A selection of photos from the last 6 months to illustrate my developing interest in nature photography.
July 9, 2017
by Jackson
Comments Off on Photos for Dof E skill section
July 9, 2017
by Jackson
Comments Off on Photos for Dof E skill section
A selection of photos from the last 6 months to illustrate my developing interest in nature photography.
January 28, 2017
by Jackson
Comments Off on Big Garden Birdwatch
This weekend we did a bird count in the garden for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. On Saturday morning the weather was dry and warmer than it has been lately with some sunshine. We had our normal feeder out with … Continue reading
December 4, 2016
by Jackson
Comments Off on Young Naturalists go to Pennington Marshes
The monthly club I go to, the Young Naturalists, is usually held at Blashford Lakes a Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust nature reserve, but this time we went to Pennington marshes to do a bird survey and look at … Continue reading
July 12, 2016 by Jackson | Comments Off on Purple Emperor at Straits Enclosure, Alice Holt Forest
This Sunday I visited Straits Enclosure in hope of spotting the elusive Purple Emperor. Luckily enough it was sitting in the middle of the path apparently eating some very old fox/dog scat. It stayed there long enough to allow me to take some good photos but then it flew away shortly after I arrived. We watched it floating around in the tops of the oak and hazel surrounding the path. It settled in the tree tops a few times and soaked up the sun for a while. It didn’t come down to the path again for long though.
It was far bigger than all the other butterflies that were around and seemed to be a much more powerful flyer.
Before I saw the Purple Emperor there were other great butterflies on the bramble flowers like white admirals, ringlets and commas and along the way there were little frogs and toads crossing the path.
There were many commas and ringlets flying about. It seems to be a good year for both species.
I was surprised at how many white admirals there were at straits enclosure; three or four at a time! I had considered them as being quite rare but there seemed to be a few around.
Small baby frogs and toads were crossing the path whilst we were on it.
June 8, 2016 by Jackson | Comments Off on Bass Rock and Craigleath – Gannets and Puffins
Over the half term holiday I’ve been staying in a lovely little town in Scotland called North Berwick. North Berwick is the nearest town to the world famous Bass Rock – the iconic volcanic structure jutting above the sea. Just 20 years ago the island’s white top now stained with both gannets and their guano was only partially covered with birds. But recently more and more gannets have come back to the rock so that it has almost got to the stage where soon there will be no more room.
The boat trip allowed you to get very close to the gannets but the choppy sea made it difficult to take a picture. The one below is probably one of the best as you can see the creamy colours of the gannet’s plumage and the brilliant blue ring around it’s eye.
Not only did we go to Bass rock, but we also got to go to Craigleith, a nearby island with puffins, guillemots, razorbills, cormorants, shags and fulmars. There were many of these birds nesting on the island.
Craigleith. Another picture demonstrating the difficulties of taking a picture on a RIB.
A very cute picture of a puffin sitting in the water.
Gannets sitting on poo-stained rocks.
More guillemots.
The sheer number of gannets in the sky was mind blowing. Most of these were mainly juveniles socialising whilst all the adults were on the ground breeding.
This plant below has been a real problem on islands such as Craigleith. It is called tree mallow and it is an invasive species that is a real threat particularly to puffins; as their roots block up the burrows the puffins use for nesting. In the picture below you can see a bit that was inaccessible so was left. You can see its size compared to the cormorants to the left of the picture and why it poses such a great threat.
Luckily for the birds there are volunteer groups and projects like SOS Puffin run by the Scottish Seabird Centre that help try and get rid of the plant. Every year teams of volunteers cut back the invasive mallow so that there is room for the birds to nest.
May 23, 2016 by Jackson | Comments Off on Tawny Owlet in Nesting Box
Very exciting news, the tawny owl box that I made with my Grandpa and put up in the woods in January 2015 has tawny owl chicks! I couldn’t have been more happy.
I only found out so recently because there is no camera inside or outside the box, so when they poked their heads outside it was a great surprise! The chicks downy fluff is very interesting. It is great camouflage for moss and lichen and other nest materials. This coat of feathers would be moulted for a new set of adult feathers.
I have only seen two but there may be more inside as the average brood of a tawny owl is 2-3 eggs. They already seem to be able to climb out of the box and look at the outside world. This will be very useful when it comes time for the owlets to fledge. I’ll post more updates as soon as I can.
May 23, 2016
by Jackson
Comments Off on Water Voles at Titchfield Canal
Yesterday afternoon we went for a walk along the canal at titchfield which leads to the reserve there. We were really lucky to see a lot of water vole activity there. Not 20 meters down the track we saw a … Continue reading
April 25, 2016
by Jackson
Comments Off on Winnall Moors Nature Reserve
At the weekend we visited Winnall Moors Nature Reserve in Winchester. Its such an oasis of calm and wildlife in the midst of a city (less than a mile from Winchester High Street). We hoped to see kingfishers and water … Continue reading
April 18, 2016
by Jackson
Comments Off on First Cuckoo, bluebells and goshawk
Heard my first cuckoo for this year on Saturday whilst on a bike ride. Its great to hear it again. The bluebells in the wood are looking (and smelling) amazing now. I’ve been trying out an experiment with my trail … Continue reading
April 7, 2016 by Jackson | Comments Off on Chiffchaffs officially back in my patch!
Although I have heard 1 or 2 Chiffchaffs a day for the last week or so I don’t call them ‘officially back’ in my local area until I have seen one and heard a lot more per day. On Saturday I heard at least 12 when I was on a cycle ride and so I am now officially saying they are back in my patch.
Also I have seen another summer migrant in and around my local patch, the Swallow! I have seen a couple now, hopefully more and more will be arriving soon and they will start to nest. They seem to be very early this year, probably another side effect of the weird winter that we had, the first time I spotted one this year was the 31st of March!