Family party

This is one of my favourite shots from the Crossbill sessions back in May, showing a male, female and juvenile together. Very often they would arrive at the pool in flocks, waiting just above in the trees before all descending at the same time. It made photography sessions quite intense, as you never quite knew which bird to focus on — and getting a small group together like this wasn't easy, so I'm pretty pleased with it.

Perched Long-eared Owl study

In the many years I have been watching Long-eared Owls locally, I've only ever encountered the odd adult male out before sunset — usually sat grumpily on a log somewhere — but this year, of the two broods I was originally watching, both males would be out before sunset, actively hunting in May. Oddly, as May progressed they became less and less frequent to find. 

This was a particularly favoured spot for a couple of weeks, and I really enjoyed sitting and waiting for these moments — the views and shots made it all worthwhile. I love Long-eared Owls, and will be sharing more over the next few weeks.

Bank Voles in holes

 

A few weeks ago I spent an evening in my friend's reflection pool hide, hoping for an encounter with a Fox that had been visiting daily. Such is the way with wildlife watching — it's often unpredictable, and the Fox sadly didn't show. 

It didn't matter of course, as there were plenty of other visitors to keep us entertained. I took about a billion photos of Bank Voles, which I'm sure my friend is very blasé about as they basically live in the hide — but for me they were a pure delight to watch and photograph. I particularly like these shots of one peering out of one of its many little hideyholes.

Male Common Crossbill

Back on the Crossbills — as mentioned before, this spring offered my first real chance at photographing birds coming to a drinking pool in a local woodland. The bright red males were always the prize, and we probably had three different adult males visit over the course of the spring. As well as photos of them drinking, we also had the chance to photograph them as they paused in the trees above before descending to the water's edge. 

These striking finches were great value and a real draw this spring. More photos to come of course.

Hunting LEO

 

This is the first spring where I've known adult Long-eared Owls to go out hunting before sunset. Some evenings the males would be out two hours before sunset and would range quite far. It seems to be a good vole year, so I can only imagine they have been heading out early because of the size of the broods — I hadn't ever seen a brood of four before this spring (the last time anyone had a brood of four locally was in 2019).

We had come across hunting Long-eared Owls a few times in daylight in late April, but it was only when the young were branching that I checked to see if it was a regular occurrence. These shots were taken on one of the first evenings I waited. I kept my distance, as I hadn't had much experience of hunting Long-eared Owls before, so they are very much record shots rather than frame-filling images — but I like them.

Owlets Part 1

It's been an incredibly successful season for local Long-eared Owls, with up to eight broods located by a few of us in deepest south Lincolnshire this spring. Many of these have had four young reach the 'branching' stage, which isn't something I've experienced before in eight years of watching these magnificent birds.

Having located them the evening before, back in mid May, I was shocked to find all four huddled together the next morning on a cold dawn. As the sun warmed them up they moved a little, and for once it was out into the open. The youngest bird was particularly obliging in the early morning light.

These birds have long since grown up and dispersed, so they are safe from disturbance now. There have been plenty of photos posted on social media whilst local Long-eared Owl chicks have been visible, and for the most part people act responsibly. However, I still think it's best not to post photos of owlets until the season is over, for the wellbeing of the birds.

Lots more to come.

Chough!

 

Back in the middle of June, Dad and I took the long journey to north Wales for the Western Reef Heron, only to miss it (though thankfully I caught up with it last week in south Wales…). It would have been rude of us not to visit the site of our very first long distance twitch together, back in 2003, when we visited South Stack RSPB on Anglesey.

Back then we were rather more fortunate, seeing what was considered at the time to be Britain's first Black Lark — on its very last day. We were taken along by my mentor at the time, Trevor Williams, and his son Dan. It was an incredible day that I will never forget, and I believe I also ticked Chough for the first time that day too.

It was of course great to revisit South Stack in June, though it has changed a lot since then. There were plenty of breeding seabirds on the cliffs, including the odd Puffin and scores of Manx Shearwaters offshore. The highlight though was the magnificent Choughs, shining in the sun against a stunning blue sea backdrop.

Garden Warbler close up

Last week I spent an enjoyable couple of hours at a friend's reflection pool hide one evening. This Garden Warbler made a couple of brief visits and then promptly sang right above our heads — great to be just a few metres away from this often difficult to see species.
 

More of the Reef Heron

Some more photos of the Western Reef Heron from Wednesday.

This is Britain's first ever recorded individual of this species, making it one of the most significant rare bird sightings in the UK this year.

We enjoyed a full morning of often very close views, and at one point this smart, elegant bird came down to just ten metres from us — with only three of us there to witness it — quite amazing.

It's tempting with showy birds to take far too many photos, and the Western Reef Heron was no exception. I came away with plenty to go through, including these shots that really show off this bird's distinctive plumage and elegant style.

Gann Estuary in Pembrokeshire is a fantastic wildlife destination in its own right, judging by the number of rare birds that have turned up there previously, and the surrounding landscape made for a beautiful backdrop.

Certainly my bird of the year so far — and it's going to take something very special to top it. I'll be sharing more photos over the coming days.

Western Reef Heron at last

 

Not long back from a long day in south Wales with Kit Day and Josh Jones, searching for the Western Reef Heron currently at Gann Estuary in Pembrokeshire. Having missed this first for Britain, in north Wales a few weeks ago, it was great to enjoy a full morning of often very close views. I have plenty of photos to go through and will share more over the next few days, but for now here are a couple of flight shots.

Treecreeper

 

I have rarely bothered trying to photograph Treecreepers. Their very nature of climbing tree trunks quickly, and usually above eye level, doesn't make for particularly pleasing photos. On one of my visits to a nearby woodland, searching for Crossbills earlier in the spring, this Treecreeper actually came down to ground level — using a tree beside a pool to launch itself from and catch flies over the water. I'd never seen a Treecreeper flycatching like this before, and it also provided a wonderful opportunity to photograph these unusual-looking, tiny birds.

Hot Barn Owl

I've been out watching owls this week, and it's been a bit of a mixed bag. Barn Owls failed to appear at all on Wednesday or tonight, but yesterday one appeared and successfully hunted for its nearby nest. After the owl flew around for 15 minutes or so, it did a fly-by, tracking across the fenland crops in the sunset — quite idyllic, and a scene I'm very fortunate to be so familiar with.

However, it was 23°C at 9pm (and worse tonight — 26°C at 10:30pm!), and the hunting was clearly exhausting for this owl as it tried to provide for its young. On reviewing the wildlife photos, it was very clearly panting. It's worrying to think of the young of all species still in the nest during a week like this. Let's hope the cooler weather coming this way is more favourable for all.

Immature Crossbill at the Woodland Pool

It's been a really good spring for photographing some local specialities, and this immature Crossbill is a perfect example of why.

In May, my friend found a small pool in a wood near Peterborough that was pulling in several families of Crossbills to drink and bathe. I've photographed Crossbills before, but never at a pool like this. Over the following weeks I got out as many early mornings as I could, and slowly I started to recognise individual birds.

This particular immature bird is likely from a brood last year. Photographing it was a genuine pleasure, but also a genuine challenge. Woodland floor light at a pool like this doesn't just shift hour to hour — it changes by the minute, dappled and unpredictable, gone one second and back the next. Getting a clean, well-lit frame meant a lot of waiting, and a lot of missed moments too.

Crossbills are seriously characterful birds, and this won't be the last you see of them here. More to come from this pool, even though it's long gone.