AnnMarie's Blog

Last weekend was the 2010 instalment of the RSPB’s “Big Garden Bird Watch”. The whole family took part on a day that was beautiful for the event, we were joined by a Robin who seemed to enjoy bird watching himself.

Chilly with a layer of snow on the ground there were sunny spells with occasional snow showers. I installed myself in the orchard hide for a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday. We took our count for the hour from midday on Saturday, which turned out to be a slightly slim period with no Siskin, Jay or Goldfinch turning up. The Siskins did arrive on Sunday, as did the Jay.

So who else was about? Well an abundance of Chaffinches as ever, 29 or more on Sunday morning; along with a solitary Greenfinch. Four species of Tits: Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh.

Song Thrush and Blackbird were represented too:

Various Great Spotted Woodpeckers visited, as did a few Nuthatches. In total we saw 13 species for our 1 hour count and a few  more over the whole weekend. Then of course there’s those on the rest of the farm that we can’t count because they didn’t land in the garden, like Crows & Buzzards.

The food that we had put out was just the normal fair that we offer:

• Black Sunflower
• Mixed Seed
• Grains
• Niger Seed
• Fat balls
• Peanuts
• Sultanas

We were out of meal worms so I’m afraid a few may have missed their favourite. This little Coal Tit seemed very happy to tackle the Sunflower seed:

Well that was it, a fun BGBW and looking forward to next year.

The Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) is a large carnivorous mammal living in the coastal waters of the North Atlantic ocean. Their Latin name Halichoerus grypus translates as “hook nosed sea pig”. Over half of the global population is to be found in British waters.

   Grey Seal hauled out on rocks – click to view larger

It is the largest of the British seals and can be distinguished from the common seal by its flat or straight face profile (the common seal having a somewhat snub nose). The largest proportion of grey seals are in Scottish island colonies such as North Rona, other significant colonies can be found on the Farne Islands and on Ramsey Island. Ramsey island, cared for by the RSPB, is situated in the Irish sea just off the west Wales coast; this is where I visited recently.

Male grey seals grow up to 2.5m long, weighing up to 300kg; the females are smaller than the males and are often lighter coloured than the males. A female seal will typically mate in the autumn. The young embryo will only develop briefly before entering a period of suspended development (delayed implantation), typically 3 months. This allows the female time to recover from a previous pregnancy and ensures the annual timing of births. After this pause, pregnancy will continue as normal for approximately 8.5 months, with a young pup being born the following autumn.

   Grey Seal pup – click to view larger

Pups are born with a thick white furry coat, called lanugo. Some are born on isolated rocky beaches and others deep within coastal caves. In their first few days they appear wrinkled & yellowy but soon fill out to fit their white coat. They feed typically 4 times per day on their mothers extremely rich milk (58% fat); allowing them to gain weight at a prodigious rate of almost 2kg per day. After about 3 weeks of eating & sleeping the young pup will moult its white fur and gain a more adult appearance. This is also a typical time for weaning. Before leaving their pups the mothers encourage them into the water & ‘play’ with them but then they must abandon the pups, mate & gain condition ready for next year’s birth.

   Female Grey Seal feeding pup – click to view larger

The young pups will now start to explore their marine environment, learning to hunt & eat the variety of fish that will sustain them throughout their adult lives; this includes species such as sand eels, herring and skate. Seals can dive under water for 25 to 30 minutes. They have a specialised circulatory system that stores oxygen rich blood near to the muscles, whilst shutting down their pulse rate to a mere 5 – 10 beats per minute versus the 70 – 80 bpm it more normally is at the surface. The seals will now spend much of the coming months out at sea only occasionally coming to land for a few days rest.

   Grey Seal taking a break – click to view larger

The young females will not reach sexual maturity until about 5 years of age, however they will often live until 40 or so years of age. The bulls usually only live into their late twenties.

Grey Seals were hunted to dangerously low numbers at the end of the 19th century, they provided oil for fuel and skins for clothing. In 1914 the British government passed a protection act for the grey seals; this was extended in 1932 and updated in 1970. The protection has allowed the species to recover but there are still threats:

• Calls for seal culls from fishermen, including the Scottish salmon farming industry
• Oiling from tankers & spills
• general ecosystem degradation

Responsible viewing: Seals are beautiful & fascinating creatures but human disturbance can be a problem to them. Whether on land or sea you should not approach seals within a distance that disturbs them. Keep an eye on their reactions, if they become nervous or move away, then you are too close. Young seals pups make pitiful cries that sound like a plea for help, this is normal, do not attempt to move them; if you are really concerned, contact the local wildlife expert / charity.

   Grey Seal mother & pup playing – click to view larger

If you’d like to view a brief video of a young seal pup then please do follow either of the links below:

1. On my Flickr account
2. On my YouTube account

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Thanks to the RSPB and to Thousand Island Expeditions for their work & in enabling my visit.

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The Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) is a shy nocturnal mammal; it is a member of the family Mustelidae. They are opportunistic omnivores who manage to survive on what their environment offers them; more on that later, here’s a picture:

   Click image for a larger view …

Adult badgers typically weigh 10 or 11 kg and are 75 to 90cm long with a moderate bushy tail of about 20cm. Their distinctive black & white face is easily recognised but sadly the only place that many people will see these beautiful creatures is dead at the side of the road, where many thousands are killed each year.

The UK has an estimated badger population of > 250,000. Badgers live in communal groups of up to 14 but more typically 7 or so. There is a dominant male (boar) who will protect the territory if necessary and one perhaps two breeding females (sows). The size of the territory depends upon the abundance of food but is typically ~200 acres. Badger dispersion is relatively low and contact between neighbouring groups is often low; the Badgers preferring to mark their territory with latrines and avoiding conflict where possible (conflict between rival boars can be quite violent). Preferred ground is woodland & permanent pasture with an abundance of earthworms, their main dietary component. Badgers do not hibernate but their activity levels may fall greatly in times of cold & hardship, at which point 2 or 3 may share a sleeping chamber for warmth.

The picture below of a badger about to squeeze under a fence line, clearly shows its bushy tail:

   Click image for a larger view …

Badgers have an extremely varied diet that follows availability in the different seasons. As previously noted, earthworms provide the bulk of their diet, this is why they pull up grass turf & dig through droppings. A Badger may consume as many as 200 earthworms in one night, indeed earthworms are thought to make up 50% of their diet. Other favourite foods include insects, beetles, berries, roots and nuts; these probably account for a further 40% of the Badger’s diet. If the opportunity arises a Badger may take small animals such as frogs or occasionally a rabbit, rats & hedgehogs may also be taken; these small creatures probably make up the final 10% of Brock’s diet. Other than man, badgers have no natural predators however wolves & bears may kill them in competition. Whilst many are killed on our roads, the main threats to the badger are urbanisation, intensive agriculture & persecution by humans. Badgers live in underground tunnels called ‘setts’ which may be over 100 years old. Human disturbance of a sett can be disastrous.

   Click image for a larger view …

Setts are built up by successive generations of badgers. The main sett will be occupied all year around and consist of many meters of tunnels. Deep in the sett will be the breeding chamber where a sow will have her cubs. The chamber will be lined with bedding materials such as dry leaves or grass. It is often possible to see piles of old bedding outside the main sett entrance. The sett will also contain other sleeping chambers where the other community members can rest. Other subsidiary setts may be built around the territory and are most likely to be used when the sow has young cubs & wants peace in the main sett. In an old sett the main area can become quite complex & extensive; GPS readings from our local sett show that from bottom left to top right the sett covers some 57,000 sq. feet of surface. The 425ft length also covers quite a change in elevation, as the GPS profile below shows:

If possible badgers prefer to avoid heavy wet clay soils that are not easy to dig in or dry to lie in. A sloped, free draining woodland edge site with easy access to the forage of both grassland & woodland, is probably a Badger family’s ideal real estate.

   Click image for a larger view …

Having mated in spring the sow delays implantation of the embryo for around 9 months. The actual gestation period is a short one of only 7 weeks and the young cubs are born in early spring. The cubs are born blind, often in a litter size of about 3. They are initially dependant upon the sow’s milk. After 6 weeks the cubs’ eyes are open and at 8 weeks they start to venture out from the sett. These first ventures are often in April / May. By 4 months old the cubs will have their full set of teeth and be foraging for themselves. It will take a year for the cubs to reach full maturity and less than half of them will make it.

If you’d like to watch badgers yourself, probably the easiest way is to join your local Badger group, there are many across the UK. You may also be lucky and have badgers that visit your garden to look for scraps; if so, a few peanuts will encourage them no end and you may soon be able to watch them from your house.

   Click image for a larger view …

Many people miss the signs of local badger activity, here are a few things to look out for:

• Discarded Bedding
• 5 toed footprints on worn paths
• Dung heaps & latrines
• Spoil heaps outside setts
• Badger hair on fence lines

Below are pictures of a spoil heap and discarded bedding, click either one for a larger view:

Good luck with your watching; Badgers really are beautiful & fascinating creatures.

The local squirrels are in fine and mischievous fettle this spring. The grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) can breed twice per year, with the first mating season beginning in spring. After mating the female will drive the male out of her chosen tree, where she will give birth about 6 weeks later, in a drey on some high branch. The mother will carefully rear her young for about 3 months before chasing out any hangers on and then starting to prepare for her next litter.

   click image for a larger view …

Squirrels can make themselves unpopular with foresters by stripping bark from trees. They do this mainly in spring time to get access to the sweet sap beneath. Mind you, bird feeders are of course a very convenient snack bar, laid on solely for the benefit of the squirrels. Mischievous & playful the grey squirrel was introduced to Britain in 1877 from North America. It is about 30cm long with an extra 20cm of tail and can live for up to 8 years.

   click image for a larger view …

Foraging is an extremely important part of a squirrel’s life; in autumn they will bury nuts to save them for the winter. They don’t always remember where they put the nuts and so sometimes help the trees by nicely planting a new tree. It’s quite surprising the rate that these little guys can put away the food, read the rest of this post to see a video demonstrating this:

It strikes me that I don’t post very much about my home patch. There’s lots that we can all do to help our planet, it’s flora & fauna. Whilst photographing, educating & evangelising is great, it is also important to ‘do our bit’; so what have we been doing, chez AnnMarie?

  Our Home, click image for a larger view …

We have about 50 acres of land in the heart of Dyfi forest, it comprises permanent pasture, river bank & deciduous woodland. We are bounded by river, forestry & SSSI. Our general goals are to maintain and if possible increase biodiversity. Here are some of the actions that we have taken so far:

• Reduce artificial chemical use to a bare minimum
• Plant new hedgerow
• Plant new trees
• Restore old hedgerow
• Graze pasture in a manner that encourages flower seeding & protects sward
• Leave areas of rough pasture over winter for insect cover
• Designate a specific area ‘flood plain’ & manage to encourage plant diversity
• Keep livestock out of woods to encourage young saplings & woodland floor plants
• Maintain quiet backwater for amphibians to breed in
• Leave some fallen timber for invertebrate & fungal habitat
• Establish several bird feeding stations
• Fence off sections of river bank to allow re-establishment of bank cover for riverside mammals
• Encourage & feed wild mammals, as practical
• Develop garden with wildlife friendly plants & technique, see RSPB website and Wildlife Gardener.

   click image for a larger view …

The general thinking is to work in harmony with nature, not against it. The region is particularly rich in fungi and we also have a good selection of lichens. Some of the lichens are quite rare & are very sensitive to pollution, so great care is taken not to endanger them.

Not only can one help wildlife in this way but there are also lots of personal gains to be enjoyed, for example:

• Its a fantastic place to bring up our daughter
• The dawn chorus is wonderful
• You’re never alone with all the wildlife around
• We probably get fitter & healthier doing all this
• Why not beautify your surroundings with plants & wildlife
• It helps broaden our understanding of nature
• Its just good fun

There’s more that we can & hope to do, but it all takes time & resources; it also pays to go steady & learn the lessons as you go. Here are some of the things still on our wish list:

• Provide additional nesting places for a variety of birds & insects
• Plant / restore more trees & hedgerow
• Increase availability of water / bog habitat
• Provide further butterfly habitat

I hope that this has given you an idea of what I might be doing when not behind the camera or computer. Perhaps its even inspired you a little.

If you’ve decided, go ahead & vote. If you need more info, please see my previous post …

"Brock" the badger (Meles meles) is a native wild mammal of Britain (amongst other places). Omnivorous & mainly nocturnal these wonderful woodland shadows should normally live their lives undisturbed in their woodland setts. Yet they have been persistently blamed (often with little evidence) for the occurrence of TB in farm cattle. Recently in a rather disturbing development another UK cull of Badgers has been announced. For now it is restricted to Pembrokeshire; but is there any justification at all?

I normally try to keep my blog posts positive, encouraging a love of nature, but I feel that I must at least make a brief post on this topic. I shall attempt to make this post brief, simple & factual.

TB or Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease affecting a variety of species. There are several different types of tuberculosis bacilli; the one that we are concerned with here is Bovine TB (Mycobacterium bovis). This is a disease whose main effect is to cause progressive lesions in the lungs, with a long and protracted downhill effect on the sufferers health. In the UK infected cattle are destroyed & the farmer paid compensation for this loss.

Whilst this is a complicated field there are some critical facts that need to be known:

• TB transmission is mainly via inhalation – research in sheep shows that 5 inhaled bacterium produce the same infection rates as 13million ingested bacterium
• Recent Research shows that at least 80% of cattle infections are caught from other cattle.
• Emerging evidence from Organic farms suggests that lower density stocking & reduced stress levels decreases the risks of TB outbreaks in cattle
• New outbreaks of Bovine TB in areas previously clear of the disease are evidenced as being due to large scale cattle movements, mainly due to restocking after foot & mouth disease.
• Badgers are a wild reserve of Bovine TB, typically between 2% & 12% are infected. However only a low proportion of infected badgers become infectious.
• Other wild species are also a reserve of Bovine TB including fox, mink, rat and deer. Little research has been done in to the infectivity of these species.
• The main evidence for badger to cow infection comes from an experiment where infected badgers were housed in a building with young calves. Despite these ideal transmission conditions it took months for any calves to become infected.
• Badgers often root their noses in cow pats looking for worms & beetles to eat; cows tend to avoid badger latrines. Thus its more likely that badgers catch TB from cows not vice versa.
• Badgers typically have a relatively small territory of ~200acres, they live in family groups & dispersal is low unless they are disturbed by activities such as culling.
• We have a vaccine for Badgers that is being trialled in England. Initial results show that it gives effective protection to badgers and would therefore negate any transmission, if such a thing happens.
• Vaccinating cattle causes problems for government vets testing cattle. An effective cattle vaccine / test combination is expected by 2014. This would be the most effective solution since it should stop cattle to cattle transmission.
• The last large scale cull in the UK was abandoned. It cost far more than any possible gains. The bill to the tax payer was in excess of £11 million.
• The only long term detailed study of Badger / Cattle TB relationship was carried out by the ISG & reported to government. Over 10 years it showed that cattle TB cases continued to rise despite Badger culling.
• The ISG concluded "badger culling cannot meaningfully contribute to the control of TB in Britain".
• Increased bio-security on farms has been shown to assist in control of disease spread. Keeping wild animals away from feed stores, mangers & watering points are all key to success.

These are the salient points of this issue.

Given the great distress that destroying infected cows causes, it is possible to understand why some farmers may cling misguidedly to the traditional views but if only they would open their minds they should see that a badger cull is not the way forward. As for government, it has access to all the research and to authorise a badger cull must surely be pure folly or worse.

To myself & many others, including eminent scientists, the action plan from these points might be:

• Do not increase wild animal dispersion. Avoid introducing culling.
• Do trial the badger vaccine with a view to large scale deployment if required.
• Do fund an increased rate of research in to a cattle vaccine / test combo. This will enable the EU to change its legislation against cattle vaccination.
• Do increase control on cattle movements from hot spot regions.
• Do encourage farmers to improve bio-security. My own informal observations show that a low level electric fence is very effective at discouraging badgers from grazing land.

I should state that I am not affiliated to any organisation that stands to gain in this debate. My parents were dairy farmers before their retirement and I grew up working on dairy farms. I do however also love our wildlife and try to keep up with current scientific thinking.

For me the conclusions are clear.

What do you think? Vote in my poll.

Ref. & for more information please visit the DEFRA website and also the Badger Trust website.

It must be spring, just the other day this cheerful reed bunting was singing away.

Reed buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus)  breed in areas of rush & reed at the side of bogs & lakes. They are noted for singing from tall reeds or from shrub branches that overhang the water; indeed this is exactly what this one was doing. A lot more settled than the nesting Canada geese that I was watching! More on the argumentative geese in a later post.

  Click image for a larger view …

And not far below the Bunting, toads were a courting. The Common Toad (Bufo bufo) spawns in strings rather than the clumps of frog spawn that we find. You can see more about Toads in my post from last year.

 Click image for a larger view …

Nothing like some romance in the reeds

Some of our tulips are now out, merrily opening & closing their blooms according to their own schedule. What is it that drives this schedule?

  Click image to view larger version …

The tulips  have their own biological clocks built in; this is what drives the circadian rhythm of flower opening & closing. The tulip’s clock is reset everyday by the rising of the sun; the tulip can also move its position with the sun. This is photonasty or the tendency to physically respond to light stimulus. The tulips also demonstrate thermonasty, a response to temperature; tending to close up with a fall in temperature. Thus on a warm bright morning the tulip flowers open up beautifully but as light & temperature drop in the evening, they close their blooms again. Why have they evolved to do this?

  Click image to view larger version …

The tulip flower is insect pollinated and the tulip advertises with both bright colours & scent from volatile oils. The picture above shows the male & female structures, with much pollen in evidence. To remain open overnight is to both risk damage from the weather & to waste volatile scents, whilst it’s insect pollinators are not around. Thus a tulip increases its chances of successful reproduction by closing it’s blooms at night. Many flowers show this behaviour and conversely, for example, bat pollinated plants often only open their flowers at night.

Plants also use biological clocks to sense various other things such as opening leaf stomata just before dawn ready for photosynthesis and by monitoring day / night length they can tell whether its flowering season or not.

Read on to view a video …

To view how some of the garden birds approach landing on a feeder, I photographed them at high shutter speeds. The composite image below shows some of the results:

   click image for a larger view …

They each appear to approach at significantly different speeds. The chaffinches certainly seemed easier to catch in frame than the blue tits, who frequently beat my reactions!

Just a brief post for now – its been a busy week

The long-tailed field mouse or wood mouse, as he is sometimes called, occurs across most of Europe including the UK. They are mainly nocturnal, living in woods, fields & hedgerows. Only occasionally will they visit houses and then only when hungry & in the absence of house mice.

This little fellow jumped across the floor of the horse barn as I was shutting up for the night:

   click image for larger view …

They have a good jump on them too, managing up to about 3ft, quite something for somebody who is only 3.5 inches long (excl. tail).

Wood mice live in burrows with separate chambers for breeding, food storage and toilets. Food types include berries, seeds, grain, nuts, snails, insects and any other opportunistic offerings. Only a few survive the winters but if they do, they may live up to 2 years. Predators are many including foxes, owls cats & weasels.

For those of you interested in the photography:

• Auto focus & image stabilisation were turned off – the mouse seemed sensitive to the noise
• I used high speed synch flash at 1/640s to freeze any motion
• Canon 5D mkII with 70-200L and 1.4 extender
• 280mm f11 ISO640

I want to transport you to a seedy, or perhaps I should say nutty, region of reproduction. A place where the male structures are vast in comparison to the petite & flushed female variety. But first, do you recognise this flower?

   Click on image for a larger view …

Yes, its a female Hazel (Corylus avellana) flower and that’s the region I’m talking about the spring hedgerow.

The male flowers, that we often call catkins or lamb’s tails are borne on the same tree as the females and are left to hang in the breeze, thereby distributing pollen on the wind.

   Click on image for a larger view …

It is normally February when the catkins open, they first formed back in October or November last year. The male catkins are typically 5cm long, possibly up to 10cm; yet the female flower is tiny with the crimson stamen measuring only 2 – 3 mm. Pollen, carried on the wind, lands on the sticky stamen & fertilises the flower. Note: Hazel is not self pollinating, pollen from a different Hazel tree must fall on the stamen for pollination to take place

Nut clusters will now form at the site of the female flower, ripening in autumn. These nuts are a valuable feed source for many creatures (ourselves included); indeed the hazel relies upon this fact so that animals like squirrels will collect, horde, & loose nuts. This disperses the Hazel’s seed & helps to guarantee a new generation of Hazel trees.

Hazels are a member of the Betulaceae or Birch family. As well as producing edible nuts they have been used in various woodcrafts for many centuries. Wattle hurdles, Hazel walking sticks and Sheppard’s crooks are a few of the uses. The nut shells have recently been discovered to contain useful anti-cancer drug components. Environmentally Hazels are known to be important members of British woodland, they support many lichens & fungi, their leaves are good food for deer and the nuts I’ve already mentioned.

   Click on image for a larger view …

The image above shows Hazel Pollen imaged at x200 magnification with a light microscope.

Trivia: In Celtic myth the Hazel is believed to collect knowledge & wisdom in its nuts, those who consume the nuts may inherit the wisdom.

Apis Mellifera, the European honey bee. For anyone who, like me, enjoys toast & honey at breakfast, there’s a lot to feel thankful towards these busy little insects. I’ve been meaning to post something about them since I found one who had died after being caught in an early cold spell. He was still in the flower but had obviously just run out of energy. Anyway I found this poor bee last autumn & did a bit of a study of him, with camera and microscope. I wasn’t sure how to present the data until I recently came across slideshare, so contained in the second part of this post is my PowerPoint presentation, shared as an experiment on slideshare. Just expand the post and click to start …

These beautiful little birds, a garden favourite here in the UK, have been having a tough time in the recent spell of winter weather. The British variety is in fact a sub species called “Erithacus rubecula melophilus”. Several Robin’s have been visiting our feeders and I thought I’d share some recent pictures …

Click on any of the images to see a larger view.

Robins breed in parks, gardens & woodlands. They enjoy eating snails & worms and whilst they will take seeds, a nice tub of mealworms is what they’d really like to find at your garden feeder. Robins are fiercely territorial and with both sexes being similarly marked, mating time must be fraught with confusion! Both genders sing a warbling song that is used to advertise territory, you may be able to distinguish the song in my video at the end of this post.

You can read more about the Robin on either the Wiki or RSPB websites.

As mentioned I also took a brief piece of video, just expand this post to view it …

As promised here is the video short that accompanies my post about the Kites at Gigrin Farm, from last Wednesday.

I’ve adjusted my video export settings for upload to YouTube, I think these are better – hope you agree.

As usual this post is split to assist quicker loading of the site, so please click continue to reveal the video …

Last Wednesday we took a trip down to Gigrin Farm to photograph the feeding of wild Kites. Firstly may I say what a wonderful job Chris Powell at Gigrin Farm & the Welsh Kite Trust do in helping these magnificent birds of prey to thrive once again. If possible please do show your support by visiting them; it’s a wonderful experience that you won’t forget.

  Click any image to see a larger view …

During cold spells the number of birds needing the extra food can increase to a good few hundred, the skies were certainly full of them on Wednesday. And Red Kites weren’t the only species in attendance:

The picture above shows a Kite in company with Buzzard, Grey Heron and Crows.

The red Kite was once very common in the UK and enjoyed Crown protection during medieval times since the birds were so helpful in cleaning up the streets of towns. However this changed and the Kite found itself persecuted by some groups from the Victorian period onwards. Kites were eradicated completely from Scotland & England but just clung on in the remoter regions of mid-Wales. It is believed that at the worst point, only one breeding female survived. With the help of caring Farmers & conservation organisations the Red Kite is now thriving again and has been reintroduced to both Scotland & England.

When possible Kites prefer to skim the ground, pick up prey and then eat on the wing, as below:

Whilst most Red Kites show the classic chestnut / russet red colouration, occasionally some are born paler (leucistic), such as Gigrin’s “White Red Kite” . A paler Kite can be can see pictured below:

Red Kites (Milvus milvus) usually pair for life and whilst average longevity is about 10 years, some have been known to live well in to their 20’s. I think they have particularly captivating faces, as shown in the full res crop below:

Such a piercing stare of concentration.

Of the other species present the common Buzzard is perhaps the most impressive. A quite large & stocky bird of prey, it is a common sight at home with us in Dyfi forest. The common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) has a similar lifespan to that of the Kite. One clear behavioural difference that you will see at a feeding station is that the Buzzard prefers to eat on the ground vs. the Kite in the air. They are not easily intimidated by the Kites:

The kites do swoop in at considerable pace and are definitely not adverse to getting ‘up close & personal’ with the other avian life; as the heron below discovered:

Anyway this post has become plenty long enough, with many pictures. I am preparing a series of Bird of Prey prints & posters which I will start to release towards the end of the month on Posters Wales. If you have any special requests, please do email from the contact form & I’ll see what I can do for the more popular ones. Currently I really want to photograph a wild Welsh Hen Harrier but this could be a tricky one, so all sighting emails will be gladly received, thanks.

BTW a short video of flying & feeding Kites is to follow.

Here are some pictures of welsh birds of prey, from our trip to Nant yr Arian, Ceredigion; yesterday afternoon.

   Click on images for a larger view …

The Welsh uplands have become a stronghold for the beautiful Red Kite (Milvus milvus). There are several places where the wild kites are fed, to help in the continuing conservation effort; Nant yr Arian is just one such place. I have counted 39 Red Kites in the picture above; so the kites obviously know where to come for a snack!

  Click image for a larger view …

This second picture looks a bit closer and the clear reddish colour & forked tail of the kites can be seen as they wheel above the welsh uplands.

I’m still working my way through the images that I took but below are 4 more that show:

• A Kite swooping above a Crow & 2 Mallards
• A Kite talons outstretched to grasp some food, meanwhile a Buzzard stands watching
• A Kite flies past the visitor’s hide at Nant yr Arian
• And a close-up view of a Red Kite in flight

Click any of the images for a larger view

Kite posters will be available from Posters Wales, later this spring.

And finally a short YouTube video of the kites …

Well its that time of year again where many of the UK’s families get out into gardens & parks to count the number of birds that are there. If you’d like to find out more please visit the RSPB web site. We duly did our count, with the noticeable change being more house sparrows & less goldfinch. We’ve recently had an issue with our supplies of niger seed, so that explains the Goldfinches and its very pleasing to see more sparrows.

Having received my Canon 5D MkII on Saturday lunchtime, it seemed suitable to take some test shots of the garden birds, here’s a blue tit:

  Click any picture for a larger view …

Various members of the tit family were here in significant numbers and so were the ever present chaffinches. This little Robin kept trying to creep up unannounced:

  Shy Robin

I don’t have the hide out at the moment, so these images were taken with the camera & I all camouflaged up but standing out in the open. The setup was 5D MkII on the back of 500mm L with 1.4 extender in place; all mounted on a monopod, to help me support the weight.

  House Sparrow

I always loved the 500mm lens on my 5D but I think it’s even better mounted on the MkII. I just had to try out the video feature so here’s a brief YouTube video for you. Please forgive my slight wobble but 700mm fl on a monopod in a breeze, it is not the easiest thing to steady

I was sat at my workstation this morning, drinking orange juice & editing pictures for a competition entry, when there was a tap at the window (an upstairs one).

Now I’m used to the birds throwing seed at the window, it’s one of the places that we feed, but when I looked up who did I see …

The squirrels haven’t come up to this window before, seeming to prefer the ground floor feeders. Now taking pictures through dirty double glazing is not the most ideal thing but I couldn’t resist taking a few images:

     Click either of these pictures to see a larger version …

Cute isn’t he. He particularly likes the black sunflower seeds. The slate roof is a bit slippy for him but he seems comfortable enough tackling it.

Mind you the birds aren’t that impressed, the garden conifers are full of an avian queue that includes Tits, Finches, Nuthatches & 3 Jays. These images were taken with the new Sigma 150mm on my 5D, it looks promising for some natural history work this spring. Anyway must get back to work now.

The sunshine is back! So posted here, are 10 butterflies that you might see if you visit Mid Wales. I photographed all of them at my home in Dyfi forest.

They are:

• Comma – Polygonum c-album
• Small tortoiseshell – Aglais urticae
• Red Admiral – Vanessa atalanta
• Wall - Lasiommata megera
• Small white – Artogeia rapae
• Speckled wood – Pararge aegeria
• Green veined white – Artogeia napi
• Peacock - Inachis io
• Small copper – Lycaena phlaeas
• Painted lady – Vanessa cardui

Just click on a thumbnail below, to start the slideshow (you can pause at any point) :

There are also a good few more butterflies in the area, like: Ringlets, Orange tips and Meadow browns. So if you are ever having a summer afternoon walk in the Corris – Aberllefenni region; keep your eyes open, you never know which butterflies you’ll see.

If you’d like hard copies of these & other pictures – butterfly prints & posters will be available soon from Poster’s Wales. To find out more about British butterflies try the Butterfly Conservation website.

The Eurasian Jay is a colourful member of the crow family and is resident across most of Europe. Jays breed in various types of woodland but prefer oak, for its abundance of acorns.

We are lucky enough to have a reasonable number of these rather shy birds, breeding locally. This year they have taken to visiting our bird feeding station. The other day I set up a remote camera to record the goings on; below is a sequence of 2 visits & flights away, just click the play button to view the sequence.

Jays really are very cautious birds but its well worth trying to get them calm to your presence, their plumage is truly stunning. You’ll certainly hear that they’re about, with the loud grating alarm calls that they make!

Sun, clouds, lightning, rain; yes it’s a British summer! The night of the 27th clear spells gave way to a hot (27C) & humid day yesterday, with very little breeze. That’s just what I needed to demonstrate an answer to Tamsin’s question … How do you take the images of the tree canopy that I see in magazines?

So off we trundled with tripod, camera & fisheye lens, we took 4 differently exposed views of the tree canopy & returned to the computer to process the 4 exposures into one high dynamic range (HDR) image. Whilst walking the conversation turned to "How are zoom lenses made?" – hmm, this daughter keeps me on my toes Anyway the resulting image is below:

The full res image (not posted here) shows details of leaves & bark whilst retaining plenty of sky detail, all in all a good recommendation for HDR technique.

As evening came any ideas of a night’s astrophotography were blown away by rather ominous looking thunderclouds. An opportunity for an early night? Well maybe not, 2am found me sat in the bird hide watching some beautiful lightning & being lulled to sleep by the patter of rain on the canvas. Naturally I had a camera with me …

Lightning occurs when droplets of ice & rain, circulating in the thunder cloud, build up electrostatic charge. The charge created can be huge and an equal but opposite charge is induced in the ground below the cloud. The highest electrical field exists on the tip of objects such as tall trees, electrical leaders form that eventually connect cloud & tree top and it is then that a huge discharge leading back up the ionised air, into the cloud, takes place. This is the bright flash that we most often see. Most lightning strikes are a discharge of negative charge from the cloud with a typical current of 40,000 amps; potential difference may be several hundred thousand volts. However lightning strikes that emanate from the top of an anvil cloud can result in a positive discharge, these bolts carry significantly more energy and are both rarer & more dangerous.

Lightning storms in Wales are rarely viewable without a large amount of associated rain, so trying to keep equipment dry, whilst photographing the view, can be a bit tricky but well worth it I think. So Aberllefenni & Corris had a stormy night, but all seems fine today.

Trivia: Did you know that the path of a  lightning bolt may only be 1 or 2 inches wide but 1 mile long.

And here’s one I prepared earlier, well not really I haven’t qualified for my broomstick yet! A few more trips to Dayagon Alley are needed

What I really mean to say is that I took these two pictures in early spring but omitted to post them. Spring is a good time to see frogs & toads, they are busy mating or looking for a mate. This couple were certainly very busy:

   Common Toads (Bufo bufo) – mating

I so nearly trod on them whilst looking up for a bird, fancy that, making out on a track in broad daylight, the shock of it. Seriously though, Toads get quite determined, the smaller male climbs onto the female’s back and holds on tight – he doesn’t want any other males to dislodge him before he’s sure that he’s fertilised the eggs. This mating position is called amplexus and as is the case with our happy couple above, sometimes a female is ambushed before she reaches her watery spawning site. Toad spawn is laid in strings, as opposed to the clumps that are typical of frog spawn.

For comparison here is a picture of a common frog:

   Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

I thought he looked rather shocked & lonely and it turned out I was correct … he was the survivor of a young grey heron’s attempts at clearing many frogs from this damp area.

Trivia Fact: Did you know that Common Toads can live up to 40 years of age.

We’ve been a little concerned about the swallows & house martins this year; but all seems to be well now. Having heard of the poor weather in southern Africa just when their northerly migration was starting, it was worrying to see fewer than normal in the initial arrival. As time has gone on more & more have arrived such that we now have large numbers hunting for insects over the fields.

The house martin chicks in the nests on the house are now quite close to fledging, it seems quite a squeeze in those mud nests. In one particular nest the 5th chick has been pushed out, falling to his death in the nighttime but the other 4 seem very well, as per the image sequence below:

  Its squashed in here

  Incoming

  Some for you

   Oi! Give me some

    I’m going to swallow them both.

The parents are both hunting almost constantly through the daylight hours and with only 3 or so minutes between each foray there must be a large number of insects going in to the chicks!

This spring we added a new feeding station for our wild birds. It seems to have been quite a hit, especially with the youngsters. Some of them are very quick to get to grips with things, like the sparrow fledglings; others aren’t too sure at first, like a certain little blue tit.

Anyway I’ve pieced together a short (~3min – 10Mb) video for you to take a look, just click the link below & then the play button …