Scotland.......part 4

Yes I can and do photograph the Mountain Hare in my home county of Derbyshire but there is one thing you cannot guarantee and that is the white stuff.....snow!

Once you come across these magnificent mammals in their Highland homes high up in the snow line you just have to admire them and feel for them I suppose at the same time. Just think for a moment what they have to put up with; the extreme low temparatures, high winds,
rain and everything else that is thrown at them.

From the pictures you are going to view the weather was glorious still below freezing (just), but the sun was shining all day, previous to that two days before we could hardly walk and was nearly blown off our feet!

I have three places that I visit for the Mountain Hare in Scotland but again a local guide put me onto a new place which both myself and Anne found was the easiest to walk, and the number of Hares was
truly amazing.

Enjoy

Decided to grin for the camera!

This one looks as though it is stood, it was still running towards me.

Thanks for looking

Scotland .......Part 3

If you are going to the highlands of Scotland at any time of the year to photograph wildlife then there is one species of bird that everyone wants to photograph and I must say it is my favourite.....it is of course the Crested Tit, the 'PUNK' of the bird world with its black and white crest.

I have two places that I visit to get a chance of photographing this bird one is at the Osprey centre at Loch Garten and the other is a nice quiet place that I stumbled across a few years ago.

It can get very frustrating trying to get the shot you are after as these birds are never still and you tend to take more shots of its close cousin the Coal tit!!

The latest RSPB reports regarding the status of the Crested Tit in Scotland is very encouraging as it shows an increase in it's population.

Thanks for looking

Scotland ..........Part 2

You cannot go up the Cairngorms and not photograph the Snow Buntings....or can you!!! This year I saw several smallish flocks both on the way up and down when photographing the Ptarmigan, but as always I pinned my hopes next to the picnic tables in the top car park.

And as ever I through out a little seed and did not have to wait long before one Snow Bunting turned up, yes that's right one.....

After spending most of the time on the 'hill' I had not left long for the Buntings and was a little disappointed to only have this single bird come down. But never the less I had a good time watching it forage around for the spilt seed.

Perhaps with the weather as it was (glorious sunshine)! the other birds were further up the mountain probably being fed around the restaurant area, who knows but still it is always nice to see them no matter how many.

Thanks for looking

Scotland Trip.......Part 1

I have just returned from a week long holiday in the Highlands of Scotland along with my wife Anne, this was Anne's first 'Winter' trip to Scotland and we were both really looking forward to it.

What we were not expecting was the glorious weather that greeted us on our arrival and for the following day, not a cloud in the sky and wall to wall sunshine!!

This made me change my plans and so with an early start on Sunday we headed up to the Cairngorms ski centre and headed out into the corries looking for Ptarmigan. In recent trips I had not been very lucky with what can be an elusive bird, I say elusive but I suppose everything can be that if you do not manage to get a photograph of your target species that you are after! Now today I cannot blame the weather it was just a case of getting into position scanning the area through binoculars and listening for the call of this beautiful bird.

We both could hear the birds and after picking out a few Mountain Hare we saw our first Ptarmigan, a group of 5 birds which were being watched by a group of people that must have been the envy of any photographer as these people were not photographers but must have had this group of birds within feet of them!

Soon afterwards Anne saw something move "over there its white and moving" was all I had to go on!!!! Anyway after getting my breath and asking Anne to point me in the direction off I went and found a cracking male bird, who was very confiding but did not hang around for long.

This was my first view of the Ptarmigan

Then once he had settled he stayed for a few minutes 

At one point I managed to get the other side of him and photographed him against the blue sky.

And then like me it was time to move, for me it was downwards for this guy he went on upwards hopefully to find a mate! 

 Thanks for looking

At Long Last.....Muntjac's

As the title says this photography subject has been a long time coming, but not for the want of trying.

I have visited friends who are Gamekeepers spoken to countless people who will tell you "I get them regular in my garden"....Yeah right!!

But no more at last I have found a place where I can get shots of these shy and elusive creatures, I do have to thank a certain person who for now will remain anonymous as will the place in question but if they do ever get to read this post I am sure they know who they are.

I have only ever seen one in Derbyshire and that was in Shaw Wood a woodland managed by the Countryside service and thanks to a workmate at the end of a days work who gestured to me to leave what I was doing I just managed to get a glimpse of a single adult Muntjac going through the wood.

The male pictured below is showing some signs of battle scars and he also has lost his two large canine teeth, something I did not notice in the time I was photographing him.

And now for the female who was more interested in the fruit I threw out!!

After what seemed a short time spent with these shy and elusive animals I cannot wait to get back and start all over again, as it is I have a Scotland trip to get in first.

Thanks for looking

Fell in the trap!!!!!!!!

Yes I have fallen into the trap of not being up to date with the Blog, I along with countless other folk take up the challenge to write a blog and to let you good folk out there keep up to date with what we do, but like I say I have succumbed to what must be some kind of blog virus!!!!!!!!

Anyway apart from that here we are again, so what I have done this time is to share some pictures with you on the two projects that I am working on so far in 2016.

The first one is of course at the farm and my feeding station/reflection pool hide area, now I am not going to blame the weather; as I find it a poor excuse nowadays as with the technology at our fingertips, but my luck has not been good, most of my rest days have been wet ones with a few exceptions, but the birds have been there with a very good number of Tree Sparrows, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers being in good numbers this year despite the mild weather.

The second project which I hope will run for a few more months is my Bank Vole project, now this is something different as I have found out to my cost! If you want to do a subject spend most of the day there take lets say 100+ pictures and have lets say 20+ sharp then this dear little mammal is the one for you.........they are FAST!!

Bank Voles

Thanks for looking

For a change

 Storm Desmond has got a lot to answer for not least that it bought a lot of coastal birds in land, so who would have thought it when 5 Juvenile Shags turned up at Carr Vale N.R. Mark who found them also saw them fly off in a South Easterly direction and thought that was that, but due to his view being blocked he had no idea that they had dropped into a smaller fishing pond less than a quarter of a mile away.

This gave me the opportunity to do something I have not done for a while and do a bit of 'birding' and try to get some pictures.

Thanks for looking