Deerie me -WARNING Contains Spaiders

Hello strangers! Many apologies for the long silence; work has been absolutely crazy the last few weeks, with 12 hours days the norm & days off a bit of a rarity. Compounding that, it's been a bit of a funny time of year for wildlife in the local area; the summer migrants are by & large departing, but winter arrivals haven't put in an appearance just yet. Vegetation is still very high in most sites, so the few occasions I've managed to get out for an hour or two, there hasn't been a huge amount to see!

On the plus side, I have recently upgraded my main lens to the spanking new Canon 500mm f/4 IS II, so I've been itching to give it a proper test-drive! Thankfully, the last week or so, I've managed to get out and about a little bit & I'm pleased to say it's performing very well!

I spent a few hours one afternoon on one of the local private lakes, watching a pair of Little Grebes fishing. I really enjoy working with these entertaining little birds. The female seems to have a particular penchant for eating newts  - while the male tends to stick to minnows & sticklebacks.' 

Little Grebes

Sadly 'Lonesome George' - a male Great Crested Grebe I've been watching for the last few years, is once again an eligible batchelor. I'd hoped that, after he paired up with a female this spring, he'd succeed in raising a brood. Unfortunately, after two failed clutches, his mate seems to have disappeared & poor George is all alone again. Hopefully, better luck next year.

Lonesome George

I was also pleased to be able to spend a couple of hours watching the resident pair of Hobbies catching dragonflies over the lake at Coate Water - although the site was otherwise very quiet for this time of year.

Hobby

Common Darter (Lunch)

Last weekend, Lou & I spent a few hours in a hide in the Midlands. It's a site where I've previously had good luck with Muntjac Deer, but no joy this time around. For the first 90 minutes or so, a Buzzard was perched close to the hide, which meant that very little was stirring, apart from a few rather handsome pheasants. Once it left, the bird life picked up a little, with a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers and one of their juveniles spending some time on the feeders. Although we didn't see any Muntjac, we were rewarded with a pair of Fallow does and their fawns, which were very nice to see.

Fallow Deer - Fawn

Now that some of the hay fields have been cut, it's starting to get easier to see hares again. I managed to get fairly close to one more or less at eye-level through the stubble. They seem to have had a good year - we saw over a dozen in one field, albeit rather distantly. 

Brown Hare

One of my local pair of Little Owls have also had a successful season; I was delighted to spot two owlets out and about on my last visit to their territory.

Little Owlet

This morning, we made the decision to get up mega-early and head down to the lovely RSPB reserve at Arne, on the edge of Poole Harbour. We especially like to visit during the autumn, when the Sika deer are rutting. It's still a little bit too early for that yet, although we did hear a few of their squeaky bellows this morning. We arrived just before sunrise, and spent several hours wandering around the heathland and mixed woodland. An unexpected bonus on the way in was coming across a Nightjar sitting on the entrance road; I'd thought that they would have all made their way across the channel by now. We also spotted a Little Owl flying off a fence by the side of the road. 

Little Owl - Not from Arne

The Sika deer were out in force. We saw around 50 over the course of the morning; although mainly does and fawns/ juveniles. Unusually, we only came across a couple of stags. They seem to be mainly congregating under the chestnut trees, and appreciating the windfall nut mast - as were the multitude of Grey Squirrels! 

Sika Deer - Doe

Sika Deer - Fawn

Green Woodpeckers are also abundant at Arne - although tricky to get close enough for a decent shot. However one did pose quite obligingly for a few minutes on a dead tree limb in the sun's first rays. We also spotted a Wryneck flying through the glade, but couldn't quite see where it had landed. 

Green Woodpecker

It was a good day for raptors, with distant Ospreys out in the channel, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Buzzards. On the Salt marshes, we also saw 9 Spoonbill, Cormorants, Little Egret, Shell Duck, Greenshanks, Herons, Curlew and various gulls.

Small birds were also out in force; highlights were the resident Dartford Warblers, but we also saw Treecreepers, a female Stonechat, Long-tailed Tit, Great-Tit, Coal-Tit, Gold Crest, Gold Finch, Chaffinch, Swallows, Housemartins and  Wheatears (in flight).

Stonechat

For me, the invert life was a particular highlight; we found a nest of hornets, which were quite something to watch, as they carted caterpillars and other insects into the chambers at a great rate. I also saw my first Raft Spiders today - a big tick, after several years of looking for them. We saw at least 10 spiderlings (which are still big enough to make most people feel rather uncomfortable!), but no adults today.

Hornets - Trying to be a bit arty

Hornet Nest

Raft Spider

Think that's probably enough for now - I promise not to leave it so long between posts in future! 

Mull trip episode 4 - otter hunting

We're having a nice, relaxed time here on Mull; the sun's been shining, the sky is blue - and there is always the chance of spotting some amazing wildlife around any corner. We've spent the last two or three days ambling around a few of our favourite spots - and checking out one or two new ones. 

Otters have been one of my target species this week, so we've spent quite a bit of time checking out some of the most likely spots, with some success. We've seen the local large dog Otter several times, including getting a good view of him grooming himself on a rock, before resuming working the kelp beds for butterfish. We also saw another huge male briefly on Loch Spelve, from the track to Croggan, but it vanished very quickly. We've yet to see a female or youngsters this year, but hopefully before the end of the trip!

Dog Otter at sunset

Also at Croggan, I spent a little while under the lush green shade of the beautiful, twisted boughs of the Sessile Oak woodland, photographing the antics of a pair of Wood Warblers as they brought food to the nest.

Wood Warbler

Along the track from Croggan, I also had a close encounter with this rather engaging little Sandpiper, a beautifully coloured Fieldfare (which sadly was not at all willing to pose for me!) and a family of Lapwings with a very cute, tiny speckled chick. Despite the parents' warning calls, it was too distracted by a tasty-looking bug to do a very good job of pretending to be a stone! Lots of Greylag Geese with goslings of various sizes dozing on the Loch edge, too.

Sandpiper

Lapwing Chick

Driving on from Croggan towards Lochbuie, I was very pleased to come across two stunning Fallow deer does grazing in a meadow on the edge of a stand of ancient mixed woodland. These ladies were looking absolutely gorgeous in their dappled summer coats, especially with the sunlight streaming down on them! 

Fallow Deer

A visit to the beautiful bay at Ardalanish is always a wonderful way to spend a few hours. As well as the spectacular views across to Jura, the wildflower-laden streambed & orchid-studded dunes attract a good variety of birds and butterflies. I had fun photographing a gregarious family of Wheatears of varying ages.

Wheatear - Female

Wheatear - Juvenile

Wheatear - fledgling

 I also had a pair of Sedge Warbler in the reed beds by the stream. 

Sedge Warbler

There are lots of moths and butterflies, such as this lovely Small Tortoiseshell and High-brown Frittilary.

As well as the ubiquitous Hooded Crows!

An unexpected added bonus was a trio of Red-throated Divers in the bay. Not too close in, but wonderful to see these lovely birds in full breeding plumage.

I was also back for another look at the Mountain Hares yesterday evening, and was rewarded by a very obliging beast, right out on the shorter grass. We saw at least 5 individuals in the course of the evening, so they seem to be doing well.

In the same area, I also got some really good views of the resident pair of Hen Harriers - both the male & female this time. Both birds were seen quartering, with the female coming close at times. I even witnessed a couple of distant food-passes, which were fantastic to see.

Visiting a smallish, freshwater lochan added a few more species to our list. We spotted a fledging Cuckoo, still being fed by it's tiny adoptive warbler parents. There were also two Black-throated Divers, 4 Red-throated Divers, Little Grebe, as well as Turfted Duck, Herons and more Geese. I was particularily interested to note a pair of Whooper Swans, which flew in to the head of the loch just at sunset. 

Round Loch Scridain, we've mainly seen smaller birds, although we've seen both of the pair of White-tailed Eagles which nest across the loch flying past several times. Curlews standing sentinel above their chicks have been nice to see, as well as juvenile Goldfinch, Rock Pippits, Meadow Pippits, Sky Lark and Sanderling

Meadow Pippit

Curlew & Chicks

On the mammal front, we'd been commenting that we haven't seen too many Red Deer down by the loch this year, compared to previous visits. Apparently, this is down to the very high numbers of midges about after the rains, as the deer hate these airbourne pests & tend to keep to the hills when they are particularily bad. However yesterday evening, the stiff  breeze must have lured them down, as we had several groups of young bucks and more mature stags grazing in the meadows along the road, all with their antlers still re-growing & covered in velvet.  

We also clocked up another mammal species in the form of feral goats, with a small flock grazing along on of the rock crags above the moorland. Usually they stick to the more inaccessible coastal cliffs, so it was great to see a few in relative comfort! 

Goat - Nanny

Just to round things off, I've just been watching a Tawny Owl hunting in the courtyard of our farmhouse. It even landed just below my bedroom window. Too dark for photography, but always a buzz to see!

Mull trip episode 3; double-dose of Eagles

Every year, I always end up wishing I'd done 'just one more' White-tailed Eagle trip with Mull Charters. So, this time around, I'd booked up for a double dose, spending the full day on the Lady Jane for both the morning & afternoon session. 

The journey round from Pennyghael to Ulva Ferry is always a pleasant one. I tend to take the scenic route, which offers lots of possibilities to bag some sightings on the way round, passing as it does a range of different habits including high crags, moorland, marsh, broadleaf woodland, wildflower meadows and of course, the clear waters of Loch na Keil. This time was no exception, with Fallow Deer near Gruline and a large flock of Rock Doves on the crags. Always interesting to see non-feral pigeons. I also spotted several otters on my way around the Loch, as well as the usual Sanderlings, Oystercatchers & Geese.

Fallow Deer

One of the great things about this trip is how close the Eagles come to the boat. As anyone who knows me will testify, it's hard to prise my beloved 500mm out of my grip, but even I'll concede that it is just far too large for this occassion (well, unless I'm after extreme close ups of beak & talons only!). I normally use my 300mm with good results, but I've also been known to use a 200mm too, coupled with my 1DX and/or 1D4.

The morning session was great - nice to revisit my old friends, the pair of Eagles nesting in the pines towards the river outlet. The chicks were obviously clamouring for their lunch, since both birds met us well down the Loch, long before we got anywhere close to the nest site. You can really see the size difference when both birds are in the air together - the huge females make the males look positively puny by comparison! Both birds fished well, and we had 4 passes.

Pair from the 'Wilderness'

On the way back to Ulva Ferry, we passed through the Seal colony & as it was low-tide, had great views of lots of Common Seals & pups hauled out on the reef. It was interesting to get a good look at how much variation there is in their colouration, with some being very rufus, others more buff & creamy, and some very dapple grey. There was also one solitary Grey Seal, plus Cormorants, Black Gulliemots and assorted gulls - including one adult Icelandic Gull. We also heard & got a glimpse of a cuckoo on one of the skerries.

Common Seal

Common Seal - looking pregnant

Grey Seal

Shags

The afternoon session was a return visit to the second pair of Eagles nesting on the crags in the Wilderness. Again, both birds flapped out to meet us well before we got near their usual fishing area. Although both birds came out, only the female fished today; the male seemed content with supervising! After a couple of passes, we moored up for a coffee and a quick spot of pollock fishing, further along the loch to let the birds have a bit of peice with their catch. There were several Gannets fishing further out, as well as the usual assortment of gulls. After a final pass from the Eagles, we headed back to Ulva feeling very satisfied. Although the route again passed through the seal colony, by now the tide was high & there were a lot fewer seals present. 

 

 

All in all, a fantastic day... although I have to admit, I am still thinking that maybe just one more trip wouldn't go amiss!