Red Grouse

A Red Grouse, possibly wondering where all the trees, eagles, harriers, mustelids, etc went. This was photographed earlier this year in Scotland on a grouse moor, where there was a notable lack of wildlife, but an abundance of Red Grouse.

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Crested Tit

A Crested Tit photographed in the Cairngorms, Scotland. It's been estimated that there are 7,000 individuals in Scotland. About one third of this number were in Caledonian pine forest remnants, with the remainder occurring for the most part in plantations of Scots pine. However, the density of birds in the native pinewoods was almost ten times that of the plantations, thereby indicating that the ancient forest provides a much more favourable habitat.

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Little Owl

A Little Owl perches on electricity pylons on the outskirts of the Forest of Dean. It is one of our non-native species of owl, introduced to Britain in the 19th century.

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Wild Boar

A Wild Boar browsing the forest floor in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.

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Short-eared Owl

A Short-eared Owl in Gloucestershire, one of five seen hunting that afternoon, along with at least two Barn Owls and a Merlin.

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European Otter

An Otter on the River Stour at a time when the river was at one of its lowest points.

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Northern Wheatear

The Northern Wheatear was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher. This one was photographed among the breakwater at Poole Harbour, Dorset.

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Red Squirrel

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Great Grey Shrike

I took this photo last winter. Since then the bird has flown off to Scandinavia, hopefully bred, and returned to over-winter in the same place as last year. I found it on its return, which reminded me I really ought to post this photo!

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Capercaillie

Capercaillie are primarily pinewood grouse that inhabit native pine forest and occasionally, conifer plantations. They spend a lot of time feeding on blaeberries on the ground, but may also be found in trees, feeding on pine needles. The males are black, huge and unmistakable, especially when they gather to perform their mating ritual at favoured “lek” sites. But the UK capercaillie population and range has declined rapidly, and it is now at risk of extinction. This is due to its very specialised requirements: these birds need not only suitable habitat, but wide expanses of it. Conservation and restoration of this habitat is essential for their survival.

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Grey Seal

This Grey Seal was photographed on a small island amongst the Treshnish Isles, Scotland. Population studies estimate that just under half of the world’s grey seals live in the waters around the UK, and the breeding colonies in the Hebrides are the largest in the UK. Of particular importance are sites on the Treshnish Isles and on the Monach Islands.

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Common Seal

A Common (or Harbour) Seal on the Cairns of Coll, Inner Hebrides. These are the most common species of seal in Britain, and can be found virtually all around our coastline. Britain is home to 50-60,000 individuals, representing about 10% of the world population.

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Silver-washed Fritillary

A close-up view of a Silver-washed Fritillary in the Forest of Dean.

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Great Spotted Cuckoo

A Great Spotted Cuckoo seen in Pembrokeshire earlier this year. Like our Common Cuckoo the Great Spotted Cuckoo is parasitical, choosing corvids or starlings as its host, but it doesn't eject the chicks or eggs from the nest. Instead they just tend to fail to compete with the cuckoo chick.

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White-letter Hairstreak

The White-letter Hairstreak is a difficult to see butterfly, usually found at the top of elm trees, but they do occasionally visit ground level to feed, as did this one in Dorset. Their colonies are usually restricted to a small handful of trees, or even one individual tree.

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Common Crossbill

A Common Crossbill in the Forest of Dean. This is the most common species of crossbill to be found in the UK. Of all the others, the only one I'm yet to photograph is the Scottish Crossbill, having already captured Common, Parrot and Two-barred Crossbills. The Scottish Crossbill will have to wait until the next trip to the Cairngorms.

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Common Dolphin

Common Dolphins filmed in waters between the islands of Coll and Mull (Inner Hebrides) last month. Common dolphins are thought to be one of the most abundant cetacean species, with population estimates suggesting that there are several hundred thousand animals globally, yet overall numbers have declined due to a combination of factors. There is evidence that significant numbers of common dolphins are accidentally caught in open sea trawl and drift nets; they seem particularly vulnerable to this threat because they are attracted by the fish inside the nets but do not jump over them to escape. Common dolphins are also subject to the same threats as other cetacean species including the pollution and degradation of the marine environment, injury and disturbance from vessels, and decreasing food resources due to overfishing.

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Scottish Wildcat

The Scottish Wildcat has long been my holy grail of British mammals. More than any other species, this is the one I've always wanted to get a photo of. Over the last couple of years, I've made numerous attempts at capturing a Scottish Wildcat on camera, both in the Cairngorms and more so in western Scotland. Living roughly a 500 mile drive away from the sheer vastness that is Wildcat country, it's been a bit of a challenge. Up until now, the closest I'd got was last August, when I managed to get a brief glimpse of a good looking cat at night, but failed to get a photo. The mental image will always remain though.

In September this year I returned to one of the most remote parts of western Scotland for yet another attempt. In addition to my usual camera gear, I had a night vision scope with the ability to record video and stills, and again I had an array of camera traps (many thanks to Gareth for the loan of those). After many nights spent with the night vision I'd failed to connect with a cat again. The camera traps had been out for just over a week. I left them in place as I headed to Mull for a few days, then collected them before the long drive home. By the time I had just one more camera trap to collect, after flicking through the shots of Pine marten, Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Badger, rodents and birds, I'd all but accepted that this was again going to be a trip where I'd fail to capture a Wildcat. The last camera was set to capture stills rather than video, and its IR beam wasn't as powerful as it could have been, but this is what it captured.

A Wildcat appears out of the darkness, spending 58 seconds in frame before noticing the camera and quickly disappearing. The lack of light combined with IR reflection on the fur makes it impossible to examine pelage markings, but it's clearly a large stocky cat, and it's clear from some of the stills in the sequence that this cat is wearing a radio-transmitter collar.

The Scottish Wildcat is literally clinging on to existence. Current estimates suggest there are as few as 35 Scottish Wildcats left, making it quite possibly the rarest mammal on the planet. They are prone to many threats, along with many other species, such as persecution and habitat loss, but by far the biggest threat today is hybridisation. There is some very good work taking place now on the west coast of Scotland to protect the last remaining Wildcats, with minimal funding. I personally find it strange that so much money and effort is directed towards iconic foreign species (great though that is), many of which face a less uncertain future than the Scottish Wildcat, whilst at the same time our own only remaining native and endemic wild cat species is spiralling towards extinction.

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Hooded Crow

A Hooded Crow photographed a couple of weeks ago in western Scotland. The Hooded Crow is widely distributed across Europe, but in the UK it is restricted to north and western Scotland and Ireland. It was once considered to be a geographical variation of the Carrion Crow. Although it is a separate species to the Carrion Crow, hybridisation is possible.

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Lion's Mane Jellyfish

The Lion's Mane jellyfish is the largest known species of jellyfish in the world. These ones were filmed in waters around Mull, Scotland last week. They are fairly easy to spot as they spend most of their time near the surface of the water. The Lion's mane jellyfish appears in the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" published in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes discovers at the end of the story that the true killer of a school professor who died shortly after going swimming (shouting "the lion's mane" before he succumbed.) was actually this jellyfish. 

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Hummingbird Hawk-moth

This Hummingbird Hawk-moth was one of many seen (at least 30) on Portland on Monday. Virtually every patch of flowers had at least one of these nectaring around them. The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is a small, day-flying hawk-moth. Hummingbird Hawk-moths are summer visitors, migrating here from Southern Europe in variable numbers each year. In some years, they can be common and may frequently be seen in gardens hovering like hummingbirds to feed on the nectar of Honeysuckle, Red Valerian and many other flowers. They can also be found in woodland edge, heath and shrubby habitats. The caterpillar feeds on various species of bedstraw, so the female adult moth lays her eggs on the buds or flowers of these plants.

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European Swallow

A Swallow perched on the Minsmere sluice on Friday last week. More than likely it is one of the same birds we filmed a couple of months ago in the same spot.

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Kingfisher

This is the same Kingfisher I posted a photo of back in May, which was photographed back in February this year.

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Black Guillemot

Unlike most other European auks the black guillemot is typically found in ones and twos, scattered around rocky islets. It is typical of the larger sea lochs of western Scotland, and the northern and western isles, but is also found in Ireland, the Isle of Man and in a handful of spots in England and Wales. This one was photographed at Corran in Scotland last year.

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Smooth Snake

This Smooth Snake was photographed in Dorset in May this year. Smooth snakes are Britain's answer to the boa constrictor. Though harmless to humans, reptiles and small mammals have much to fear. Smooth snakes kill or subdue their meals by squeezing the life out of them before finally swallowing the unfortunate victim whole. They hibernate communally through the winter and, after emerging, the males fight for females. Rearing up, they push their opponents to the ground and coiling around each other until one gives up. They are incredibly rare in Britain being restricted to southern heathland, but widely distributed throughout Europe.

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