With fantastic evenings this last week it was great to visit the Pennine hills to watch the Short Eared Owls. Sadly, fires on some moors have destroyed the breeding habitat so we can only rejoice in the prospect of rain to come to enable the Shorties to breed successfully.
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When you have been photographing birds for more than 60 years there are not many birds that turn up on a Pennine reservoir that you have not seen before. However, in late February, on a reservoir near Burnley,an immature Red-Necked Grebe appeared after a long flight from probably Germany.It liked the water that much that it was still there in early April when it began to moult into breeding plumage. A chance visit the other morning and with the wind in the right direction it provided me with photos of a bird that I had never seen before. www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
With Spring days upon us now is the time to re-visit old Barn Owl breeding sites and hope that luck is with you. Some of the males only come out at dusk and fewer still will hunt at first light which is the best option for a photograph. Like all wildlife photography your results are directly proportional to the time that you put in and of course sods law always works against you. In perfect conditions he will not perform whereas on foul days he will fly over your heads!! Good luck! www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
One of the attractions of a stay at Rivercatcher is that you are close to the Welsh pine-forests where Crossbills like to breed. Unfortunately most of my encounters with them have involved young males who do not possess the spectacular red adult plumage. As compensation you may wish to visit Wales highest waterfall Pistyll Rhaeadr which is to be found deep in the Berwyn mountains.www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
When you have been photographing birds of prey for more than fifty years the challenge eventually is not the bog standard photo but the food-pass photo – that split second moment when the prey is passed from the male to either the female or the young. Your failure rate is extreme – either they have their backs to you or their eyes are closed(for protection).
Hen Harriers pass their prey in mid air. Barn Owls pass prey direct to their young but with Long Eared Owls the male is more selective. He will pass prey to the young directly if they have left the nest otherwise he will only pass prey to the female. In today’s blog photo the male is waiting for the female to take the vole ! directly off him but she is still feeding the young and he will have to wait until she is ready!
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I have spent the last 49 years visiting Islay and filming its Corncrakes. During that time the number of calling male Corncrakes has fluctuated from less than ten to more than one hundred.On Islay the Whisky industry rules and to facilitate its growth many flower-rich pastures have been turned over to growing Barley, which is next to useless for Corncrakes. Islays biggest customer for Whisky is the USA which may well soon see a 25% import tax placed on its import. If this comes to be then the two new distilleries, already approved on Islay, will in all probability be held in abeyance and maybe some of those Barley fields may revert back to flower-rich pastures as shown in this weeks photo. So all is not lost for Islays rapidly declining Corncrake population! www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife