Roe Deer in winter coat
The year is now coming to an end and I thought I would go back take a look at the small herd of roe deer I have been watching through the seasons this year. They are now back in their winter pelage after losing the very fine chestnut colour coat of the mating season. I was there most of the day, the weather was quite good at first but steadily declined as the day went on the the point of gale force winds again and heavy rain. Considering the weather conditions I did get some reasonable pictures. Here are a few of them Why not sign up for my newsletter here...
read moreFieldfares and Redwings on a rainy day in The Scottish Borders
I has been one of the worst days for the autumn so far today, the rain was pouring down for a lot of the day and there was local flooding along the back roads. I went out on an observation run, that is to say, I went out to see what I could find for future sessions. Th rain was so hard there was very little about until I can across a sizable flock of fieldfares and redwings. The birds flew away at first as I approached so I sat for about 20 minutes of so and slowly one by one they returned to the hawthorn bushes they left earlier. They came quite close and I managed to get some images of...
read moreShort Eared Owls in Northumberland
I have been trying to get to grips with the short eared owls for quite some time. We don’t have to many of these across the borders but I was told of a site in Northumberland that has as many as fourteen owls regularly feeding in the same scrubby field’s during the day I traveled down to the site and arrived by 09:30. I sat all day waiting for one to show, drank a lot of coffee and scoffed a few custard cremes and it was 2.45pm before the first owl came into view and quite quickly there was six of them in the air at once. They peaked at about 3:30pm with nine birds flying at...
read moreRed Grouse in a gale on the Lammermuir Hills, Scottish Borders
The weather took a downward turn with very heavy rain showers and gale force winds, the wind reaches gale force eight at the top of the Lammermuir Hills, the temperature dropped to 2°c and there was snow flecks in the rain. I was there to photograph the red grouse, as the wind was very strong they tend to hunker down in the heather to keep out of the wind and because of this they can be very difficult to see, never mind photograph. Careful searching eventually got me close to some red grouse in the long grass and heather. The sun was shining and the colours looked quite good, and the grouse...
read morePurple Sandpipers at Berwick upon Tweed
Little beach at Berwick upon Tweed is a great place for passing waders, its place I visit from time to time particularly during autumn It is a place which regularly holds purple sandpipers on the north end of the beach. High tide was at around 3:00pm this afternoon so I though I would spend an hour there before high tide and stay until the light faded. I wasn’t disappointed with the purple sandpipers, I counted 45, that probably isn’t an accurate figure as these little waders are never still and are very difficult to count. The light wasn’t the best with the tall cliffs...
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