Bearded Tit

A small Bearded Tit flock at Radipole afforded amazingly close views last Friday as they fed on the reed heads. It was raining lightly, and the wind was blowing the reeds around a lot, especially the ones with the additional weight of the feeding reedlings on top of them.

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Common Dolphin

A Common Dolphin breaching, Inner Hebrides. This was one of only a few photos I took, but I did do some filming.

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Otter

A mother Otter with her two cubs on the River Stour on Friday.

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Goshawk

A juvenile Goshawk photographed back in July 2013 in the Forest of Dean. I've not managed to identify the prey being carried, but it appears to be feathered.

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Common Crossbill

One of a small flock of Common Crossbills in the Forest of Dean this afternoon.

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Wild Boar

A cold day, and some rain followed by sunshine, made for quite an atmospheric sight last Tuesday as the condensation rose from these Wild Boar. The shadow from the sow partially obscured the plumes that appeared as she exhaled, but you can't have it all.

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Wild Boar

A male Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean yesterday, following an inch of snow which was all gone by evening. On the 12th of January, I found the first piglets of 2015.

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White-tailed Eagle

A rather close encounter with a White-tailed Eagle on the west coast of Scotland earlier this year. Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas!

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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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