Great to see some Sparrowhawks around our home.

They seemed to practicing chasing the crows around.

Sparrowhawk

I am not sure if these are a family of newly fledged birds but they gave me the impression that were practicing and inexperienced.

Lovely to observe and seem them hanging around.

December 2024 I feel so Lucky to have these near to my home ~ Short-Eared Owls

I feel so lucky and privileged to have a site where Short-Eared Owls regularly over winter.  There is a parcel of set aside land that is never mowed or touched and the vole population must proliferate during the summer.

They are stunning birds that many many birders like to photograph.  In fact the site gets over run some times as the word gets around.

Everyone seems well behaved and keep out of the field that is surrounded by a Cotswold Stone wall.  You just have to wait for the owls to appear and put in a show.  Hopefully they will come fairly close and may even settle on the walls

Shorty on a typical Cotswold Stone Wall

I managed to spot this one on the grass

Hunting over the grassland

What a stunning sight and it keeps many a wildlife photographer happy for the bleak winter months.

June 2023 ~ Enjoying the smaller things

 I had a small blue butterfly called a Holy Blue in the garden and I managed to get a few images.  It landed on a Grape Hyacinth. I really liked the all blue theme of the image. It inspired me to get back into an area of photography where I first started.  To be honest in those days I could only really afford a macro lens as the large telephotos were out of my reach.

An Holy Blue in the garden

I loved the simplicity of the image and the dark out of focus background.

That was it I was hooked again!

It almost seems like a re-born hobby and I am really enjoying my renewed interest.

Wild flowers butterflies and Dragonflies all come into scope.

Marbled White on a Dandelion

White Tailed Bumblebee

Common Spotted Orchid

Four-Spotted Chaser

On my smallholding there were a lot of Skipper butterflies in flight and I settled down by a Common Centaury, a beautiful pink little flower, and waited for a few minutes.  Sure enough a Small Skipper landed on it.  It created this pleasing image of the flower and the butterfly.  I really like it.

Small Skipper on a Common Centaury

It has been so satisfy to re visit my roots in photography and re-kindle my interest in the smaller things.

There is still plenty of summer left too!

Keep enjoying nature everyone.

March 2023 ~ Images from "The Land rover Safari"

 I have an old Land rover which I use to get around on my Small Holding at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire.  It is so useful and also comes in handy these days to support my other hobby which is wildlife photography.  It is amazing how wildlife does not see vehicles as a threat. If I am lucky I can turn the engine off and they just carry on with their every day business.  This gives me some great opportunities to capture some images.

The Land rover hide from the inside

The Roe Deer have got particularly used to it.  I always try to drive away without disturbing them, and this is always a good investment for the next time.

Roe Deer doe

Muntjac doe

Raptors are very much more timid and you definitely need the camouflage over the window to get anywhere near them.

Common Buzzard

Common Buzzard feeding

The Land rover has done so much work over the years and has also seen a few adventures along the way.  It is such a great companion.

Winchcombe floods 2007

Spring is around the corner, always a great time for us wildlife people.

Keep getting out there!

February 2023 The local Barn Owls are the stars!

It has been a fairly quiet winter birding wise. So it is really great to have some local Barn Owls. They seem quite consistent lately and appear at approximately three thirty in the afternoon and some times there has been up to 5 on the wing. They are one of my favourite birds and who could not be impressed when they are quartering a field in the hunt for field voles.

In the Golden Hour with its eye on something

This one came for a close fly by, allowing me to grab a quick image.

In Close for a fly by

I kept very still as the Owl came along a wall hoping that it would land on the wall and felt really lucky as it alighted.  I had to move really slowly and deliberately as it would have obviously taken off.

It was really exciting to lock the auto-focus on the bird and capture the images below.  That was really adrenalin filled to be so close to this beautiful wild creature.

Wow so close

The next image was one of my very favourites as the wall colours match the bird, and it places it in the environment of the Cotswold Hills.  It looks so intense as it peers into the grass and listens out for any movement.

On a typical Dry Stone in the Cotswold Hills

These are such amazing birds and they will certainly keep me occupied until the spring gets here and we get the summer migrants.

Who does not love Barn Owls I ask myself!

January 2023 What a success ~ Red Kites every where

 What a success story the Red Kites are.  Around my local Town of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire they are the most common raptor to be seen.  A day never goes by when you do not spot them from the town or circling above it.  It has not always been this way.  In my younger days they were very rare indeed.  There were just a few pairs hanging on in mid Wales.  I was really excited when I first saw one in a valley in a remote part of  Mid-Wales.  I remember panicking as there were cars behind me and I could not find anywhere to stop the car. Some great conservation projects: feeding stations, and re-introductions and here we are now. I for one love to see them and also here there distinct calls as they circle around.

Calling 

On an old Oak bow

I love this image.  It is all about the knarled old branch.

There is always plenty of interaction to watch

Occasionally they come to the ground and allow closer views.

Coming into land

Back in history they were strictly protected and were welcomed as they cleaned up the streets of London of any carrion.

Cleaning up scraps

What a beautiful bird.  They have left me with one problem though.  Is there a name for compulsive addictive Red Kite photography.  I am sure I am suffering with it.

Perhaps one day I will get used to them and not aim the camera at them.

But no not in this life time!

 

December 2022 The beautiful Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve

 A really special and beautiful place is Kemerton Nature Reserve.  I love this reserve. I have spent many a morning or afternoon there and it always provides something really interesting to observe. The walk to it is also very enjoyable, through the Kissing Gate and into a fantastic woodland with well-maintained rides.

The hides overlook the lake on both sides, so you can choose the lighting direction for photography.

A female Kestrel

As you come out of the wood there is an open space and there is quite often a Kestrel hovering looking out for some prey.

A Coot taking a bath

Coots and Little Grebes are quite common, and they also get quite close to the hides which they have got quite used to.

Little Grebe or "Dab Chick"

This one has caught a Dragonfly

The Little Grebes are a great photo opportunity and can been seen with all sorts of prey.

It was amazing to see Dragonfly's Ovipositing in late November.  What a mild year this has been.

Towards the end of November!

The real star of the show are the Kingfishers that use the perches specially provided near to the hides.

A male Kingfisher on the perch provided.

At one stage it was quite frustrating as you see the Kingfisher fishing from the perch, but the reeds were in the way.  One of my friends asked if they could trim them back a little bit.  The reserve Team duly obliged.  What a place, and thanks so much for the team that performed this operation. 

One lunch time I was watching a late staying Hobby catching Dragonfly's over the lake.  It then landed in one of the trees and allowed me to capture some stunning images.

What a beauty

So thanks to the team that maintain this special reserve and make it such a spectacular place.

My reserve of the year in 2022