This week, on the coldest April morning for more than fifty years, I spent a magical two hours filming three hunting Barn Owls. Conditions were absolutely perfect and these were female Barn Owls stocking up with food prior to going down on eggs later this month. I was on my own on a hillside in the Forest of Bowland and wildlife photography does not come any better than this. For gallery photos www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
After fifty years of photographing Pennine birds there are only a handful of species that I have not got photographs of. Top of the list was the Black Necked Grebe but all that changed on a perfect morning last week. The last few years I have failed due to bad weather then Covid but all that was forgotten on Tuesday when I spent three hours with these spectacular Grebes. Enjoy the Gallery photos as they are everything I have ever dreamed of! www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife for gallery photos
March is the month when Long tailed Tits start to build their nests. Last week I filmed a pair collecting lichens and then bringing feathers to line their nest with. Incredilbly it is the fiftieth consecutive March that I have done this but the first time that the nest was in a Blackthorn thicket. It is the eighth Long Tailed Tit nest that I have found this month but it is a long way short of the 26 that I found in March 1978. The bonus whilst I was waiting was a Goldcrest that was feeding amongst the Blackthorn blossom. gallery photos see http://www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
Over more than fifty years I have met many wildlife photographers but have not met one who has rose to the ultimate challenge of spending a full night in a hide filming Owls (Tawny,Little, Barn or Long Eared). Entering a hide in the evening at 9pm and not leaving it until 5am the following morning is not to be taken too lightly. It requires no sleep and 8 hours of total concentration to perhaps take only a couple of photos.Thirty years ago I spent nights on all four of the above Owl species and this weeks blog photo was taken at 2am as the male Long Eared Owl arrived at the nest with his catch, only to find that the female was still feeding the young on his previous catch! These nights were the most exciting I have ever had in wildlife photography but, sadly, all my photos were on colour negatives , like this week’s blog photo of the nest. The others were not suitable to use for Gallery photos. So this weeks Gallery is of my favourite digital flight photos of a male Long Eared Owl taken in the last few years.
gallery photos http://www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife
It is amazing what you can find in your local countryside now that we are still facing travel restrictions.
Along my local canal, among the throngs of Canada geese , I came across a Pink Footed Goose happily feeding with them..Had it come from Iceland? We shall never know. Grey Wagtails are now commonplace on the canal and even stopped to breed last year. Our local woodlands have a good population of Roe Deer that can easily be filmed if you are up early enough!!
Last month we had the so called “Snow Moon” which I filmed as it rose behind the pines of Tandle Hill Country Park. gallery photos
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Herons are usually the first local birds to start nest-building and this year was no different.In glorious sunshine early this week I paid a quick visit to Queens Park in Heywood and had a lot of action from a pair that had only just started to build their nest. The male was breaking branches off nearby trees and passing them to the female who placed them into the base of the nest. Conditions were perfect and I was able to obtain some good images in the short time that I was there.gallery photos see link below http://www.facebook.com/gordonyateswildlife