Well after months of waiting here it is – a hunting male Long Eared Owl has just landed on a post that I put in especially for it and he has even raised his ear-tufts for the perfect picture. Normally the ear-tufts lie flat on his head and are not readily visible. In fact this male landed on the post earlier when it was overcast and although his ears are not visible the red eyes are more impressive – check the gallery photo. I can now retire a happy man!! click here
Whenever you are photographing breeding birds of prey the ultimate photo that you are after is the food-pass. It is the split second when the prey is being passed from the adult to its young. You have to be quick and yet, surprisingly, it is seldom the best photo of the series. What happens is that at the split second of the pass a membrane closes over their eyes as a protection in case of mis-timing. These membranes are clearly visible in this weeks blog photo and if you check the gallery photos there is a far more impressive photo taken a split second after the pass.Click here
This weeks photo is undoubtedly the worst photo I have ever taken. The significance is that I have spent a lifetime hoping to find young Long Eared Owls when they have just left the nest. It all came good last week when I found four young Owls perched together just as I had hoped for. Unfortunately on the day the forest was swathed in thick fog and driving drizzle and you could hardly see the Owls!!
During the afternoon the sun came out so I rushed back only to find that the Owls had split up with only two now being together.click here
Finding a good nest site of a pair of Kestrels is never easy with this weeks site being one of the most photogenic I have ever seen. It is a hole in the gable end of an old stone barn and I should have filmed it last year when they had four young. Unfortunately last year the road was closed due to a Carnival and I should have known better than to put it off until the following day – they had all fledged and gone!! In the bird photography world there are seldom second chances . Click here