Non-Birds...

...the other day a friend asked if I took any photos of wildlife other than birds. I said I'd like to but there's usually nothing to see. Birds can be difficult to approach but come to think of it, compared to mammals they're quite easy.

I looked back through my collection of RAW images and found a few non-bird shots that are vaguely presentable so here they are...

I woke-up this Fox one spring morning at Adel Dam nature reserve, just north of Leeds. It wasn't at all impressed by my presence and promptly went back to sleep. I suppose it helped that I was in a hide and all he could see was my lens poking out of the window.

No animals here but I thought a reminder of spring was in order during this unusually long period of freezing cold weather we're suffering at the moment. This is a scene from the woods at Bretton Lakes during Bluebell 'season'.

Aren't Woodmouse's cute? My first encounter with one of these came when I was sat at the rear of the hide at Bretton. He was very keen on peanuts!

This young Red Squirrel was a visitor to the garden of a cottage I hired in South-West Scotland.

Below is an adult I came across during a walk on the grounds of Craig Farm during the same holiday. I was renting the cottage from the owners of the farm - West Holmhead Cottage

I had to get up very early in the morning to spot this Roe Deer. I stopped the car in the road and took the shot from the window.

This one was taken a year later whilst staying at the same cottage. The adult Roe Deers tend to leave their young hidden in the undergrowth. That was the case here but the mother chose a place very near to the road. She bolted and left the fawn to fend for itself when she saw me.

Notice the bored look on his face? This Common Toad sat impassively as I arranged the blades of grass so I could get a clear shot of it but I think he was beginning to lose patience at the end. The picture was taken in Strid Wood in the Yorkshire Dales.

I think this is a Four Spotted Chaser? Taken at Allerthorpe Common YWT reserve in North Yorkshire - Allerthorpe Common

I don't suppose this set would be complete without a Rabbit?

A Spotted Wood butterfly. Taken in a wood of all places.

This friendly Bank Vole was competing for peanuts with the Woodmouse pictured at the start of this blog. Here he is getting greedy and trying to figure out how to carry two at a time. I had to use flash with these shots (and the toad) because it was very dark in the undergrowth.

Potteric Carr

Potteric Carr is the largest of around 80 nature reserves that are either owned or managed by The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Potteric Carr Homepage

It's also the largest inland wetland in the UK - outside of London. Unfortunately 95% of this habitat is currently covered in ice. The good thing about this is that more of the birds are relying on the feeding station situated in front of the Willow Pool Hide.

I was hoping that I might see my first Water Rail and maybe even a Bittern, one of which has been showing in front of the hide since the ice took a hold. Apparently doing its best to reduce the local rat population!

The Bittern didn't show up whilst I was there but the Water Rail did.

This was the most acrobatic of the Great Spotted Woodpecker's visits to the feeders.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 




A solitary Willow Tit stayed around just long enough to get a shot

There were several female Pheasants around but the males seemed to be keeping their distance

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Last to turn up was a male and female Reed Bunting

Bretton Lakes Update

Well its not quite the antarctic but we are in the midst of a fairly prolonged cold snap. Snow rarely even settles in these parts but it has been covering the ground for over a week now. Daytime temperatures are hovering around 0-2 degrees which has meant the ice on Bretton Lakes isn't getting a chance to thaw.

View from Cascade Bridge.

I'm not sure what type of tree this is but the local birdlife are currently feasting on it's red berries.

One of the many Blackbirds taking advantage of some non-frozen food!

Also present but far more furtive was a flock of about a dozen Fieldfares. This was the first time I've encountered this bird!

They all flew off shortly after I got this shot.

As usual there were plenty of Robins around.

Nuthatch

I've been spending some time watching the undergrowth in the hope of spotting a Goldcrest for some weeks now but without any luck. Today's visit was the same but I did come across a Wren and a Dunnock.

Dreary

West Yorkshire in December

Dull, miserable, gloomy, dark, wet and windy! This is West Yorkshire in December. It didn't even bother to get light today. So instead of going out with my camera on the last day of my annual leave - which I booked especially so I could go see the Great Northern Divers that are hanging around on the reservoirs above Huddersfield - I stayed in and tiled the kitchen floor. Yes it was that bad!

For people who live in nicer climates who want to simulate winter in West Yorkshire. Get a large electric fan, stand inside a walk-in refrigerator, throw a bucket of water over yourself, turn on the fan and then close your eyes!

Roll on spring!

Mauritius

September 2008 saw my eldest son get married on the island of Mauritius. I smuggled my camera and a couple of lenses into the wedding luggage and managed to get a few shots of the local birdlife.

Most of these shots are taken from within the grounds of the hotel.


If I had a favourite then it would be the Red-Whiskered Bulbul. They appeared in numbers wherever you were and if out walking they would keep you company for much of the journey.

Madagascan Fody.

Also present in great numbers was the Mynah Bird.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I think the youngster was saying, "Mother, either you regurgitate some food or we're gonna fall out..!"

The Weaver Birds were too busy nest building to be bothered by photographers...

Zebra Doves were always to be found foraging on the floor.

Green Heron. This shot was also taken within the hotel grounds...

...but I had to venture out to The Black River Gorges national park to see this Pink Pigeon. Endemic to the island and once very common, this bird almost became extinct in the 1970's when numbers in the wild fell to less than 30. Since then a captive breeding program has seen the numbers increase to several hundred.

This Fruit Bat was one of a pair that flew high overhead whilst we were visiting the Black River Gorges.

Cyprus

I spent a couple of weeks on holiday in Cyrpus in mid-September 2009. Probably not the best time of year for birdwatching but certainly not the worst. I was a little too late to see any Demoiselle Cranes on the Akrotiri salt lake and too early for the Flamingos on the Larnaca salt lake but apart from that there was plenty to see.

The most prevalant and visible were the Bee Eaters. Especially to the north-west of the Akrotri peninusar where the local farmers had many beehives dotted around the area.

This female spent a couple of minutes trying to repel the male's advances but he persisted and she eventually (just about) gave in.

By far the most productive site was Achna Dam, close to the border with Northern Cyprus. The only drawback was the local fishermen who seemed intent on turning the place into a rubbish tip. The waders having to negotiate the tin cans and plastic bags left behind by these people.

I cleared the mess away after this Spurwing Plover had moved on but more rubbish had been deposited by the next day when I returned.

A solitary Great White Egret could be found at the dam each time I visited.

Keeping it company was this Little Egret

Making up the numbers was a Black Ibis

Ruff

Cyprus Pied Wheatear

I found this friendly Kestrel in the grounds of the hotel we stayed at for the first week of our holiday.

Sardinian Warbler

Winchat

Great Reed Warblers were very common