Aviemore in the snow

March 11, 2023

We’d had a trip to Aviemore planned for a few months and based our booking around a) availability and b) the best chance of snow.

Well we certainl werent disappointed! The first sign of snow was on Monday afternoon when light flurries were streaming in on bitter northerly winds. Monday evening saw about 3 inches deposited in Aviemore and even more the further up you went.

6inches in Rothirmurchus Forest and at least a foot on the top of cairngorm Mountain.

I’d booked into a hide in the hope of photographing red squirrels but the cold snap proved too much and they chose the comfort of their drey instead. Common woodland birds as well as the enigmatic crested tits more than made up for the squirrel no-show.

Plenty of mountain hare tracks on view on Cairngorm Mountain but no actual hares. The snow buntings posed nicely in the car park.

The undoubted wildlife highlight was a perched golden eagle no more than 50m from the railway track, which took flight as we passed. We only saw it for a matter of seconds but wow what a bird!

Make Every Day Count

February 21, 2023

Some say that February is the quietest month of the year for birding, and from a number of species perspective, it’s probably true.

From a photographic perspective however, February presents some great photographic opportunities.

The sun is still quite low in the sky even at midday. Dawn and dusk are at reasonable times and don’t fall into the ‘silly o’clock’ bracket. There is still some great subjects to study. It can be just around timing.

The obvious thing to do is get out before dawn for some nice colour and drama and there’s no better place for that than on the banks of the Humber.Given that waders and wildfowl are the quarry, the tide times become all-important. To have any kind of meaningful session on the Humber, it has to co-incide with high tide, or more specifically just after as the mud is starting to appear and it is lit by the early morning glow of the sunrise.

There are also some great opportunities at both canal scrape and Kilnsea Wetlands hide especially in the first light-again the high tide period is best.

Finally late afternoon especially along the Skeffling to Welwick stretch can be brilliant for birds of prey but there are no guarantees and patience is most definitely the key.

One of the best places for afternoon photography can be straight off the Crown and Anchor car park photographing waders against a setting sun never disappoints again if the tide is right.

I have had some great sessions over the past few weeks and the best of my photos are below.

Thanks for reading.

Waders and Raptors

January 23, 2023

I had yet another great day on the Humber yesterday.

My favourite challenge in winter is to see (and photograph) as many species of birds of prey as I can in one day.

There are no guarantees but the best place to provide the best chance is the banks of the Humber between Skeffling and Stone Creek.

I arrived slightly later than planned, but took up my position about 3 quarters of an hour before sunrise was due and that also worked out at about an hour and a half after high tide.

The first bird I saw was a sparrowhawk cruising low over the mudflats sending the waders scattering.

The water was receding rapidly and there was already an expanse of mud in front of me. This proved a great place to see common waders up close, the most entertaining being grey plovers continuously calling and bickering with each other. I’m not sure if this was to do with displaying or trying to gain some pre-breeding dominance between the males. It was great to watch but a challenge to get sharp photos in the early morning half-light.

Not long after I noticed a harrier coming towards me along the saltmarsh. It must have known I was there as it banked quickly and disappeared over the sea defence not before posing quite nicely in the rising sun. Scrutiny of the photos proved that it was indeed a hen harrier.

Once the sun rose I headed along the ban. Numerous kestrels were hunting and a peregrine passed by overhead. A marsh harrier rose from a nearby field only to get mobbed by crows.

A herd of whooper swans were huddled in a field nearby and snipe seemed to be flying about everywhere no doubt unsettled by the recent freezing conditions. A flock of twite bounced around over the saltmarsh and two pink-footed geese flew up from their overnight roost.

A wander further along the bank revealed a goood number of hares in one field-at least 12.

A small falcon perched on a distant post had me reaching for my binoculars and sure enough I was adding my 6th raptor to the daylist-merlin.

I carried on scanning both flooded fields behind me and then the saltmarsh. Another harrier was approaching hunting along the bank top ducking out of sight as it went below the top of the bank. I waited as it came closer and it revealed itself to be another hen harrier. It didnt take long for it to clock me and it swept out accross the opposite field to carry on its way heading east.

By now the humber was almost at low tide so I made my way back. A fox hunting voles was a nice piece of behaviour-brought to an abrupt end once it actually caught one-it soon disappeared. Another merlin was hunting over the mud but moved off after a couple of unsuccessful sorties.

I made my way round to Welwick Saltmarsh which was unusually quiet but two distant buzzards was a welcome addition to the list.

By now the sun had gone in, I made my way round Sunk Island. I managed a fleeting glimpse of a short-eared owl and further down in the set aside was a hunting barn owl. The light was no where near as good as the week before so I headed for home.

Yet another great day out in the magnificent county of East Yorkshire.