Osprey !!!!!!

The most cropped picture known to man, but there it is, my first patch Osprey! Spotted it flying high, heading quickly South as I headed for the Cattle Field.

Without fail 2 Short-Eared Owls were hunting, watching one drift high off towards St Mary's where Jack seen it later on. Time was short tonight as I joined the wardens to set a number of small mammal traps, I'm looking forward to seeing whats inside.

I think I'm a Short-Tailed Vole

A wander at Holywell tonight produced one of the greatest wildlife experiences I've ever had, it felt like I almost entirely became part of my surroundings, and the ecosystem within it, connecting with the natural world on a whole new level. I've felt this feeling before, the feeling you get when your smell, shape, and sound all merge into the land, and the wildlife that roams it excepts you as an everyday part, no longer a threat, no longer something to be feared, and no longer something to avoid. This is what I strive for.

As regular readers might have realised, I have an affinity for Short-Eared Owls, and Holywell has had a recent influx of birds which have been showing well for over a week now. 

Tonight as I wandered down to the Pond a single bird hunted the recently bailed field and the hedge line which surrounds it, a recognisably pale bird which has hunted this area since it arrived, presumably a male due to the paleness of the face. The pond itself was quiet, no Shorties hunting the meadows, and only a handful of Teal at the public shore. It wasn't long before I moved on, heading for the Cattle field.

The Cattle field is just over the Waggonway, this is where the bulk of the SEO action has been taking place, a favoured hunting ground, up to 4 Owls have been seen hunting the rough grass. Over the past week I've found the best time to visit is from 18:00 with activity dying off by 19:00. I'd arrive later than usual tonight, not reaching the fields until 19:30 ish. A single Owl could be seen hunting the edge closest to the Waggonway as I followed the footpath, although it had vanished by the time I had reached the red gate.

I continued to follow the footpath, scanning back I picked up a dark Owl sitting on a fence post. This bird had regularly gave good views earlier last week from the public hide, coming extremely close on occasions. As turned around a second paler bird was hunting further up, towards the top of the field. I slowly made some ground between myself and the Owl before it began to bank round, and fly straight towards me, still quartering the land. As it reached the 30-40 metre mark I dropped down and lay on the track, with my back against a gorse bush. Quartering the ground it dropped once or twice, unsuccessful in its dive, before landing on a nearby straining post.

From my low position I had brilliant binocular views of the bird sitting on the post, constantly turning its head, occasionally 'locking on' to something in the grass for a brief second, before becoming distracted once again. I sat for some time watching this beautiful bird, its bright yellow-orange eyes seemed extremely prominent against its pale plumage, and the darkening skies. It had not noticed my presence. 

Looking ahead I marked an approach mentally, the lie of the land would allow me to get closer, but firstly I needed to make my way to the opposite side of the track. A check through the binoculars showed that the Owl was still unaware and I began to move, gently side ways, before stopping to see the Owls reactions. I couldn't believe what I seen, the Owl had seen those first movements, but instead of showing the stretched out, aware of my presence posture, it had locked on, frantically moving its head up and down, fixing its eyes on my position.

It took flight, I could feel the adrenaline pumping, my heart began to pound. The striking amber eyes were heading straight towards me, heading low but fast along the track. Time slowed and I realised the Owl was actually heading for me! Its eyes not leaving my position for a second. I lay solid, kept my binoculars just off my eyes and waited as the Owl gained ground. 

Before I knew it the Owl was above me, hovering, less than a metre above my head. It banked round and began to head back, I let out a little squeak with my lips and it locked on and began to hover again, then flew round and hovered once more, before returning to the post it had originally left. My heart was racing, the best encounter I've ever had with a Short-Eared Owl, this was more than a close view, I was being hunted, for that brief moment I had some feeling of what it is to be a Short-Tailed Vole.

I sat in shock and wonderment, watching the Owl again on its post for sometime before I began my original idea of an approach. Sliding on my belly the 30-40 metres, I made my way slowly to the Owl on its perch, keeping within the tracks and the rough grass, breaking my outline and movement, constantly accessing the Owls behaviour. Not once did it see me, continuing to scan the field from its perch. Reaching the spot I had planned to stop, behind a large thistle clump, not more than 4-5 metres away I gently took off my binoculars and reached for my iPhone. Binoculars were no longer needed as I could see the body language of the owl with the naked eye.

The squeak was tried again, and I could see the Owl was interested, moving my body a little it again took flight ! This time it was above me in seconds, managing to capture a tiny amount of footage. It returned to its perch briefly before immediately returning hovering over me once, before heading off down the field quartering as it went. I had survived ! 

An encounter I'll never forget.

Short-Eared Owl

I'll be posting again later tonight, but here's some shots from this afternoon. Fully camouflaged up I headed down to a local site, knee deep in water, this is what I encountered.

CW Tents

A selection of my work is currently on display at CW Tents, a local outdoor retailer. The images of both wildlife and landscape have been capture over the last year, at home and on my travels. They are available to purchase as A4 and A3 mounted prints.

CW Tents is a family owned independent outdoor shop, located just off the A19 in Backworth. Stocking a wide variety of tents, camping equipment, clothing and accessories. All staff are outdoor enthusiasts and youth leaders so have a wealth of knowledge. In Spring and Summer months there is a large outdoor display where the staff are on hand to give advice and pitching demonstrations.

CW Tents stock leading brands including Vango, Outwell, Paramo, Scarpa, Zamberian, Montane, plus many more. There is even an area dedicated to photography and wildlife clothing.

CW Tents, 9a Backworth Business Park, Station Road, Backworth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE27 0BN, Tel: 0191 268 0110

Website: www.cwtents.co.uk Email: sales@cwtents.co.uk

Directions

Take the Whitley Bay/Earsdon Exit off the A19

At the roundabout take the Whitley Bay/Earsdon Exit

Go Straight over the next 2 roundabouts

At the 3rd roundabout take the 1st Exit. First Right then immediate left.

View Larger Map

The Frost

This morning I headed down to Holywell before the sun rose, hoping to photograph some frost. I slowly made my way down to the hide, photographing the crystallised leaves of Bramble as I went, Joe had beaten me there. The pond was 80% frozen, but provided one of my best wildfowl counts this winter, 300+ Pink-footed and Greylag Geese rose from the West field, 7 Teal, 22 Mallard, and 6 Moorhen huddled in one patch of open water, and 6 Pochard, 3 Tufted, 3 Wigeon, and 2 Coot huddled in another, the Common Gull and Black Headed Gull made use of the ice.


Heading East a frozen Gorse was stumbled upon, this is where I spent the remainder of my morning.





Last night I had success with the Little Owl at Holywell Grange, so I headed down again this evening, to my surprise instead of a Little Owl, a Short-Eared Owl sat in its place, on a fence post amongst the horses. The horses soon moved it off and it landed on a fence post just to my right, erecting its tufts as 3 Carrion Crow flew overhead.


Please Double Click Image.

The return...

Short-Eared Owl, a photo by Cain Scrimgeour on Flickr.

The past couple of days

I've been working on a roof with my dad all week down on the seafront, the promising winds on Friday had me out on Rocky Island on Saturday morning, where I bumped into  BrianB. He'd had a good sea-watch. Myself and BD continued on to check the island for migrants, which consisted of a single male Stonechat, and a Wheatear which I missed.

The dene was the next location on the cards, only Blackcap, a few Bullfinch and a Tit party with a few Willow Warbler and Chiff Chaff here. Towards the pond the Beehive flash was quiet.

Not until I reached the pond at 12:00 did things begin to liven up. BrianB was already in the Public hide on my arrival. Not long after I sat down a couple of Ruff headed into the the Bay, but never had the chance to land as they were chased off by a Jackdaw, unfortunate. It was clear the ponds wildfowl had recently had a boost, with 37 Wigeon, 26 Teal, 11 Tufted, and a few Pochard present, it seemed to give a new life to the quiet pond. The number of Black Headed Gulls, and the 400+ Lapwing moving between fields and pond to bathe helped add to this lively feeling. 

BD had arrived, and soon got his eye onto a strange looking bird over the far side of the pond which had us all stumped, until it gave a better view being chased by a couple of Black Headed Gulls. It was a Cockatiel! The Gulls and corvids drove it into the willows by the public hide, were it voiced it disapproval loudly for the rest of the afternoon. 

The Cockatiel's lyme light had soon been pinched as a stunning Spotted Redshank graced the shores. It fed solely on small fish, catching quite a number and staying for a good few hours, plenty time for SP to get down and see it.

Back home for a quick tea and I was out again with Stephen, heading for Peter's patch, in search of Owls. We weren't disappointed. The pleasure of 3 Long-Eared Owls, and up to 8 Short-Eared Owls gave brilliant views from arrival, the rest of the night was spent filming their antics, and chatting with a few familiar and unfamiliar faces. A great evening, not to be forgotten.

This morning a quick look for Little Owls proved fruitless, but Holywell added a Dunlin to it shore.

Tonight and the Owls were revisited, this time with my dad, Stephen and Phil. Again they didn't disappoint. Here's a short bit of footage, you can hear the mass of local photographers in the background! Excused the focus at some points, these beautiful birds are difficult to keep track of manually, although I am getting better :)

Best viewed in HD

A Dozy Owl

Best viewed in HD

Finishing as it began

Today was my last day on the boat, from my two weeks volunteering with Sea Life Surveys. I've had a brilliant time and would like to say a big thank you to Ewan, Jimbo, Popz and the SLS staff for giving me the opportunity, but for also making me one of the team.


It was a 7 hour trip today, headed out in fair weather with a bit of a breeze. Harbour Porpoise, Manx Shearwater, Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Common Gull, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Shag and Great Black Backed Gull were seen as we left the sound and headed for the 'middle ground'. Towards the Cairns I picked up a distant immature Minke, proving to be extremely difficult to see. After a few distant views the whale deep dived, and reappeared right on the stern of the boat! Associating with the boat this young whale provide absolutely stunning views four or five times. The best I've seen in my two weeks here.


Approaching the Cairns I picked up a single Storm Petrel feeding, then a Basking Shark was spotted, then another, then another, then another, on first arrival we counted 13 in the vicinity of the boat although travelling through and around the Cairns there was at least 25 in the area. Something unbelievable to see, one of the best wildlife spectacles I've seen to date.


A quick lunch and we were off South as Killer Whales had been reported off Staffa, that would of been the cherry on top of the cake, but unfortunately visibility turned poor and we weren't successful in picking them up, although we did have another extremely good view of an adult Minke Whale, and a great show from a Great Skua and some Kittiwakes.


A brilliant trip to end my time with SLF. I'll definitely be back.


After clearing up, myself and Ewan headed for the chippy, fed ourselves and the Herring Gulls then headed off. For some reason Ewan thought that I hadn't seen enough in my two week stay, so we were soon heading to South Mull in search of Short-Eared Owl and Hen Harrier, I wasn't complaining. We found both, 5 Short-Eared Owls, 2 of which were interacting and a pair of Hen Harrier, just missing a distant food pass by seconds.

Tomorrow I head back to the mainland, spending a day at Loch Garten, before driving over to the Loch of Strathbeg to begin my two week RSPB residential, should be another brilliant two weeks. But before I head off myself and Ewan are booked on the Loch Na Keal White-Tailed Eagle trip, hopefully it will produce some good images, it will be a brilliant experience either way.

Short-Eared Owl

After seeing Whitley Bay Birder's post about the Short-Eared Owl he saw opposite Simonside Way, Killingworth, I decided to have a bike down. I got there about 15:40 and began walking down the Wagonway towards Holystone. First birds of interest were a large flock 50+ strong of Linnets, Whitley Bay Birder said he seen the SEO at 17-17:30ish at the top field near the road, as I was early I walked further down the field. When a reached the bottom field with a bit of a flash a saw my first glimpse of the SEO, I repositioned to get out of sight, soon as I did this a noticed a dog walker coming up the track, straight past the SEO, which was to busy hunting to care.

The hunting style of the SEO is pleasant to watch, yet effective in providing dinner. The way the bird quaters back and forth, hovers and then suddenly folds its wings backward almost like a Gannet, and hits the deck. I watched the bird for 15 minutes, it had numerous dives but didn't make a kill. There's a track on the opposite side of the field, close to were the SEO was, looked well covered and perfect for a photo opportunity, as I crossed the field a 2nd SEO was put up.

I wonder if these birds have been here all winter...

not as good as Whitley bay Birders, but it will do for now;)