A Raptor fest from my own local patch

 Raptors what amazing turn around.

It is amazing how times change.  When I was in my twenties the only raptors I got to see were Kestrels.  Buzzards and Kites were not in this area. Sparrowhawks were very rare and the Peregrine Falcon was a thing of legends.

I remember travelling to Wales to see Red Kites in the Elan Valley and was so excited when I got to see one over a remote Welsh valley.

Now I see Buzzards and Kites every day

Common Buzzard

Red Kite

A special sighting came about last week.  Luckily I had the correct setting on my camera for capturing Red Kites in flight.  What a surprising and exciting encounter a superb Peregrine Falcon.

Peregrine Falcon

I also enjoy my familiar friends the Kestrels  that are always at the top of my patch on Langley Hill in the Cotswolds.  They are especially active on windy days when they like to hover effortlessly into the wind, keeping their head perfectly still as they scan for prey in the grassland.

Male Kestrel

Sparrowhawks chase through low and fast and are difficult to capture with my camera.  They are a very brave predator and often take prey near to their own size. The female often tackles wood pigeons.  The best chance for me is when they settle on their quarry, which they are reluctant to leave.

Female Sparrowhawk

I feel very lucky to capture these magical and special birds without leaving my own local patch. 

Maybe next on my to see list a Goshawk!

 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!