Shorties

I read on Peter Fletcher's blog that these short-eared owls have been at Prestwick Carr all winter but they have only started flying in daylight recently.  I was pleased to see them as I guess they will be leaving for their breeding grounds soon.

Record shot

This great grey shrike has been at Prestwick Carr all winter but never comes close (at least when I am there).  This photo was taken from just over 200m away with a 600mm lens and a crop sensor, giving an effective focal length of 960mm.  I didn't have a tripod so I managed by propping the monopod against a fence post.  The first photo is uncropped, the second is a big crop of the same image.

So, just a record shot but I guess it is not bad considering - at least you can make out what it is.

Merry Christmas

For the second year running I have made a photo book of some of my wildlife photos.  It had a print run of two(!) but is available online for anyone to look at for free here.  Just click on it and make it full screen.  You don't need to enter your email or subscribe.

In the next few days I'll also post some favourite images of the past 12 months on this blog.

Painted lady

Prestwick Carr

Bird of the week - Willow tit

The willow tit was my bird of the week last March but I thought it would be good to share some photos from this week. These two were feeding alongside a flock of great tits and blue tits.

Poecile montanus (also montana) seems an odd name for a bird of damp woodland.  Look at the maps below and you can see that it doesn't live in mountains.

Willow tit numbers are in decline and the bird is on the UK red list.  The total UK population is only around 3000 pairs.

The BTO Bird Atlas maps of change in distribution show a disastrous decline in the southern and eastern parts of the UK.

The causes of the population decline are not clear but may include habitat loss and increased nest predation (by great spotted woodpeckers).  You can read a review of research into the decline in willow tit numbers published in British Birds here.  You can listen to a willow tit call here and watch a video of Mitchell Butel singing "Tit-Willow" in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado here.

More shorties

I hope you don't mind a few more short-eared owl photos.  First a few from St Mary's.

And more from Prestwick Carr.

Merry Christmas

Bird of the week - Short-eared owl

The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is a top bird and attracts a lot of attention in autumn and early winter.  It is the most accessible British owl as it flies in the daytime while hunting for voles.

It has been a good season so far for short-eared owls locally, with birds flying at many points up the North East coast. This graph shows the BTO BirdTrack reporting rate for the UK this year.

The breeding population is small and is mainly confined to northern uplands but in winter the population is swelled by migrants from Scandinavia and northern Europe.  The maps are from the Bird Atlas.

Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the day on short-eared owl here.  Read more about short-eared owls here.  Watch a BTO video on short and long-eared owls here.