November, Schnovember

I don't have too much to say about November. And not just this year. Looking back at past years it's never been much of a month for me, and 2010 was no different. The only thing of note was the switch from mild autumn days when butterflies were still (just about) on the wing ..............
to the onset of winter with a bang. We've escaped the snow, but the weather has largely been rubbish for pictures. Standing in a car park waiting for waxwings (what else would you find in a car park) the wind made the -4 degrees seem even colder. Especially when all we got was a view of a dozen fly over, around and away. Nearby the berries did pull in some blackbirds, and thrushes, but even the fieldfare and redwings skulked at the back through a maze of branches. Eventually got a few shots worth a blog post at least - can't go a whole month without posting something - and the thrush was quite cute.

Here's to December, something I can snap and some light.

Not just another waxwing photo

Not often I do this, but you should have a look at these amazing posts from a blogger on Fair Isle.

CLICK HERE and HERE

The few times I have seen waxwings I have been captivated by them, so can only imagine how Tommy and his son felt!
Meanwhile those of us in the south west await our turn with eager anticipation, but I expect it will be a while yet. There seems to be plenty of food around this year. Watch those white berried rowans - seem to be a preference. A blast from the past below.

USA Canyonlands

Just back from a trip to the States. Not a wildlife holiday as such but we did see some good wildlife (can't believe how big elk are), even if I didn't manage to photograph the condor (wrong lens) or the hummingbird (too slow, and not the chance to wait ..... and wait!). Did photograph some big holes and pretty rocks. Oh, and after 15 years finally got hitched (Vegas yes, Elvis no).

Uinta chipmunk

Bryce Canyon - a real wow, but get there for dawn
Zion Canyon - cracking place to go walking




Elk
Grand Canyon - self portrait. It's big.
More pictures in the Canyonlands web album HERE

Hornets

The summer is the time I mainly end up snapping insects - not just the fact that there are so many around, but also the fact that not so much else is! When I heard that Rich had a hornets nest in an empty barn owl box I knew I finally had a chance of snapping an insect that had previously escaped my attentions. Trouble is the box was pretty high up, and the hornets didn't seem to use the nearby foliage to rest.
Brainwave - fruit. The plums? Nothing. What about the windfall apples? As I walked up a large yellow shape flew off and I realised my luck was in.Actually it wasn't that easy - there were a couple visiting, but only now and again. Still they proved to be very tolerant, not at all aggressive. Unless that is you were a careless flesh fly .......... Clearly a chunk of protein was a better bet than fruit.
I've put plenty more shots on the web album - 'latest pictures'. Mostly insects, including a fair few inflagrante delicto ...........

Woodland Puddles

I can't believe how long it is since I last posted. I've been taking a fair few shots, mostly insects, and I'll get some up soon.
In the meantime here are a few shots from my spring project this year. I spent (too) many hours lying next to some woodland puddles, but was rewarded with some amazingly close views of a wide range of birds, drinking or bathing.
If you look on the web albums you'll find a whole set, but here are a few tasters:

From Woodland puddles

From Woodland puddles

From Woodland puddles

From Woodland puddles

From Woodland puddles

From Woodland puddles

From Woodland puddles

Islands and Highlands 5

Enough islands. From Bass Rock we headed north to the highlands, but sadly the weather worsened. In this shot you get an idea. Beautiful when the sun was out, but mostly cloud, some real wind and intermittent rain.

The mountain tops were out of the reckoning, and even lower down we didn't fare so well.
Slavonian grebes were seen, but I didn't get any decent shots and they were looking a bit tatty anyway. Lovely to see the youngster though.
We did poorly with the local birds, although I had an eyeball-eyeball encounter with a crested tit that would probably have been too close for my macro lens!
There were quite a lot of common sandpipers around. This adult was unusually perched in a tree, but actually it was keeping an eye on at least one youngster scuttling around in the vegetation below.
Where we were staying we watched a small group of youngsters gain in confidence and finally start to fly around the small loch.
The sparrows posed nicely in the sun.
After a very rubbish day weather-wise - we went fishing and had a brilliant time, albeit with stockies - we headed up the next day to the Moray Firth for the dolphins. Again the weather wasn't great, but they put on the best show I've ever seen - and I've watched them a lot over the years. There were probably 15 or so around in various small pods at one point (you can see 4 in one shot below), and they were breaching so well that even I managed to snap a few in mid-air.
Remember the flying fish in the first of this series of posts? Well this is what it was all about - dolphin volleyball with salmon. We saw a few caught. I presume this breaks then up into better bite sized chunks.
To close, a birch wood robin, summing up our highland experience - a hint of sun, but mostly shade.

Have a look at the web album (links to the right) if you want to see some better views of the dolphin shots. Not great light, but you get a feel of how good the morning was.