the visit was a bit more sane, and some images that I'm quite pleased with (particularly the stretching drake Long-tailed) were obtained.

Long-tailed Duck (juvenile male) - Burghead

Long-tailed Duck - (male)

The last image is there because it illustrates the very flat nature of the head of the Long-tailed Duck!

Eider (juvenile male) - Burghead

Eider (female) - Burghead

Having refreshed ourselves with a pot of Earl Grey at the Bothy Tearooms we visited the other side of the head, where we found the usual assortment of waders, including Redshank, Oystercatcher, Turnstone and Curlew.

Redshank - Burghead

Curlew - Burghead

The next place to visit was Lossiemouth East Beach, where we'd seen Long-billed Dowitcher last October. Here we found Snow Bunting on the beach, a couple of hardy souls surfing in the sea - in January!!!, and as we returned over the footbridge a Shag was fishing in the river - no I didn't miss it this time!

Snow Bunting - Lossiemouth East Beach

Shag - Lossiemouth East Beach

We had to set off back to the hotel fairly early as we were booked to visit the Speyside Wildlife hide that evening. We had to do some soul searching before booking this as it would mean missing dinner at the hotel. We needn't have worried however, as the hotel provided us with a picnic to end all picnics. We had a huge flask of carrot and coriander soup, and a large hamper containing a round of generously filled beef and horseradish sandwiches, a round of prawn sandwiches, a plate of smoked venison, a plate of smoked salmon, a cheese platter (3 cheeses and all the trimmings), pots of relish, oatcakes, crisps, yoghurts, and fruit!

The session was due to start at 18.00, but we were the only two people booked and the ranger arrived at the meeting place 20 minutes early - just as we were tucking into the sandwiches. We quickly packed it away for later and set off to the hide.

I knew almost immediately that I was in trouble. I'd been expecting to see things at a distance and so only taken my 150-500 lens with me - BIG MISTAKE!!! The ground outside the hide had been baited less than a metre from the windows.

Having settled in and the lighting sorted out, the first thing to appear was a Wood Mouse. I just about managed to get this in frame! - Please note that, due to the low light levels, all the following images are taken at ISO 6400.

Wood Mouse - near Loch an Eilean

When the next creatures appeared I didn't stand a chance - three Red Deer! If I stood as far back as possible in the hide and shot at a very oblique angle I could just get the head of the young stag in frame - the zoom was permanently wound down to 150mm.

Red Deer (stag) - near Loch an Eilean

It was virtually impossible to take photos without the bait included in the image, but the deer did their best to 'hoover up' all that was there. John, the Ranger, kept having to pop outside to replenish the food.

Next to appear were the badgers. These were, for me, even more difficult to photograph as the light levels were lower on that side of the hide, and the ground was lower too. If I stood back to get the distance, they were below the level of the windowsill. This is the best image that I could manage.

Badger - near Loch an Eilean

John was an absolutely excellent host, and gave us a detailed account of the Pine Marten - the prime objective of the visit to the hide. We'd been there for about two and a half hours before one appeared. It was a very large male, and John was delighted as this was the first time that John had seen him from the hide since November. The Marten was much bigger than I expected, and I was lucky enough to get a vaguely usable image of him when he was at a distance and away from the lights. The last image was the best that I could do at 150mm when the Marten was feeding.

Pine Marten (male) - near Loch an Eilean

This was an absolutely magical evening, for which John gets a great big thank you! We shall certainly come back here when next we stay at The Grant Arms, but with a more suitable lens - I suspect my 17-70 f2.8 would be most appropriate! Back at the hotel at 22.00 we finished off our hamper in the Capercaillie Bar.

Sunday 29th January

Our objective this day was Chanonry Point (on The Black Isle), and the Dolphins. It was another amazingly good day weatherwise, with sun and no wind. We arrived at low tide, and I was immediately taken with a flock of about 150 Dunlin at the water's edge. I was subsequently told that there was a lone Knot amongst them, but I didn't see it! My wife, meantime, had gone off to look for the Dolphins.

Dunlin - Chanonry Point, Black Isle

When I rejoined my wife she asked for my tally - I'd seen the birds and she'd seen five Dolphins! We then stood out and waited for the Dolphins to appear again. I kept myself amused by looking at the birds that were around - nothing amazing, but Razorbill, Guillemot, Red-breasted Merganser, all passed by either on the water or in the air.

Red-breasted Merganser (male) - Chanonry Point, Black Isle

Razorbill - Chanonry Point, Black Isle

Needing a comfort stop and some refreshment we headed across the golf course into Fortrose for a pot of Earl Grey and a delicious cake at the excellent Eileandubh Restaurant. Soon after our return to the point the Dolphins put in an appearance. I understand that Bottlenose Dolphins (which are what are seen here) do not breach (leap out of the water) as much as most other sorts of dolphin. Most of the time, what you see is the arched back with dorsal fin briefly protruding from the water. Predicting when they will next show on the surface is not that easy. Most of my shots are of backs with fins sliding back into the water. On this occasion we did not see a dolphin breach (although we did a couple of times in October). However, I did manage some images, including some with a head out of water (known as 'spyhopping'). A selection follows.

Bottlenose Dolphin - Chanonry Point, Black Isle

Time was running away with us - we'd spent virtually a full day on the beach (!) - but before we set off back to Grantown I managed an image of a passing Long-tailed Duck.

Long-tailed Duck (male) - Chanonry Point, Black Isle

Monday 30th January

This was our day for setting off homeward. A brief stop at Lecht revealed a largish flock of Snow Bunting, but nothing more exciting was seen. Another brief stop, at Aberlady Bay, gave us little more than Redshank, and so we continued to North Berwick. I'd never seen Bass Rock before, and when we arrived at the end of the afternoon the light on it was fantastic. We had a brief walk about here and I took a few photos. I'd never seen a Turnstone looking so upright and slim! I'm also quite pleased with the Redshank image.

Bass Rock - from North Berwick

Turnstone - North Berwick

Redshank - North Berwick

That night we slummed it in the Travelodge at Berwick upon Tweed with dinner at The Scottish Restaurant, and the next day it was straight home for a late lunch.

Our thanks to everyone who made our break so enjoyable - one of the best ever! Our particular thanks, however, are to all the staff at the Grant Arms Hotel - all things being equal, we'll be back soon!!

Return of the Redpolls

2012-02-04T12:46:00.002Z

Last winter, we were fortunate enough to have up to six Lesser Redpolls visiting our garden on a 'several times a day' basis over a four month period - ending in late March. We were also getting up to four Brambling visiting with a similar frequency over the same period. This year the Redpolls didn't start showing up with any frequency until the middle of January. Now we are getting up to three on a frequent basis - there is a 50% chance if I look out of my window there will be at least one Redpoll there. These little birds are a delight to see. So far, however, this winter we haven't seen a Brambling in the garden. There's still time!

Lesser Redpoll - our garden in Ashby de la Zouch

Cross-Eyed Short Sighted ?!?! - on 23rd January, 2012

2012-01-31T16:26:00.000Z

I'm now back on line again after being separated from my PC for nearly a week. I've also managed to process the images from my last outing to my local Short-eared Owl site, and I think that they include some of my best ones yet - although there's still a hell of a lot of room for improvement.

I arrived later than I'd hoped (at 15.40) to find one of the owls out, and very soon a second appeared. There was still some sun around, and I managed a few 'standard' flight shots.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

I had also managed some images with trees in the background, but this is in a newly planted area of The National Forest and the pale green trunk protectors do not look good in photos! However, I'm not complaining as I believe that the young trees provide a habitat that is attractive to the SEOs. Nevertheless, give it a couple of years and the trees may be too far developed for them.

As is usual these days, there was a quarrel between a Kestrel and one of the SEOs. This resulted in both birds climbing high, far in the distance.

Kestrel and Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

After the fray, the owl slowly drifted lower and nearer, and settled on a fence only about a hundred metres away. I started taking a few shots, and made a stealthy approach. In the next image you can see the effect of the green tree protectors in the background.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

I got closer and closer, without the bird showing any signs of concern. It was only when I looked at the next image that I noticed that the owl appeared to have a cast (upwards and inwards) in its right eye. You can click on all these images for enlarged versions.

Short-eared Owl (cross-eyed?) - near Ashby de la Zouch

Subsequent images tend to confirm this, although I do also wonder if the eye had been damaged (in a fight with a Kestrel, for example), as it seemed to sit with its eyes closed some of the time.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

The owl then left its post and flew onto the grass opposite where I was standing, although somewhat more distant. In the first image below it has its eyes closed, but in the second one you can really see that its right eye is 'elsewhere'.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

After this I spent some time just watching the activities as the light was going. I ended up with three owls, and a few more images a couple of which are below.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Only 45 minutes after arriving it was too dark for photography so I set off towards home. Just before reaching the exit of the site, there was a SEO on a distant post. I couldn't resist attempting an image, and banging off several shots, one of which is not too bad for a 500 mm lens at 30th second handheld! You can really see here, however, what I mean by the detrimental effect of the tree protectors.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Next Step an ASBO?

2012-01-24T10:17:00.000Z

Before I start on this post - just a quick notice that, as from tomorrow, I'm going to be without a PC for about a week, so if you should be kind enough to post a comment here, I will probably not be able to reply to it until I get my PC back. I hope, however, to be able to 'clear' any comments for publishing by using my phone - although that might be hazardous too as I don't get a signal at home!

This is quite frustrating for me as I think I had what is probably my best session ever at my local Short-eared Owl site yesterday, but will not have a chance to process the images as I'm too busy doing 'housekeeping and backups' on the PC, before I 'lose' it.

On 15th January, I put up a picture of a juvenile Sparrowhawk that had been terrorising my garden birds. This bird is starting to make a real nuisance of itself, although it has still (to the best of my knowledge) not succeeded in catching anything in my garden yet. In that post I said that I'd not publish an image that showed the bird in a somewhat 'uncool' light. Well the time has come to 'shame' the bird, in the hope that it'll be too embarrassed to return.

Sparrowhawk - our garden

More recent images, however, show the meanness of this birds intent!

Sparrowhawk - our Garden

Sparrowhawk - next door's garden

If this approach doesn't work, the next step is probably to serve it with an ASBO!!! - for my overseas readers, an ASBO is a legally enforceable AntiSocial Behaviour Order.

Back to Cannock Chase - on 17th January, 2012

2012-01-21T21:15:00.000Z

Whilst at my local Short-eared Owl site, I met a fellow photographer and almost immediately discovered that we had a mutual friend through our wives. Martin had never been to Cannock Chase before, so we went there on Tuesday with the main objective being for me to show him a few choice sites both there, and on the way there.

We first made a call at the local SEO site to see if the owls were out in the frosty morning (it was minus 2deg.c ) close to the road (no time to check out the whole site). They weren't, but this juvenile Buzzard was close to the road as we drove away.

Common Buzzard (juvenile) - near Ashby de la Zouch

It was totally unfazed by me stopping the car, winding down the window, and two of us banging off numerous shots. I was even hoping that we might get some images of it taking to the air, but it was still there when we left!

A stop at one of my Little Owl sites (No.15) revealed one bird just visible outside the nest hole - but as this was in a tree in the middle of a cultivated field, we couldn't get near enough for any images.

Arriving at Cannock Chase, we made for the area which is my favourite for photographing small birds. We could have stayed in the car but, for comfort and flexibility of shooting direction, we both set up our chair hides. Whilst nothing unusual in the way of birds was seen, the weather was mainly 'cloudy - bright' and I'm very pleased with the images obtained, even if the subjects are totally commonplace. When we arrived, there was still frost on the branches.

Robin - Cannock Chase

Blue Tit - Cannock Chase

Nuthatch - Cannock Chase

Long-tailed Tit - Cannock Chase

Bullfinch - Cannock Chase

Great Tit - Cannock Chase

Coal Tit - Cannock Chase.

After a good session here, we explored a few other locations on Cannock Chase, but did not stop for any photography. We also called in at Croxall Lakes on the way home.

Thank you Martin, for the pleasure of your company.

Well That Didn't Last Long !! - on 16th January, 2012

2012-01-18T16:55:00.001Z

I my last post I spoke of the challenge to do something a bit different with owl photos, and I think that I set off on the right foot. However, on Monday, I was at my local Short-eared Owl site and the owls were out when there was still some sunshine to be had. During the period of watching them some observations were made which I shall share with you, and to do this, I can only offer some pretty rubbish images. So, just to offset the rubbish, I'll put in a couple of my somewhat better 'standard' images also captured that day - yep, I've lapsed from the challenge (hopefully only temporarily!). We'll start with the first of these.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

I've commented recently about the increasing aggression between the Owls and the Kestrels on this site, and one female Kestrel has been the main antagonist. However, it seems that all is now not well between the owls. Many times, in the past, I have observed aerial meetings between the owls which results in the birds climbing vertically and then peeling off to go their separate ways. Rightly or wrongly, I came to the conclusion that this was two (or more) birds greeting each other as their paths crossed and then going off to continue their hunting in separate areas - doesn't make sense to hunt together for their usual sort of prey.

This day, however, things were a little different. On three occasions we noted what appeared to be real and persistent aggression between the owls - some of which is depicted (although not very well) in the following images.

Aggression between Short-eared Owls - near Ashby de la Zouch

Those of us watching came to the conclusion that perhaps the vole and mouse supply was running a bit low, and competition for food was hotting up. There is also the possibility that there are new arrivals as we are now seeing four owls and are almost certain that there are five or more. This increased competition for diminishing supplies would also explain the mounting intolerance of the Kestrels. The following image was taken as one of the owls departed from a fracas.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch.

The light had gone enough to prohibit any further sensible photography and we were all preparing to set off home when suddenly an owl appeared and then dropped into the grass, probably less than a hundred metres away. Of course, we stopped to see if it would rise again with prey. It didn't, but then a second owl appeared, and appeared to drop into the same area. This owl rose again almost immediately, and I banged off a few shots, more in hope than expectation! As the owl flew away, we noted bits fluttering down from it. It was only when I came to look at the images that I saw it had got a mass of grass in its talons. I warned you that the images were rubbish!!

Short-eared Owl carrying grass? - near Ashby de la Zouch

When I came to look at a subsequent image, there was a clue as to what was going on. Can you spot it? - you might have to click on the image to enlarge it in order to see!

Short-eared Owl carrying? - near Ashby de la Zouch

Yes, the owl had caught a bird! Most references that I can find state that birds only form a very minor part of a SEOs diet in UK. I read into this that they prefer voles and mice. This, and the fact that the birds are covering a wider area in their hunting these days, might also be a sign that the supply of food is drying up. I hope that this does not mean that the owls will be leaving us soon!

My last image clearly shows that it's a bird that has been caught, with legs, feet, and bill all visible. Oh! - and I should have mentioned something else that we all agreed that we were seeing for the first time with a SEO. Whilst the bird was flying with its prey, there were several times when it brought forward the prey from feet to mouth. Whether it was cleaning up the catch, or was attempting the final coup de grâce, I do not know.

Short-eared Owl with bird - near Ashby de la Zouch

Hopefully, with my next Owl post, I'll have picked up the challenge again!

The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown Down !!

2012-01-15T15:52:00.004Z

I was chatting with my good friend Paul Riddle the other day, discussing owls and photography. It is a natural instinct to try and get the most detailed close-up photo of a bird as is possible - in other words, the 'perfect portrait'. However, it takes more skill to show something of the character of the bird, or to achieve an artistic balance. Now I am no expert, but it is my opinion that Little Owls lend themselves to the achievement of this more than do, for example, Short-eared Owls. Little Owls tend to perch themselves in more interesting places, and even do more interesting things. Most photos of Short-eared Owls, as Paul has mentioned on his own blog, tend to show them flying over grass or perched on a post, and there are only so many images of this type that can be viewed before it starts to get boring. Whilst I don't suppose that I''ll ever achieve anything that I'm satisfied with, I have decided to embrace the challenge to do better. There will still be attempts at portrait shots, but I will try to keep an eye on 'the bigger picture' - if you'll excuse the pun!!

I've just re-read the above and realise that it could be taken that I have issued a competitive challenge to Paul! I assure you that this is not the case - Paul sets the standards that I aspire to! What I meant to say was that Paul and I both accept that there is a challenge for us to do something a bit different.

So here goes:

Monday 9th January - SEO in a tree

Down to my local Short-eared Owl site, but the owls were not being cooperative. They were showing at 15.00, but keeping their distance. However, the following (taken when it was nearly dark) is the first image of a SEO in a tree that I've managed for nearly two years!

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Thursday 12th January - a not-so-welcome visitor, and SEOs in colour

Mid morning we had this visitor to the garden - a first sighting for the year, and a dubious pleasure. This, I believe, was a young male, and not very adept at hunting (to my relief!). I could show you another image too, but it would embarrass the bird as it shows him in a most un-cool light !! OK, so this is just a portrait, but it was taken through a closed window and I had to crop out all the rubbish.

Sparrowhawk (juvenile male?) - our garden

In the afternoon I returned to my local SEO site, arriving rather late. It had been a sunny day, and the last knockings of sunlight gave some strange colour effects to the sky. I promise that none of the following images has been colour-adjusted in post-processing, although some of them have been lightened. Still 'ordinary' compositions, but I like the light effects.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

As I set off home, the light was even more amazing, and I couldn't resist a shot of the sunset - again not colour-adjusted! Would have been nice if there was an owl in the image!

Sunset - near Ashby de la Zouch

Friday 13th January - Little Owls, and continuing SEO battles

The day started very frosty, but promised to be sunny with little or no wind. Time to pack up a picnic lunch and go out to see if I could find some Little Owls. I set off at about 10.30 and visited eight of my sites, finding single owls at four of them - three of the 'no-shows' were at sites where I've not seen owls for a long while. Only two of the sites produced images which I'm prepared to show here. I don't know if they've become unaccustomed to seeing people around (I certainly have not been around much over the last few months), but the birds all seemed extra nervous - hence the 'peek-a-boo' nature of two of the images.

Little Owl - my Site No.02

Little Owl - my Site No.03

At About 15.00, the draw of the SEOs became strong, and I set off for my local site. The owls were out as I arrived, with one sitting on a distant post. Hopefully the following image has some artistic merits!

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Not long after this, one of the owls was relentlessly pursued by a (Lesser Black-backed?) Gull. Regrettably I didn't manage an image that conveys the conflict, but here are the two together.

Short-eared Owl and Lesser Black-backed (?) Gull

Eventually the gull gave up the aggression, but a short while later, a Kestrel had a go. I'm seeing this conflict between Kestrel (there are several in the area) and Short-eared Owl on a regular basis now. Didn't get an image of contact between the two, but I think the following shows that this was not a happy meeting!

Common Kestrel (female) and Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

After this conflict the owl flew high over my head, calling continually. OK, so this one's just another standard portrait!

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

The Food Fight - on 8th January, 2012

2012-01-12T19:11:00.000Z

In my last post, I mentioned a scrap between a Short-eared Owl and a Kestrel. It seems that the Kestrel (a female) took exception to the SEO hunting during the daylight hours, and when the SEO caught a vole, the Kestrel tried to claim it for itself. The ensuing dogfight was fascinating to observe and ended up with both birds (and the vole, which was in free fall!) plunging towards the earth. All, except the vole, pulled out at the last moment! Unfortunately the action was at a distance of approximately 300 metres from me so the images are pretty poor, but they do illustrate the story.

Short-eared Owl and Kestrel (female) - near Ashby de la Zouch

Back To The Owls - on 6th & 8th January, 2012

2012-01-09T10:27:00.000Z

In my last post I was bemoaning the foul weather we'd been having, with wind and rain putting owling activities on hold. On Friday morning, we had a short period of bright sunshine with just a gentle breeze and, as I had an errand to run on my local patch, I set off there. I saw three Little Owls on my local patch, and one was obliging enough to stay put whilst I took some photos.

Little Owl - my Site No.02

Saturday was a bit dull, and I was busy anyway, and Sunday started the same way. However, just after 2 o'clock, it started brightening up, so I set off for my local Short-eared Owl site, arriving at 14.40. To my amazement and delight two owls were already out hunting - they usually don't show up until after sundown. The sun even came out for a while! Although they kept their distance, I did manage some images that I believe are a little better than those I've managed before.

Short-eared-Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

They were hunting quite successfully and spending time in the grass devouring their prey, but always at a great distance. At one point there was an aerial battle between a SEO and a Kestrel with, it seems, the Kestrel objecting to the SEO taking its Voles during the daytime. I'll possibly do a post on this in a few days time, although the images are not too good as it all happened at a great distance.

At one point, one of the owls perched on a fence, where I'd recently taken an image in much poorer light. However, once again, it chose to do this in a distant and difficult position.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

As it started getting dark, I did manage some shots of one of the birds down in the grass, looking quite malevolent!

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

As I was writing this I just had to take a short break as a Goldfinch flew into my window. I looked out and it was motionless on the ground, so I went out, saw that it was alive, and gently picked it up to move it to a safer place. As I was holding it in my hand, it suddenly revived and flew off - a magical moment!! Now back to this post!

After an amazing hour and a half of watching these birds, it was too dark for photography so I decided to go home. I tend to use my camera as a notebook, often taking shots, not for the image but just to record time and date. As I was about to leave, one of the SEOs was still perched on a distant fence (not the same one as the last fence image), where it had been for probably around 15 minutes. I grabbed the 'recording the going home time' shot and, to my amazement, it's one that turned out to be one that I actually like. OK, so it's a terrible shot of a SEO, but I think it captures the atmosphere of the scene?

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Oakthorpe Colliery - either side of the New Year

2012-01-07T11:20:00.000Z

The weather, in these parts, has been pretty foul for several days now, until yesterday. The winds have been very strong and we've had huge amounts of rain. This has not been good weather for owling. The Little Owls don't like windy conditions, and in weather like this you can waste a lot of time trying to find one. The Short-eared Owls don't like the rain, and they're not too keen on the wind either. On Tuesday 3rd we had some sun in the afternoon after heavy rain in the morning, and I went out hoping to catch the SEOs in daylight. It was so windy that I didn't see them at all (for the first time since the beginning of November!). Their favourite hunting field was occupied, as darkness fell, by a huge flock of Crows that had decided that it was too dangerous to spend the night roosting in trees, so this was not going to encourage the owls to come out either.

Anyway, I digress - Having had my interest in the more common species fired up again by my Christmas Day visit to Cannock Chase, I've been filling the void by visiting a more local feeding station at the old Oakthorpe Colliery. I've been there for an hour or so on four occasions recently. So far, the birds seen have been fairly commonplace, but there has been a very good variety. I've managed to get some images that I'm quite pleased with, but a few others (Goldcrest, Jay, G-S Woodpecker, Yellowhammer for example), although seen, have completely escaped my camera.

Nuthatches are frequent visitors.

Nuthatch - Oakthorpe Colliery on 28th December

Nuthatch - Oakthorpe Colliery on 3rd January

Reed Bunting are also regular visitors. At this time of year I find myself uncertain, at times, as to whether I'm looking at a pale male or a dark female - I think that the second image is also a male?

Reed Bunting - Oakthorpe Colliery on 28th December

Reed Bunting - Oakthorpe Colliery on 2nd January

There are plenty of Redwing around, but these are extremely nervous and I've only managed distant shots, although they've been a little closer when they've come for a drink in a puddle!

Redwing - Oakthorpe Colliery on 2nd January

Redwing - Oakthorpe Colliery on 3rd January

Amongst the other birds drinking at the puddles were a pair of Redpoll. Only one stayed long enough for me to get a (very distant) image.

Lesser Redpoll - Oakthorpe Colliery on 3rd January

There are various Finches here, but the only ones photographed in these sessions have been Greenfinch.

Greenfinch - Oakthorpe Colliery on 2nd January

The Tits are extremely numerous here, and this used to be a good place for Willow Tit, although I've not seen one here recently.

Log-tailed Tit - Oakthorpe Colliery on 3rd January

Long-tailed Tit - Oakthorpe Colliery on 5th January

Great Tit - Oakthorpe Colliery on 28th December

Blue Tit - Oakthorpe Colliery on 28th December

No selection of bird photos from a colliery would be complete without, of course, an image of a Coal Tit!!

Coal Tit - Oakthorpe Colliery on 5th January

And finally - the iconic Robin, showing us that he considers this to be his territory!

Robin - Oakthorpe Colliery on 5th January

Christmas Is For The Little'uns - 24th & 25th December, 2011

2011-12-28T12:00:00.000Z

Saturday 24th December

It was Christmas Eve and, with an hour or so free in the morning, I decided that I'd neglected my Little Owls for too long, and headed off for my local patch. At various times I've had five LO sites on my patch, but I'm currently down to two. I first went to my Site No.02 - my most photographed site (by me and the rest of the world!). To my delight, both birds were out (a rare occurrence!). The bird in the roof didn't budge as I took my photos, but the bird on the chimney was off as soon as I got out of my car.


Little Owl (A) - my Site No.02

Little Owl (B) - my Site No.02

At my nearby Site No.12 both owls were in the back of a barn where there was only just enough light to see them - so no chance of photography. Until this morning I'd only seen one Little Owl in December so it was great to see four in the course of about 20 minutes!

I had a couple of hours at my local Short-eared Owl site in the late afternoon, but the owls didn't come out until very late, so no images.

Sunday 25th December

For quite a few years now my wife and I have had a picnic Christmas Lunch, sitting in the car in some pleasant part of the English countryside not too far from home. A couple of times we have done this on Cannock Chase, and enjoyed it, so we went back this year. I did take my camera and, although it was a rather dull day weatherwise, I did manage a few images of little'uns - this time just small birds, rather than Little Owls. Nothing very special in the way of subject matter (although the Willow Tits that are here are always good to see), and no outstanding images, but it was a very enjoyable couple of hours spent here.

Bullfinch (female) - Cannock Chase

Bullfinch (male) - Cannock Chase

Coal Tit - Cannock Chase

Willow Tit - - Cannock Chase

Nuthatch - Cannock Chase

Fallow Deer - Cannock Chase

Great Tit - Cannock Chase

Blue Tit - Cannock Chase

The Run-up To Christmas, 2011

2011-12-26T10:20:00.000Z

I guess, for most people, the run-up to Christmas has been a busy time, with limited opportunities to get out to enjoy more natural pastimes. It's been the same for me, and the changeable weather hasn't helped much.

Wednesday 21st December

I had to get in more supplies of wild bird food for my garden feeders. I use the excellent range available from Prince Farm Feeds just outside Kings Bromley. I get on particularly well with Johnson & Jeffs Premium which they sell for £20 for a 20 kg sack.

I set of for Kings Bromley after a late-ish lunch, diverging briefly to look at Whitemoor Haye in the hope of seeing owls. It was a really dull day, so I didn't fancy spending much time here. There were a few hundred Mute Swans in a field of what looked like cabbages to my uneducated eyes. Further round I found a flock of possibly a couple of hundred Fieldfare (the most that I've ever seen at one sitting). On the bank between the road and the quarry there was a flock of a couple of hundred or so Starling. As I departed from the area a huge flock of Lapwing (possibly around three hundred) suddenly rose out of a crop which had been hiding their presence.

Fieldfare - Whitemoor Haye

I came away from Kings Bromley with 40 kg of birdseed which should last me until after the Christmas period! I had intended returning to Whitemoor Haye on my way home, but as I set off, it seemed that the weather was brightening up. I had to make a quick decision as to whether to stick with this intention, or rushing back towards home and the local Short-eared Owls. The decision was made on the basis that it was a bit breezy, and therefore I was not so likely to be seeing Little Owls out as I was Shorties - so homeward I went!

Unfortunately, as I approached the SEO site it got extremely dull, and I started to regret my choice. It was also a bit late when I arrived (just after 15.00). No owls were seen for a while and then I saw one which almost immediately perched on a fence post. It was very inconveniently positioned in that the fence was running directly away from me and there was no way I could position myself to view it from any other way. However, there was an up side to this in that the hedge along the fence allowed me to get a little closer without disturbing the bird. Photography through the hedge was, however, not easy in the poor light (lens at 500 mm, 1/60 sec at ISO 1600 hand held) !

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

A strange result of shooting through bushes, and the fence running away from me, is that virtually everything is out of focus except the bird, strongly emphasising the bird! I still can't make my mind up whether I like this effect. I keep hoping that, one day, I'll get the opportunity for a nicely positioned SEO in good light!

Thursday 22nd December

The day dawned bright, still, and sunny - lovely weather for owl photography - so my wife decided that she needed a break from Christmas preparations. Now, she's been really busy and more than deserved a day out so I was more then happy to oblige. Her chosen destination was Caudwell's Mill in Derbyshire, where there are craft shops, etc. Sadly the gallery, which was the main reason for going, was closed when we got there (although the web site indicated that it would be open!). However, I did get the opportunity to photograph a Little Grebe in the warm sunlight that was reflecting off the vegetation. I had to stand on tiptoe to take these photos as the grebe was up on the mill race, and I was at a lower level.

Little Grebe - Caudwell's Mill, Derbyshire

I had been hoping that we'd be back in time for me to get my local Short-eared Owl site again, but by the time we'd had a Chinese meal in Ashbourne, and explored some of the shops there (it's a great centre for antiques), it was too late. Oh well!!

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

2011-12-22T09:17:00.000Z

Thank you to everybody who has dropped by. Your kind words, support, and encouragement, have been very much appreciated.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and hope that 2012 brings you all that you wish for.

Richard Pegler

Nice Weather For Shorts! - on 15th and 18th December, 2011

2011-12-18T20:36:00.000Z

Was out on Thursday afternoon delivering Christmas presents to the landowners of my Little Owl sites (no LOs seen!) and had finished by about 15.00 so decided to head for my local Short-eared Owl site whilst there was still some light. There was still a little sun hitting the ground when I arrived at about 15.15, but at a very oblique angle. However, I immediately spotted a SEO from the entrance gate. It flew and landed in the grass about 10 metres from the path, about 200 metres ahead of me. I tried a stealthy approach and got to within about 20 metres. I found that I was already having to work at 2000 ISO so there is not much detail in the image.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

It stayed for quite some time, but it did not allow me to get any closer before it departed to the far side of the field. For the next hour I watched the owls (there were two of them for some of the time) and the ISO went up from 2000 to 3200 before I gave up the photography side of things. The owls, for most of the time, were staying very low, and as the fields round here that are frequented by the owls are all rather humped in the middle I seemed to get a lot of images of owls just above the grass. However, the owls were also landing in the grass a lot more than usual.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

With the last knockings of any light I took the following image which, although poor, I include because it's not often I see the spread wings from above.

Short-eared Owl - Ashby de la Zouch

Today (Sunday 18th December) I had a plenty of free time and decided that, as it was a sunny morning after earlier rain and snow it might be worth a look to see if the owls were out again - they weren't as far as I could see!

Not to be outdone, I returned again in the afternoon, with the sun still shining brightly. No owls showed whilst the sun was out, so I set off to explore some of the other locations that they frequent. I'd almost given up, with the light getting impossibly low, and was heading back to my original location, when an owl flew out of the new plantation beside me and landed on the stump of a bush in a recently cut hedge about 25 metres away. It didn't allow me to get any closer but, miraculously, I managed some images which came out. Whilst not good, these are probably the best SEO images I have managed so far (1/50 sec. handheld at ISO 1600!!). One day I'll get there!

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Late-Breeding Barn Owl - the outcome

2011-12-17T10:19:00.000Z

Back in September I posted on this blog about about some extremely late-born Barn Owl chicks (see "very late new-born owl chicks"), and said I let my reader know what the outcome was.

In that report I stated that there was no food in the nest, and that the male bird had not been seen for three days. I'm sorry to say that the male bird was never seen again, leaving the female to look after her brood by herself. Whether the male abandoned his family or met with an untimely end, we will never know. Anyway, the situation became quite desperate and, in spite of efforts by the landowner to assist by supplementing the female's efforts with the occasional supply of mice, the brood dwindled down to two surviving chicks.

The two chicks matured enough to be ringed and, eventually, both chicks made it out onto the ledge just below the nest-box entrance. However, whilst they were being observed on camera, the female returned with food and in the ensuing scrabble for a meal both chicks fell off the ledge. One was seen to return, but the second (a significantly smaller bird) didn't re-appear.

The next day, a search revealed the second chick on a branch above the middle of a brook, clearly unable to fly back home. The landowner's son was lowered into the brook in a bucket and the owlet retrieved, and returned to the nest box.

A few days later and the turmoil on the ledge was repeated when the female returned with food. Again the smallest of the owlets fell, and was not seen to return. However, this time the outcome was not so fortunate. The bird was found dead nearby.

It was always going to be touch and go whether these chicks hatched, or survived with the eggs being laid so late. However, considering the actual circumstances with no male bird there to assist with the feeding, I think that it's a miracle that one bird was raised to fully-fledged status. It now has the rigours of the winter to contend with, and I wish it all the best of luck.

After The Rain, Shorties! - on 9th December, 2011

2011-12-10T18:54:00.001Z

The day started bright and sunny, so I made up my mind to take an afternoon off and do some owling. After lunch I got the kit together, and it started throwing it down with rain as I got to the front door. In case it was just a shower, I set off for my local patch and sat opposite the barn which is home to Little Owls. I couldn't see a thing through the rain which didn't let up for half an hour. When it did let up I had a quick look round (no owls seen), and as it looked as if it was only a matter of time before it rained again I decided that I'd go to places where I was never far from the car. I set off for my nearby new LO Site No.25, where I have not managed any images yet, but before I could full y check it out there was a hailstorm which, in the strong wind which suddenly got up, came sideways and hurt like hell! Time to pack up and do some shopping!

I came out of the shops just before 15.00, and the sun was shining again. When are Short-eared Owls most likely to be active? - in fine weather after rain! So I set off to my local Shortie site. I'd just got through the gate before the half mile walk to the usual viewing point, when I spotted a shortie two fields away. I soon got there but, unfortunately, the sun was literally a few minutes away from dipping below the horizon. The first few shots were grabbed at inappropriate settings, and subsequently scrapped. I did, subsequently, manage to get set up and grab a few distant images.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

Suddenly there were two birds together, but the sun had now dipped out of sight, so photography got a bit more difficult. Regrettably the birds kept their distance.

At one point one of the owls dropped into the field nearest me, but over the horizon. When it came up, it had prey (possibly a Vole) in its talons. Unfortunately I only managed a DA shot!

Short-eared Owl - with prey

These two birds disappeared off to the north from a point about 600 metres to the east of me, but a few minutes later I had two owls approximately 400 metres to the west of me. By now, however, it was getting too dark. I'm not sure if I'd seen four owls, or whether the first two had very rapidly made their way round to a new location. I did grab a distant image in the darkened sky.

I'm used to seeing SEOs in coarse grass, but the sightings this day were with them all hunting in meadows with relatively short green grass, and with some success. They weren't the only ones having success in these meadows. At one point a Buzzard also caught something, but was 'mobbed' by one of the owls (I was concerned for the safety of the owl!). Later, a Fox also managed a kill in the same meadow. I'm not sure what it caught but it was chomping on something small (shown in the second image below). The fox seemed rather large, so may have been a male

Fox - near Ashby de la Zouch

I gave up when it got too dark to see much, but returned again this afternoon (Saturday 10th Dec.). This time there had been no rain, and I didn't see a SEO until it was too dark for photography again. I took a small diversionary route on a path through a young plantation on my way back to the car, and was suddenly surprised by a SEO zipping between the trees towards me, only turning round when it was about 10 metres from me. If only I had been prepared, I could have taken a great shot with the in-built flash on my camera as it was so close! Oh well - you win some you lose some. I'm still trying to win a few!!

Too Few, Two Little, Two Short Too Late, Too Bad! - on 30th November, 2011

2011-12-01T14:30:00.000Z

Too Few? - Well, until yesterday, this November was my worst month since October 2010 for Little Owl sightings. This was partly due to my just not getting out in the field, and partly due to me being distracted by Short-eared Owls (of which I had more sightings in the month than in the whole of my life before!).

Two Little? - Yesterday the sun was shining and so I took a short break from the building project in my garden. At my local patch I found one Little Owl in the back of a barn - not enough light and too far away for photography. However, I did take a shot of a Pied Wagtail on the barn roof.

Pied Wagtail - my 'local patch'

At a second site on my local patch I was talking to the farmer when I think I saw a LO depart out of the corner of my eye, but could not relocate whatever it was - so that doesn't count. I then went a mile or so up the road to investigate a possible site, uncovered after I'd seen the Snow Bunting (see earlier post). This resulted in me spotting a departing LO, and positively I/D-ing the nest cavity - my new Little Owl Site No.25! Rather than try and follow up this bird, I had another potential site to investigate and I was running out of time before lunch. However, although there was evidence of owl occupation at this location, no owl was seen. These two LOs meant that it was now only my worst month for sightings since December 2010. On the way home, I put up a Kestrel that had been at the roadside, unseen by me until it took off and landed on a distant post in the adjacent field.

Common Kestrel - near Normanton le Heath

Two Shorts Too Late? - That afternoon I took another break, but the sun went behind the clouds just as I was departing, and stayed that way. I was off to my local Short-eared Owl site. As I arrived I stopped to photograph a Fieldfare in the gathering gloom.

Fieldfare - near Ashby de la Zouch

Two Short-eared Owls did their usual trick of showing just as it was too dark for photography. I only managed just the one 'record image' before they quickly disappeared, and I'm not sure whether it was a third bird that appeared about five minutes later.

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

By now it was far too dark to contemplate any sort of photography - even if a bird had perched close by. I was also quite cold having been standing in a stiff breeze, so it was time to go home.

Too Bad! - I'd seen four owls (possibly six) and only managed an (only just keepable) image of one of them, but at least I'd found a new site, and it leaves me plenty to work at another day!

Local Short-eared Owl - on 19th November, 2011

2011-11-20T19:25:00.001Z

I had paid a couple of visits to a place quite close to me, in the hope of seeing Short-eared Owls. I'd been told that location hosted SEOs a couple of years back. However, I'd not yet seen any there. However, on Monday I visited the LROS website for the first time in a couple of months (most remiss of me as it is a mine of good information) and saw that this location had recent reports of SEOs. As it's only a mile and a half (2.5 km) by car and then a half mile walk, it needed further investigation.

On Tuesday afternoon I went there, arriving at about 14.30. It seemed like a long wait in a stiff cold breeze, but at least there was some sun - to start with! It then got cloudy, and quite cold, and then the sun set, and then it started getting dark. I'd almost given up as photography would be impossible, and was talking to another person, who was also here for the owls, when a single SEO showed at about 16.30. It was only just possible to see it, and definitely well-beyond photography as it didn't get close. All too soon it was gone.

I was back on Wednesday, but this time it was dull and misty from the word go. Eventually a single owl showed at 16.20 - far too dark for photography again, but at least it came a little closer as it left the area, allowing a couple of 'record' shots.

I was out there again on Thursday. This time, having been joined by my Tuesday companion, we'd pretty mush given up as nothing had been seen by 16.30, and the light was dire again. My companion suggested a walk back to the car park by a route that I'd not explored before, and from a high point we saw three SEOs together in the sky at a considerable distance.

Saturday saw me there again, and I was half expecting a crowd at the weekend, but I found myself alone for the duration. It was a continually dull day and a little misty, but this time a bird did me the favour of appearing at 15.15, whilst there was still some light (just about - I was trying to get flight shots at ISO 2500 with shutter speeds running around 1/250!)

Short-eared Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

The bird stayed around for about fifteen minutes, but always keeping its distance. At one point it landed on the path that I'd walked up to get to my vantage point! After doing a dive for prey it headed off along the path, behind some trees. However, five minutes later it was back, closely followed by a couple with a dog! It was only when I looked at the photos that I noticed it had prey in its talons.

Short-eared Owl, with prey

The bird disappeared for a while again, presumably enjoying its supper. However, ten minutes later it was back, and calling loudly and persistently. The next thing I knew it was flying round above me very close, still calling loudly. By now, however, it was getting on for four o'clock and the light had gone enough that even at ISO 3200 I couldn't get a decent image, although I must admit that, given time (or more experience of these conditions!), I'm sure I could have come up with more appropriate camera settings and better results. The following is the best of a very bad bunch!

OK, so there's not a lot of detail in any of the above images due to poor light and high ISO, and I must do better, but they'll do to be going on with - just !!

Didn't manage to get out today as the weather was foggy, and I thought that my time would be better spent doing some DIY at home, so that I'm free when the weather next improves - but I'll be back there soon!

Leicestershire Snow Bunting - on 13th November, 2011

2011-11-14T13:50:00.001Z

Went out owling yesterday, with the intention of finding some new territories (in which I think I was partially successful). However, in one place, which turned out not to be quite right for owls (grass too short and ordered) I had a very pleasant surprise. I'd not seen much up until this point, and decided to look in a gully in case anything was lurking - and there was this Snow Bunting foraging!! Although the sun was shining, the bird stayed down in the shade, and so the following images were taken at high ISO and low speed, and I've had to post-process the colour balance as there was a strong blue cast in all the images.

Snow Bunting

As it was now getting dark, I set off homeward, but not before I'd taken an image of the setting sun.

I had planned to return here today to try and get some images in better light as the weather forecast was good, and a Snow Bunting is a rare occurrence in Leicestershire. However, the day has remained grey and dull. Maybe it'll pick up tomorrow and the bird will still be there.

Fungus Fest - on 6th November, 2011

2011-11-12T11:59:00.000Z

Last Sunday my main objective was to see Short-eared Owls and, in some respects, I was successful in this. However, I did stop off at three of my Little Owl sites on the way.

Nothing was seen at LO Site No.02. At the second (my Site No.16) I didn't see any owls either, but could not resist taking an image of this Blue Tit in full sun.

Blue Tit - near Snarestone

At my LO Site No.03, one of the owls was sitting out on the nest tree. Unfortunately this still has its leaves, and the only way to get a relatively unobstructed view was to directly approach the bird - a sure-fire way of disturbing it if I got too close! I thought I'd gauged my approach distance well, but I was wrong, and the bird departed. You can see how well this bird blends into its environment here, particularly in the last image.

Little Owl - my Site No.03

Anyway - to the main subject of this post! Where the Short-eared Owls were on Sunday I was struck by the number and variety of fungi. Now I know practically nothing about fungi, so have only been able to positively identify one type - the Fly Agaric, shown below.

Fly Agaric

This next one was in abundance on a large area of grass. It was growing in rings, and the young growths looked like the type of mushroom you might find in a supermarket. However, the mature ones looked very different, with flat heads and white with a hint of blue and purple in colour. Any suggestions?

Unidentified Fungus 'A'

The next one looked a bit phallic, but I can't identify it from my fungus book. Again any help would be appreciated. I only found one stand of these! They were in stony ground beside the grass area.

Unidentified Fungus 'B'

The last fungus that I photographed (I saw plenty of others, however) was close to the previous one, and again I only saw one stand of these. I suspect that these are of the Hygrocybe (Waxcap) type, but the specifics I have no idea about.

Unidentified Fungus 'C'

Any advice on these fungi - other than exhortations to try eating the first - would be much appreciated!

Short Sighted, but Distant Vision Just About OK! - on 6th November, 2011

2011-11-08T09:45:00.001Z

Inspired by the fabulous images of Short-eared Owls being created by my good friend and mentor, Paul Riddle, and not having seen a Shorty myself since May, on Mull, I reckoned that it was about time that I did something about it! Not wanting to press Paul for his location - partly because I'd prefer Paul to keep it to himself, and partly because I knew that it was a long way from Paul and diametrically opposed to my position, and so much further for me - I decided that I needed to find somewhere a little closer to home.

As a relative newcomer to birdwatching I'd only seen SEOs in five places, and each of those was where there were rough meadows close to a significant amount of water. For the past week or so I've been checking out some very local locations - so far without luck, but I'm still hopeful!

I'd pretty-well decided that, in order to practise techniques and get to understand these birds better, I'd go to a place a little more distant (but considerably closer to me than Paul's are to him!) where there was a good chance of seeing SEOs. Sunday promised to be bright and sunny all day so after a bit of a late start (sometimes I don't feel like getting up early!) and armed with a picnic, I headed out, calling at three of my Little Owl sites on the way.

Having arrived at my chosen location, I spent a good three hours exploring the extensive complex of lakes for the best location. Eventually I settled on a place between two lakes (one very large and on sonewhat smaller), and hung around and waited. Apart from a family walking their dog, and a young couple out for a romantic stroll, I had the place to myself. I'd only been there just over an hour when I caught sight of a very distant SEO being mobbed by a couple of Crows. They caused it to turn back and disappear in the direction it had come from - at least I knew that there was an SEO around!

Ten minutes later, and I had an SEO much closer to me - just 200-300 yards (metres) away, over the other side of the smaller lake, with the sun behind my back!

My first attempts were pretty-much all dismal failures. The light was so strong that if I got the background right, the underside of the owl's wings burned out like a flashlight. The nearest that I got to success was when a second bird appeared, causing both birds to rise into the sky.

Short-eared Owl

Changing the settings on my camera I started getting some better results. However, at this distance, it was nigh-on impossible to maintain focus - not helped by the bird keeping low amongst lots of stuff that conspired to confuse the autofocus!

Whilst taking these images, I was hiding in some bushes. I was never going to get good images at this distance, so I contemplated moving position to the end of the smaller lake. However, I would have to walk a couple of hundred yards (metres), fully exposing my position to the birds - so I stayed put. The only 'just about in focus' shot I got of more than one bird at a time was when the two birds started interacting with some Crows - second bird is lower left.

Shortly after this, one of the owls headed over the water of the large lake that was behind me, into the setting sun. No hope of any images over there, but I did get some as it flew across. This next one is one of my favourite from the session.

A few minutes later, the second owl departed after the first to the other side of the large lake behind me. I was ready to pack up as the light was fading fast, when a third owl appeared in the same area.

There was more interaction with a Crow from this bird before it also flew across into the sun and over to the other side of the lake behind me. I'm not sure if this next image is one of those failures that works, but I rather like the way the sun is shining through the owl's wings.

It was now time to pick my way out of my location in the gathering gloom. I am hoping to return here another day in the not-too-distant future, when the weather is 'cloudy-bright', rather than full sun. I will take up a position that will secrete me in a place much nearer to the birds - if they hunt in the same area next time - and hope to get some better images. I don't suppose that I'll ever match those from Paul, some of which you can find on his blog at http://owlsaboutthatthen.blogspot.com, but I'll have great fun trying!

Rescued From Ignominy - on 30th October, 2011

2011-10-31T19:41:00.000Z

I've been heading for my worst month of the year for owl sightings, due to a number of factors, the greatest of which was needing to finish off a garden construction project before the bad weather set in. However, the Scottish holiday and variable weather have not helped. Therefore, when the weather looked good yesterday afternoon, I took my leave of my visiting daughter, and headed out for three hours to some of my Little Owl sites.

My first call was at my recently re-discovered LO Site No.03. Here an owl was visible from the road with its back to me, and between me and the light. I did my usual trick here of walking casually past the tree and then turning round when I'd got past. Unfortunately I'd misgauged my position and the bird was in shadow with the leaves in front of it in sunshine. Whilst I tried to reposition myself it was off.

Little Owl - my Site No.03

Having managed to see where the owl had flown to, I set off to try and pick it up again. As I left the garden I turned round, just as a second owl emerged from the nest hole! It was gone before I had a chance to raise the camera. In the meantime, the first owl had departed unseen. However, all this was exciting for me as I'd only ever seen a single owl here previously.

I next visited my LO Site No.09, where 90% of the time I never see an owl. My luck wasn't any better this time.

Next was LO Site No.17, where an owl was spotted through the barn window, but not photographable.

No owl was seen at my LO Site No.05, but at nearby Site No.06 I found myself being jostled by heifers which was rather distracting, so that I missed seeing one of the owls before it saw me and took flight. I decided to leave it in peace, and head to another of my recently re-discovered sites - my LO Site No.16. This is a bit of a tricky location as both the farmer and his wife are totally in denial that they have owls - presumably they don't want visiting birdwatchers - so I have to watch from the road! It was ironic that whilst she was doing the late afternoon rounds of the farmyard, both resident owls were flying round and calling! However, they stayed at a considerable distance, with light levels so low by now that it was not even worth attempting any photos.

Thus I ended the evening after dark, with only one vaguely usable image 'in the can'. However it had been a great few hours with six owls seen at four sites.

This was the first time I'd been out owling for over two weeks, and then it had only been for a couple of two-hour sessions on my local patch. I did, however, manage a few images - but nothing terribly different to what I have posted before.

Little Owl - my Site No.12 - on 12th October, 2011

Little Owl - my Site No.02 - on 13th October, 2011

Little Owl - my Site No.12 - on 13th October, 2011

Scotland in October, Part.2 - 5th to 8th October, 2011

2011-10-24T09:44:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 5th October

The second half of our Scottish holiday got off to a fairly inauspicious start. Today we had decided that we would take the funicular railway up to the Cairngorm top station, and go on the Ranger-led walk from there to the summit in the hope of seeing Ptarmigan, Snow Bunting, and Mountain Hare. This walk is only available outside the skiing season. The rules (designed to protect the environment) are that it is not permitted to take the funicular to the top and then get out and walk around outside the confines of the buildings - unless you book on one of the official walks which are limited to 10 persons only. If you are prepared to walk up from the base station you are free to go wherever you like, but you need a certain amount of stamina to do this.

Our first stop was at the Glenmore Cafe, which is famous for its feeders outside the windows. These are visited by Crested Tit - but only usually in the winter. However, Red Squirrel are almost a certainty during the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea. It's difficult, however, to get a natural looking image of a Squirrel, and I didn't manage it this time. I did, however, just about manage an image of a Treecreeper.

Treecreeper - Glenmore Cafe

As we left the cafe a Red Squirrel ran across the car park and bounded across the road. I almost nailed the in-flight shot - would have done if the light (and therefore the speed) had been better.

Red Squirrel - Glenmore Cafe

We arrived at the Cairngorm base station, to find that the car park was virtually deserted. I went off to the Ranger Station to check on availability of walks and was met with bad news. Winds were 60 mph, gusting to 95 mph, and they weren't even running the funicular. Furthermore they were telling people that they should definitely not walk in an upward direction. We had a quick walk round the lower station and came to the conclusion that nothing was likely to stick its head above the parapet in the gale that was blowing.We quickly changed our plans and decided on a scenic journey beside the Spey towards its source, stopping en-route to buy a picnic, as we'd originally intended to eat on Cairngorm . At Laggan we joined a single track road with passing places, and had not been going long before I stopped as the river looked as if it could be good for Dipper - and I found one! Again the light was bad, but I managed a few images.

Dipper - west of Laggan

We then continued past the Spey Dam, as far as Garva Bridge, about 9 miles (15 km) west of Laggan, and here we had our picnic, sitting in the car in the rain!

River Spey at Garva Bridge

It was brightening up a bit by the time we'd finished lunch so we stopped again where we'd seen the Dipper and it was still there, but it was still in shade, although being a little more active.

Dipper - west of Laggan

Just before we reached Laggan we came upon a Hare beside the road which leaped into cover as we approached. It sat there motionless with its head showing, but with ears flat so I found it virtually impossible to tell whether it was a Brown Hare or a Mountain Hare. Given that Mountain Hare tend to be a bit greyer at this time of year, I suspect that this was a Brown

Brown Hare? - near Laggan

We still had some time left to fill in the afternoon, and found ourselves being drawn back to Lochindorb - we really do like this place!!! Unsurprisingly we found Red Grouse again!

Red Grouse- Lochindorb

The previous time we had passed the wooded area which surrounds Lochindorb Lodge, we'd seen a Red Squirrel, which had beetled off before I had a chance at an image. We'd been surprised at this as it really is quite a small wooded area, and the nearest trees other than these are a very long way away. This day I was a bit better prepared as we found the Squirrel again in virtually the same place.

Red Squirrel - Lochindorb

Further on there were more Red Grouse - or were they?? I been noticing that some of the Grouse seemed a bit dark and small - and had white patches showing underneath, extending way beyond the usually white legs. You can see this in the birds in the last two of the three images below. It's tempting to think in terms of Ptarmigan, but I'm wondering if a local game bird breeding programme for shooting has crossed Red Grouse with non-native Willow Grouse? Any help with this would be gratefully received!!

Red Grouse/Willow Grouse cross, or Ptarmigan? - Lochindorb

Our arrival back in Grantown was a little earlier than it need be so we made a diversion to the Spey on the outskirts of the town. This is a place where we usually see Dipper, but no birds were visible when we arrived. As we'd never been along this road to the old bridge, which is now closed to traffic but available as a footbridge, we went there to explore. From the bridge I could see some ducks in the distance, and set off across the field to investigate. They were four Goosander which kept to the far bank under the shade of the trees. I could only get a record shot as I was facing directly into the evening sunlight.

Goosander - Grantown-on-Spey

On my way back to the car I spotted a Dipper which seemed to be sitting in the water. In this stretch of the river, no rocks were visible, but I suspect that the river was very shallow over most of its width, and the Dipper was standing on the bottom.

Dipper - Grantown-on-Spey

On the way to see the Goosander I'd kept to the far side of the field which ran alongside the river in order not to frighten the ducks. On my return journey I kept to the river bank and just before I got back to the bridge I spotted a Dipper close to the near bank. This gave me my best Dipper image of the day - at least I think so!

Dipper - Grantown-on-Spey

Thursday 6th October

Our objective today was the Moray coast, and the Long Billed Dowitcher which had been reported at Lossiemouth. Having been advised that the rising tide in the afternoon was the best time for a chance of seeing the Dowitcher, we started the day by heading for Findhorn, stopping first at the RSPB reserve at Findhorn Bay. The bay is a large area of water with a relatively narrow access to the sea. It is great for waders, etc., but only for those who like to scan with scopes. The hide, which was closed for refurbishment, is at the edge of the car park, and doesn't make much sense anyway as people walk their dogs between it and the water line, a hundred yards (metres) away at high tide! The tide was quite well up and I managed a couple of shots of one of the Curlew that were above the high-water mark.

Curlew - Findhorn Bay

We next drove into Findhorn, parking in the beach car park, behind the sand dunes. Again, dog walkers removed any chance of seeing birds at the water's edge. When we reached the inlet to the bay there were Seals on the far bank, in the lea of Culbin Forest. The scene looked almost tropical as the sun was out, the sea blue, and the sands almost golden. The reality was that there was a strong cold wind from the west and the temperature was 8 C ( 46 F)!

Entrance to Findhorn Bay, looking across to Culbin Forest

Several of the Seals were quite active, and with the light being so good (for a change!) I managed a few very distant shots at low ISO which cropped down quite well.

Seals (possibly mixed Grey and Common) - opposite Findhorn

Having warmed up with a pot of earl grey tea at the marina cafe, we took a walk along the promenade at Findhorn. Here there were Turnstone, and more Curlew. At this point, however, we were facing the wrong direction for the light, so photography was not easy.

Turnstone - Findhorn

Curlew - Findhorn

Our next stop was at Burghead, where we had seen a pair of Long-tailed Duck in January. We were to have no such luck this day. Here no birds were seen outside the harbour mouth, and only some Cormorants seen on the harbour wall.

Cormorant - Burghead

My wife, who had been peering down into the waters of the harbour, called out that there was a seal in the harbour. This was not a Common/Harbour Seal as one might expect, but a Grey Seal (shape of head, position of eyes, and nostril configuration are diagnostic). In the first image it has just surfaced and the nostrils are closed.

Grey Seal - Burghead Harbour

This Seal was disappearing for long periods, and during one of these times I went to see if anything had changed outside the harbour. At first I thought that the Seal already seen had made its way out of harbour, but I then noticed that this one had a nasty scar across its snout.

Grey Seal - outside Burghead Harbour

I was somewhat concerned about getting too near the open edge of the harbour as it was very windy here, and the wind was gusting to the extent that it might have blown you over the edge. It was, therefore, also too windy to contemplate a walk up onto the head to look out to sea, so we set off for Lossiemouth.

From the description we had it was easy to find the approximate location where the Dowitcher had been seen. Two birdwatchers standing there soon put us onto the bird which was in the company of a small flock of Wigeon over the other side of the waters of the Lossie estuary. At first the bird did very little, spending most of its time with its head turned over its back, facing away from us.

Long-billed Dowitcher - Lossiemouth East Beach

During these extended periods of inactivity, there were other birds to keep us amused, and a picnic to eat.

Redshank - Lossiemouth

A Black-tailed Godwit on the far bank did us a favour occasionally by acting mildly antagonistically to the Dowitcher, making it move out of the way.

Black-tailed Godwit - Lossiemouth East Beach

A Curlew on the near bank grappled with a crab that looked far too big for it to do anything with.

Curlew - Lossiemouth

I took a lot of photos of the Dowitcher as, at my age, it is one of those birds that, realistically, I am never likely to see again. It is for this reason, also, that there will be a lot of images of this bird on this blog, but I will intersperse it with the other birds that I took photos of. So the following are in chronological order.

To our delight, the Dowitcher started to get a bit more lively and started preening. A couple of times it used its foot to scratch the left side of its face, and both times I noticed that its bill seemed to cross at the end as it did so (1st image below). It then decided to take a trundle along the water's edge to feed.

Long-billed Dowitcher - Lossiemouth East Beach

It was easy to lose the bird momentarily if you took your eyes off it, and the presence of some Knot did not help in finding it again.

Knot - Lossiemouth East Beach

Long-billed Dowitcher - Lossiemouth East Beach

Oystercatcher - Lossiemouth East Beach

Probably the least interesting subject of all my images taken on this holiday but, ironically, probably (technically) the best image taken was this one of a Crow!

Carrion Crow - Lossiemouth

Long-billed Dowitcher - Lossiemouth East Beach

Suddenly all the birds were in the air, put up by a Merlin, and the Dowitcher spent some time flying around with the Wigeon. When they came back down the Wigeon landed in the water and the Dowitcher was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, half an hour later, we picked it up again near its original location. It then started to wander along the water's edge again, feeding as it did so.

Long-billed Dowitcher - Lossiemouth East Beach

Suddenly the bird was gone again. We waited some time without it returning, taking a few more shots of other birds, but the weather started to break up badly and we decided to call it a day at Lossiemouth East Beach. It had been a very rewarding couple of hours!

Little Grebe - Lossiemouth

Curlew - Lossiemouth

Another pot of early grey tea in the Harbour Lights cafe in Lossiemouth, then we were on our way to Spey Bay. It started tipping it down with rain on the way, and so we only briefly stopped on the west side of the estuary before taking the long drive round to the east side, where we stopped for an even shorter time in the deluge. We were really only sussing it out for a future visit anyway. The rain didn't let up all the way back to Grantown.

Friday 7th October

This was our last full day based at the Grant Arms in Grantown-on Spey. The following day we would be making our way homeward.

The weather was not looking too good, so we decided to join the BWWC staff member who was basing herself at the top of the Findhorn Valley for the benefit of people staying at the Grant Arms. It was raining hard when we arrived, and several Red Deer, including stags, were just about visible through the rain at various places on the hillside in the distance. To save getting too wet, much of the time was spent sitting in the car, with an occasional flip of the windscreen wipers so that we could see out.

We'd not been there too long when my wife spotted a stag on the much nearer hillside directly in front of us. The rest of the group were alerted and we soon found that he had his 'ladies' around him - albeit at a distance. The stag (which my wife decided to christen 'Big Eric') was reclining on the ground, probably resting after the exertions of the rut. In spite of the rain, I did manage some distant shots which crop down well enough to be just about acceptable enough to use on this post, although far from good!

Red Deer - Findhorn Valley

The weather was so atrocious that I think that most people decided to give up and go. Unfortunately one couple's car would not start, giving a bit of a dilemma as no one could find a signal on their phone. Attempts at push starting failed. After a lot of messing about someone went off to the nearest habitation and came back with a gentleman with a set of industrial jump leads which managed to get the car started.

By the time that this was all over, we were soaked through, and Big Eric had moved off somewhere and we couldn't re-locate him in the even-worse weather. It was time to go and turn the air-con on to warm ourselves up and dry out. As we passed the habitation where the rescuer had come from we noticed the somewhat gruesome sight of about eight recently severed stag's heads on the ground, leaning against the walls of a barn.

We decided on a farewell visit to Lochindorb, on the way to the craft centre at Logie Steading. Guess what!? We found a Red Grouse(?) in the rain! This was another of the dark birds exhibiting white in their plumage.

Red Grouse (?) - Lochindorb

After our visit to Logie Steading, where we bought a Moroccan Mint plant (I've never seen so many varieties of mint in one place!) we decided on trying to trace the Findhorn River upstream for as far as possible by road. We got out for a walk at the picturesque Dulsie Bridge as, suddenly, it was sunny. An information board told us that, during a flood when several people lost their lives, the deep gorge here filled with water to within inches of the underside of the arch. It must have been around 30 ft (10 metres) deep!

Dulsie Bridge

From Dulsie Bridge we continued on single track road along the Findhorn to Drynachan Lodge. It was a very slow run as, spread along the road and with absolutely no road sense, were several hundred Red-legged Partridge! We then completed a loop by cutting north to Highland Boath, then back to Dulsie Bridge.

Near Aitnoch (somewhere that you'll only find on an OS map!) we spotted a pair of Roe Deer on the hillside. They were fine when we first stopped, but got a bit nervous when stayed for a few minutes.

Roe Deer - near Aitnoch

We were back in time for another fine dinner at the Grant Arms, and left with a little time to reflect on a most enjoyable week, in spite of the weather.

Saturday 8th October

As the weather was so bad on our outward journey through Scotland to Grantown, we decided to go back the same way in the hope of seeing it in better weather - it wasn't! However it had eased off by the time we arrived in Braemar and, after lunch here, we took a scenic diversion down the dead-end road to the Linn of Dee. On the way down we noticed Mistle Thrushes commuting between a line of telegraph poles in a field, and a tree with small black berries in beside the road. We had seen quite a lot of Mistle Thrushes in groups during the week, and there were reports of them flocking in quite high numbers, but I'd not taken any photos of them, so I thought I'd try on the way back. Unfortunately they did not stay around for long.

Mistle Thrush - road to Linn of Dee

We'd planned to visit the reserve at Aberlady Bay later in the afternoon, before finishing this leg of the journey at Berwick-upon-Tweed. However, there were roadworks on the Forth Road Bridge which resulted in a stop-start delay of more than two hours (possibly the worst traffic jam that I've ever been in!) and it was dark before we even got to cross the bridge. We just headed straight for Berwick, and ended up having dinner at 'the Scottish Restuarant' (McDonald's for the uninitiated!). The next day it rained all the way home!

I'll end this report by saying thank you to the interesting and helpful people that I met during the week, particularly Allan Adam from Elgin (www.aaphotosmoray.co.uk), and Donald and Carol Ford from South Queensferry (www.donaldfordimages.com) (hope the car held up Donald, and thanks for the superb calendar). However, my main thanks are to the whole team at the Grant Arms who made sure that this hotel still remains as one of my favourites anywhere!

Scotland in October, Part.1 - 1st to 4th October, 2011

2011-10-17T11:56:00.000+01:00

My wife and I are really hooked on the Grant Arms in Grantown-on-Spey - it's our favourite hotel by far! We were there in July last year, and then again in January this year. We just couldn't resist the temptation to visit again in early autumn.

We're getting a bit long in the tooth for driving to this part of Scotland in one day, so took an overnight break on the way at Glenrothes, staying at the Premier Inn there (a budget hotel which is perfectly adequate for an overnight stop). It was bright sunshine all the way to Glenrothes, with the outside temperature a totally unseasonal 26 C (79 F) all the way!

Saturday 1st October

We woke to find that the weather had changed from hot and sunny to dull, wet, and cooler. The temperature was 16 C (61 F) and dropping. We set the controls for the heart of the sun (in reality, the SatNav for the shortest (rather than quickest) route to Grantown-on-Spey, we tend to see more countryside that way, rather than motorways and dual-carriageways) and were on our way after a light breakfast.

Within a few miles, near Falkland, we came across a 'black' Pheasant at the side of the road, which slipped into a field as we approached. We stopped, and found that there were quite a few Pheasant in the field, and approximately half of them were black. I've only seen black Pheasant a couple of time before - both times in the north of England. The light was very poor but I did manage a couple of distant images which show that these birds are mainly a very dark greeny-blue, rather than black. I suspect that these are an oddball strain of Pheasant from a breeding programme for 'game birds'.

Pheasant - Nr. Falkland

As we continued our journey, the rain just got more heavy. A comfort stop at the Glenshee Ski Centre (cafe closed, but much-needed loos open) got us drenched in the 10 metres between car and entrance to loos. We guessed that Glenshee would have been beautiful if we could have seen it through the rain!

Further along, about 3 miles (5 km) from Braemar, Gismo (our SatNav!) took us off on a single track road which ran on the west bank of Clunie Water - the river that approaches Braemar from the south. There was Grey Heron and a Goosander in the river.

Goosander - Clunie Water, Nr. Braemar

We stopped for lunch in Braemar, and had a look round the town, before returning to the car to dry out and continue our journey. The rain continued all the way to Grantown, and we could see that the scenery would have been wonderful if visibility had been better.

Having checked in at the Grant Arms there was time for a quick wander around the town before attending the Bird Watching and Wildlife Club (BWWC) briefing in the club's lecture theatre in the hotel at 6 p.m. The BWWC is a facility at the Grant Arms. As well as the lecture theatre, it has an extensive library, and an information room. At the daily briefings, guests and club officers exchange information on what has been seen where, and where the best places to visit are. There are also organised events each day that guests can attend, free of charge.

After the briefing we headed into the dining room for an excellent three-course dinner - another feature of the Grant Arms is the superb food! Having taken coffee and a tipple in the bar, we decided on an early night.

Sunday 2nd October

The weather forecast for the day was not good, and was expected to get far worse as the week progressed. We decided that we'd start by visiting our favourite local beauty spot - Lochindorb, just to the north of Grantown. The weather was not too bad as we approached Lochindorb, but still very dull and grey. Little was seen as we rook the single track road between the A939 and the loch, but as we reached the loch, an eagle flew up from the loch, probably about half a mile (0.7 km) away. By it's huge size, strong head, and really heavy bill, I thought that it might have been a White-tailed Sea Eagle. It was far too far away for even a record shot with the camera. I later found out from a local expert that, although juvenile WTSEs have occasionally been reported from this location, it was almost certainly a Golden Eagle, as one had been seen several times recently around Lochindorb. This was to be the only eagle that we saw during this visit to Scotland.

Only a few yards further up the road a Red Grouse flew across in front of the car and landed at the road side next to us, where the water is only a yard (metre) or two from the road - hence the lack of backdrop to the following image.

Red Grouse - Lochindorb

Shortly after this, the heavens opened. Two Tufted Duck were doing their best to kid us that they were Scaup. Further on, at the south end of the loch, we found more Red Grouse, and managed a few more images, in spite of the weather. The colours of the wet vegetation added something to the images.

Red Grouse - Lochindorb

From Lochindorb we set off for Loch an Eilean. This place has the reputation for being one of the most beautiful in this part of Scotland, and we had not been there on previous visits. We had our picnic in the car park (nothing interesting on the feeders - they get Crested Tit here in the winter), and then set off round the loch in an anti-clockwise direction, thankful that it had stopped raining.

Loch an Eilean - north end

It was certainly a beautiful place, but there seemed to be a distinct lack of small birds. On the castle ruins in the lake there were Jackdaws, but after two hours of walking we'd only seen birds in two places, and they were Coal and Blue Tits, and Chaffinches.

Loch an Eilean Castle

We were more than two and a half hours into our walk (and only half an hour from getting back to our car) when we happened on another small flock of birds and, as well as the usual suspects already seen, there were two Crested Tits amongst them. For about ten minutes I tried to get an image, but they were constantly moving high up in the foliage and I just couldn't get a bead on them - and then they were gone!

The walk had nearly finished off my wife, who suffers badly from asthma since she had a bad chest infection earlier in the year, so no further walking was on the cards for the rest of the day (or the following day, for that matter!).

We decided to return by the scenic route, calling back at Lochindorb to see if we could find any Short-eared Owls as dusk approached. We had no luck, but did disturb a Goosander that had decided to roost on the narrow strip between the road and the water.

Goosander - Lochindorb

That night, after dinner, I had arranged to take a small group to Anagach Woods, behind the hotel, to see if we could find one of the Tawny Owls that reside there. Unfortunately the wind had got up strongly during the late afternoon, so I was not surprised when we had no luck.

Monday 3rd October

We purposely avoided any significant amount of walking this day. After breakfast we set off for the Findhorn Valley. This place is known locally as 'The Valley of the Raptors', and we have seen Golden Eagle here previously. We looked for Dipper in the river, but none were seen. A couple of Buzzards were seen as we headed up the valley, and when we arrived at the top car park, we soon had two sightings of Peregrine. It was extremely windy up here, and not pleasant to be out of the car for too long. We were told that there were two Red Deer stags further up the track from the top car park, and these, each with their group of 'ladies' were bellowing at each other from either side of the valley. However, in deference to my wife's wishes, we did not venture up there! Instead, we headed back down the valley and then turned off on the very scenic road to Farr. We managed to find a nice spot for our picnic, but didn't see anything interesting in the way of wildlife - it was still extremely windy here.

Turning left at the end of the road we headed for the RSPB's reserve at Loch Ruthven in the vain hope that there might still be a Slavonian Grebe or two here. Just before the road to the reserve, we spotted two Red Kite flying low over the adjacent field. I tried (unsuccessfully) to get some images.

It started raining hard soon after we arrived at Loch Ruthven, and as we could only find a few Mallard from the hide, we did not stop long. Having never seen Loch Ness, we made a diversion to travel along its south-east shore - I was only impressed by its size - and then headed back towards Grantown, taking a route past our beloved Lochindorb. It was nearly an imageless day but, as we reached the end of the Lochindorb road a low-flying Kestrel caught our eye and settled on a rock beside the main road (A939), trying to keep out of the wind. I managed a few images, but it was difficult as I was shooting through a wire-mesh fence, and parked at the side of a road with heavy traffic!

Common Kestrel - Dava

Tuesday 4th October

My wife was keen to see Dolphins, and Chanonry Point on the Black Isle, north of Inverness, is famed for giving good views. We were advised that the best time to see them is just after low tide. Having checked the tide table, we set off after breakfast for a leisurely run northwards. A stop for coffee had us arriving just before mid-day and low tide. Getting out of the car at the car park, we immediately saw Dolphins over the other side of the channel by Ardersier. The distance was so great, however, that I only managed some record shots, one of which is below.

Bottlenose Dolphin - Ardersier, from Chanonry Point

The Dolphins soon disappeared out to sea, and for the next twenty minutes we amused ourselves by watching some of the other wildlife, which included Grey Seal and Guillemot messing about just off the point.

Guillemot (winter plumage) - Chanonry Point

Grey Seal - Chanonry Point

Herring Gull (1st winter?) - Chanonry Point

Suddenly I spotted two or more Dolphins in the bay off Rosemarkie, outside the confines of the point. However, although these put on a show briefly, they remained very distant.

Bottlenose Dolphins - off Rosemarkie, from Chanonry Point

My wife was determined to stick it out, in the hope of better views of Dolphins, and for the next three hours and twenty minutes, we endured the strong winds and occasional rain - and did I say that the temperature had dropped to 8 C (46 F) when it had been 26 C (79 F) only four days earlier! We were frozen, but kept ourselves amused once more with the wildlife as follows:

Turnstone - Chanonry Point

Oystercatcher - Chanonry Point

Herring Gull (winter plumage) - Chanonry Point

Herring Gull (1st winter?) - Chanonry Point

There were other diversions too, including a couple of fishing boats that decided to leave harbour and brave the open seas, a magnificent rainbow, and views of the Kessock bridge which connects Inverness to the Black Isle, inland from the point.

Fishing Boats - about to pass Chanonry Point

Rainbow - from Chanonry Point

Kessock Bridge - from Chanonry Point

By this time we had got so cold, and were aching from so much standing around, that we decided to leave. We had literally taken the first steps of departure when we spotted Dolphins approaching from the seaward side. I grabbed a few distant shots, and it was only when I looked at the images later that I saw that I had one with a 'baby' in it, swimming beside an adult!

Bottlenose Dolphin (with youngster) - Chanonry Point

Suddenly we had a pair of dolphins in close - so close that I had difficulty tracking them with the camera! This close encounter was all too brief as they reached deep water after the shallows of the point. Regrettably, I only managed images of backs and tails - none of their heads - during these moments. You can see enough detail in the fins in the images below to see that these are two different Dolphins.

Bottlenose Dolphin - Chanonry Point

They were gone as quickly as they arrived, but a few minutes later we saw Dolphins over by Ardersier again. This time there was one that, very briefly, was fully breaching (coming out of the water) ahead of us. The only shot I managed of this spectacular behaviour was a very distant, head-on, record shot.

Bottlenose Dolphin - Ardersier, from Chanonry Point

It seemed like no time at all before they were gone again. Was it worth the wait? - you bet! Would I do it again? - I can't wait to get back here again!

As we returned to the car I noticed a small brown bird near the pier by the car park. It turned out to be a Rock Pipit.

Rock Pipit - Chanonry Point

After this we headed to the RSPB reserve at Udale Bay. The weather had got brighter but, unfortunately, the tide was fully in and so all that was visible was a strip of grass which was overcrowded with gulls and ducks of various species, none of which I found photographically inspiring. The bay was dominated by a huge oil platform which, judging by the boats around it, was being worked on.

Oil Platform - Udale Bay

Our final call of the day was at Cromarty, at the north-east end of the Black Isle, for a much needed cup of tea. Whilst my wife was finishing off the pot (she's a tea addict!), I went for a walk by the water, unusually for me, omitting to take the camera. Just my luck to find a sheltering Wheatear and a couple of Twite! I hurried back to get the camera but, by the time I returned, they'd gone.

This ends this post on the first part of our Scottish holiday. The second part will follow in a few days, when I've processed more images, including some of the Dowitcher!

A Brief Grouse

2011-10-13T18:03:00.001+01:00

Thought I'd better put something on my blog as it's been two weeks since my last post. There's a good reason for this - I've been on holiday in Scotland! As a result of this, I went for 15 days without seeing an owl, although I did try whilst I was away! I've come back with a stack of photos to process - probably more than I expected. This is not because the photography was good, but because the weather was dire, so I had to take masses of images in the hope that I'd get a good one amongst them. I hope to put up the first part of my images from the holiday at the weekend, or shortly after, but in the meantime, here is a Grouse! - see what I mean about the weather!

Red Grouse - Lochindorb

Tawny Owls - on 23rd September, 2011

2011-09-29T10:42:00.000+01:00

I've been filling in my garden pond, collecting rubble from a house about a quarter of a mile (400 metres) from my home. The house has its own large area of mature woodland and in chatting to the owner, she told me that she had been hearing owls very regularly and very vocally at close quarters, but never sees them. On Friday night I went down there and I'd only been there about fifteen minutes before the first Tawny Owl was heard - then another - and another. In the end we suspected that we were hearing five, but we saw three. I'd taken my Rhod Gilbert (a "million candlepower" torch - yes, that's what it says on the side!) with me and we used this a few times to pick out the owls so that she and two of her sons could see them. However, my attempts at photography were a complete failure apart from one rather poor image of a distant bird.

Tawny Owl - near Ashby de la Zouch

My thanks to the family for a very entertaining interlude.