Last year I was very lucky to spend hours photographing and watching two Little owls and one of their offspring hunting, feeding and watching their world go by. Just before Christmas the farmer decided to repair the small tumbledown shed they perched on and chopped down the two trees behind which gave the owls some shelter and protection. They moved on and I hadn't seen them since until earlier this week. Virtually as soon as I spotted the owl, before I could change any settings or even put the camera strap around my neck he dropped down into the field and grabbed a snack. He then took off and flew the length of the field. Nature doesn't have to cater to photographers! This treat on its own
One of my friends at work has an Alaskan Malamute dog which at the moment needs grooming every other day. Each groom produces a carrier bag full of fur!! So I asked her to bring some in for the birds to use in their nests. At first she thought I was crazy but the next day she brought in a small bag for me and we took it out to the feeding area. One of the feeders has been damaged by the marauding squirrels so I stuffed it full of the shed fur. Within minutes the local tits descended and began at first to collect small mustaches before moving on to collect huge beak fulls before somehow flying away. Each visit their collection seemed to get bigger And bigger Until finally there seemed to be a
I seem to be coming across herons whenever I go out at the moment, and Sunday was no exception. A visit to Attenborough Nature Reserve gave me a great opportunity to see them feeding their chicks. Another visitor pointed me to the best viewing point and when we arrived one bird was stood on the nest with two raucous chicks fighting for attention. We didn't have to wait long for the other parent to arrive and the two adults greeted each other with head bobbing and wings outstretched. It looked like a wizard convention! The larger bird then flew off presumably to continue the supply of food for their growing youngsters. The remaining bird then took the full assault of two hungry chicks desper
Over the last couple of years I've spent a lot of my time up and down riverbanks looking for Kingfishers. One particular day I disturbed a couple of voles so I leant up against a tree to see if they'd come back. I didn't have to wait very long as a disturbance in the covering of leaves and twigs caught my eye and a little head popped up. It wasn't the voles though, a stoat was staring back at me. It was no more than six feet away but as usual as soon as I lifted my camera it disappeared. You soon learn patience when photographing wildlife so I settled in to wait and before I had time to check any settings or even get proper focus he came back. I snapped away and managed a couple of half dec
