The stoat seen here is in it's summer coat, in the northern part of their range they are known as ermine and have a dense, white coat during winter- once worn by members of the House of Lords, though they now wear rabbit fur.

One of my best unexpected encounters of the year today, I was taking a short break from revision to sit on a gatepost and scan the fields for buzzards (as you do), when I spotted this stoat run across the lane and disappear into the hedgerow, only to reappear a few minutes later only 2 metres from where I was standing.
   Unfortunately as soon as he saw me he dived back into the hedge so I was unable to get a good photograph.
     Stoats can be distinguished from there close relative the weasel by there larger size (approx. 10 inches) and black tipped tale.
     They are particularly active at this time of the year because of the abundance of their favourite prey: baby rabbits. Stoats where once thought to hypnotises there prey with a dance, but it is now thought there jerky leaps may be caused by an infection of Skrjabingylus (roundworm).
    Although native to britain stoats are listed as one of the "worst 100 invasive species", they have been particularly destructive in New Zealand, feeding on the eggs, chicks and adults of  endangered birds such as the kiwi.

Rockpooling with the wembury volunteers

A European cowrie hides among sponges.

The magnificent 'sea lemon" a large and strikingly coloured sea slug

 

The egg sack of a sea lemon.

Thursday the 5th saw the start of the new season at the Wembury bay Marine reserve with a volunteer rock pool so new volunteers could learn about some of the wildlife found on the beach. The rock pools where fantastic and we found everything from cornish sucker fish to brittle stars. However I've devoted this post to some of the more unusual species found. Firstly a european cowrie. Usually associated with tropical waters cowries are not uncommon, though easy to overlook as in the UK they rarely grow over a centimetre in length and at low tide retreat in deep crevices. It feeds on sea squirts such as the star ascidian. 

    My second species is the aptly named sea lemon, These are one of the largest and probably the easiest to find of our sea slugs, and can often be spotted on the lower shore feeding on sponge.

Slight freak out when I realised I hadn't posted in over a month, I've had a few technical difficulties involving video format and I'm sitting my A's levels in May but it's time to get back on track.
Most of march was taking up filming amphibians, mainly frogs and toads this year. hopefully I'll be able to put short film together soon, but until then....

I spotted this magnificent pheasant whilst searching for buzzards near my house, he was either incredibly stupid or brave and allowed me to get within 10ft or so.

The peasant is one of our most recognised birds, but they're no native, Pheasants where introduced from Asia and eastern Europe some time in the 10th century (by the Romans). Over 30 million birds have to be bred and released into the countryside each year as adults rarely survive more than a year in the wild and have a very poor breeding success rate (I have only ever seen one female with chicks).

I took these down at St Ives, I had intended to go snorkelling but as you can see behind the Herring gull the conditions where far from perfect, so I cheered myself up with an ice cream, a pasty, and some bird photography.

Starlings are one of my favourite birds to watch, they seem to flourish everywhere -moorland, the beach, cities, and fields. And as well as having pretty stunning plumage they have fascinating social lives, and for their size they're incredibly intelligent.

 St Ives is one of the best places to photograph them, The light is usually perfect and many are so tame they'll take food from your hand. 

Starling murmurations at Crowdy reservoir

I've finally managed to get back up to the moor to film the murmurations, so here it is, my latest micro documentary!

Brent geese on the river Exe

(Spot the odd one out)

I drove up to Exeter at the weekend to do some long-distance kayak training on the canal. Luckily I still had time to have a look along the estuary afterwards. Curlews, Lapwings, Pochard, Shovelers, and Widgeon can all be found in abundance. But I decided to focus on The Brent Geese. These small black Geese may not look like much, but they've migrated here from breeding grounds on the Arctic Tundra, several thousand Kilometres away. On the way they can fly at speeds bordering on 100 Km/h!

Seeing the tightly-packed flocks shoot over head is fantastic, but their's also a chance  of spotting a real rarity, The Red-brested goose, A stunningly marked, rare migrant from Russia, which can occasionally be seen feeding among a brent goose flock.

Buzzards in Pyjamas

I've been trying to film a buzzard on roadkill for a while now, as part of a short documentary about Buzzards and their changing behaviour.
 But there is a problem, Buzzards feed only in the early morning and at Dusk. Landing, eating as much as they can as fast as they can, then leaving before the scavengers/traffic arrives. So this gives you a very brief window of opportunity between the Buzzard starting to feed and the 20 minutes or so until the local magpies turn up.
So far all attempts have been failiures. But last saturday my luck changed when I was woken by a yell from my dad "OLI WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! IF YOU'R IN THE CAR IN 1 MINUTE THERE'S A BUZZARD 500M DOWN THE LANE!!!". Head still ringing I leapt into the corridor, grabbed my camera bag from the bannister and dived headlong into the car.
When we got there the sun was just coming up, and there in front of us was a happily feeding Buzzard; seemingly oblivious to our presence. I had around 5 minutes of filming time, in which the Buzzard allowed me to get within 10m, before the first car of the day turned up and it flew up over the hedge.
Hopefully there'll be some more Buzzard shots on the way as February is the Displaying season, when you can often see 4 or more Buzzards soaring on the high thermals mewing to each other.

First Snorkelling of the new year!

A gigantic spiny starfish (40cm across)

A Bib (centre, with white, chin barbel), 2 ballan 

wrasse and a spiny starfish share a cave.

A large Cotton-spinner sea cucumber.

                                          

And last but not least a Cat shark (Dogfish)

Finally back in mask and flippers for the first snorkel of the new year! 

Winter is a strange time to snorkel/dive, you never know what you might see. The usual coastal fish retreat to deeper water, which maintains a more constant temperature throughout the year. The abundant seaweed forests die back. At first it can look barren and imposing. But despite appearances and the freezing temperatures it's definitely worth a dip, as rarely seen deep water creatures venture closer in.

   The first thing to strike me was the large number of invertebrates. Every nook and gully was crammed with sea cucumbers, common and spiny starfish and velvet and edible crabs. The starfish and cucumbers, though quite common, are usually only abundant on deep reefs at 25m (82ft) or below. 

   But the what really made the trip worth while was the spotting of a Bib and a large cat shark.

The Bib is a smaller and less known cousin of the more famous (though unfortunately rare these days) Atlantic cod. It is more often found on wrecks below 35 metres, so you can imagine my surprise to find one lurking in a crevice in 16ft of water! 

   The last great spot was the discovery of a large (over a metre in length) lesser-spotted cat shark (Dogfish) I've seen them twice before at Talland, though this was the first time I managed to get so close, as shown in the video the shark, bored by my persistent attempts to film it, went to sleep under a patch of oarweed. You can sometimes find whole groups snoozing like this. 

Godrevy-late November

I haven't been able to get out that much lately as I'm currently midway through my A levels (groan). But with a bit of luck I might get in a quick snorkel this weekend.

 In the mean time I thought I'd post a short clip I filmed down at Godrevy last year. The video shows a pair of grey seals mating in the water, this seemed a bit unusual at the time as seals usually mate on shore, with one large male controlling a section of the beach and a harem of females. This is probably an immature/smaller male having a sneaky liaison out to sea to avoid being spotted by a Dominant Bull seal. But I can't be certain because I can't find any mention of similar occurrences. 

Bait ball at Talland bay

This has to be one of the best wildlife experiences out there. Floating in the middle of a bait ball. These are either Mackerel or a close relative, and they're being attacked by bass. (You can see one dart in around 27 seconds) They're forming the ball to confuse the predators; It's hard to aim at one fish in the shimmering, twisting mass (try it you'll get a headache). A problem with this defence is that it allows fishing boats using mid-water trawl nets to collect whole shoals in one giant scoop as they are so closely packed together. They are also easy to spot from above (both by fisherman and hungry gulls) as when a predator darts up from below the fish can't move to the side due to the press of bodies around them, so must leap into the air in a shimmering wave before landing back in the water with a resounding splash. (Note to self: film a bait ball from the surface).

Crabs and Clingfish

Went down to Wembury bay in Devon this morning for a bit of bodyboarding/surfing and I had a quick look  round the rockpools after. Wembury is a marine protected area so can have some great surprises hidden away.

The  first video shows a pre mate pair of common hermit crabs. The female is only receptive for a short time so the male will drag her around unceremoniously until she becomes receptive. About halfway through another crab arrives, he looks a bit too small to be challenging the male; a female seeking attention perhaps?

The second video is of my favourite fish- the Cornish Sucker, the video just doesn't do it justice, In summer their true colours really come through, deep yellow sides lined with red spots, bright blue false eyes on the back of their heads and crimson tails. And as if this wasn't enough their pelvic fins are fused into a powerful suction cup that allows them to cling on to wave pounded rocks at high tide. And they're armed with a powerful "duck bill" for grinding up the  small crustaceans they feed on.

Nightime lapse

                     This is the first time lapse I've been able to shoot at night. I'm

                     definitely pleased with the results, but obviously their's room for

                     improvement and I've got some great ideas on the way. 

                           I think I'll also need to construct a waterproof case for the canon as well, so I

                    can leave it outside overnight without worrying. (The current rain

                    cover won't fit the time-lapse remote as well as the camera). Another

                    problem I'm having is that the film looks great on the computer but

                    as soon as I finalise it (or indeed post it to Blogger) It looses a lot of

                    definition. I think it's something to do with the frame rates used.

Camera trap is back! first off: Wood mice.

My camera trap has been sitting idle for far to long, but I’ve finally got round to using it again. This was filmed last night in the Garden shed. Here their eating bird seed, but it’s amazing what wood mice will turn up to feed on, I’ve filmed them eating Dog food side by side with a fox at the bottom of a neighbors’ garden. Though in the wild their usually herbivores that may take the occasional invertebrate.

I initially wondered if the mice in the film where a pair because the mating season doesn’t usually start until February and I wouldn’t of thought mice would stay together when not breeding- (could it have had something to do with the mild winter? )

         However after a bit of research I discovered that wood mice will often share nests throughout winter (I assume for warmth) with up to four mice sharing one nest.

          Another interesting point about our Garage mice is that they seem to be nesting in a box full of rags on a high shelf, I knew they where great climbers but it’s more usual for them to nest in burrows under hedgerows.

Anyway, now the camera trap is back up there’ll hopefully be lots more to come. 

Time lapse

Just got a new remote for the camera which allows me to shoot

time lapse! I've just posted this quick clip to show it off. I know it's

not great but the lighting was rubbish and it is a test run. Anyway,

hopefully it will allow me to get some great time lapse sequences

into some of my projects.

Gales, Gulls, and Grey triggerfish.

Winter can be a hard time to photograph. Low light conditions, less Wildlife around, combined with hail and strong winds which can make being out in the field a serious challenge.
However it can also be a time to see some wildlife at it's best. I took these shots down at Bude.
I'll be the first to admit their not the best, but it was fantastic to see the gulls in flying in Gale force winds, with the storm clouds behind. What makes it even more impressive is that you'd never know from the photos how strong the winds were and how fast the gulls were moving; they look completely relaxed.
These are of course black headed gulls in their winter plumage, in summer they look even better with glossy "dark chocolate" hoods emphasising their white ringed eyes.
another good time to spot them is when local farmers are ploughing the fields as Black heads are generally the first (and most numerous) on the seen.
Another highlight of that trip was finding a washed up (unfortunately dead) Grey triggerfish, I've seen these over in the Mediterranean and although I new they were becoming increasingly common along our coasts I've never seen one whilst out snorkelling, hopefully I'll have a bit more luck next summer.

Wild Boar

I recently spent a great day photographing wild boars at a nearby estate. The boar are kept in a fenced of woodland and though kept for meat are definitely not tame. Even though I don't usually like to photograph captive animals, (as it always seems like cheating) it was still great to get so close to these magnificent animals. Males can way up to 90kg (A few in Russia have been recorded as being close on 300kg! but I never quite believe the "you should have seen how big it was" stories.) and they are armed with an impressive set of four tusks, for foraging and fighting. Two protrude from the top lip and two from the bottom, they grow constantly and sharpen themselves as they rub against the opposite tusks. 

        However I feel I'm making them sound a bit to scary, though their definitely intimidating. (even on the other side of a fence.) They ran if I made even the smallest movement and generally seemed to regard me with expressions of benign interest. 

        As well as the boar there where several large lakes, as I approached one a group of FOURTEEN herons took to the air, unfortunately by the time I'd whipped out the telephoto lens they'd disappeared.

More Murmurations!

Typical sighting: Starlings stream across a road.

Starlings explode straight towards the camera.

I have been seeing even more starlings as we get nearer to Christmas, though I still haven't had a chance to visit a roost site to see the winter murmurations ( a must watch winter wildlife spectacle!).

 They seem most active just as the sky starts to darken, depressingly that seems to be around 3:30 - 4:00 these days :(. It does mean photographing them is hard, fast movement and poor lighting don't go well together, but I'm hopeful that we'll get at least a few clear winter days when I can head up to Bodmin with the camera and hopefully get some good shots. The male's are particularly impressive at the moment in their glossy black, buff-tip winter plumage. 

Wembury bay rockpooling

Cornish Sucker fish

 Went for a quick Surf down at Wembury bay (Devon) this morning, Followed by a search round the rockpools. Wembury Bay is a marine reserve so is particularly rich in rockpool life.

As well as the usual species I came across a few rarer fish, such as this sea scorpion (below). Though common in deeper waters it's rarer to find them in rockpools, possibly because of their superb camouflage. I caught this young one surprisingly high-up the beach and whilst it was in the net it flipped over and revealed an amazingly colourful underside. Sea scorpions are ambush predators and can change their colours to blend perfectly with the surronding rocks and seaweed so on the top are usually a mottled collection of browns and greens.

Soon after the Sea scorpion I spotted a Five Bearded rockling, (bottom photo, looks like a catfish). I've found a few over the summer but what was interesting here was that I caught two in the same pool (a mating pair?), and as I was placing them back in the water a third swam straight at me in an apparent display of aggression. I have no knowledge of the breeding habits of these fish but it is just possible that it is at this time of year that they seek out mates, I'll definetly research it.

The last fish of the day was a personal favourite; the Cornish Sucker fish, the  fins on the undersides of these fish (pelvic fins) fuse to create a strong sucker pad that can even suspend them upside down. As well as this they have  a highly recognisable  duck bill- like mouth , a yellow body covered in red spots and a pair of electric blue fake eye spots, definitely on of  the UK's weirdest fish.

Spot the Sea Scorpion

Godrevy grey seals

"hmmmm, bubbles..."

I persuaded my long-suffering parents to drive down to Godrevy head at the weekend so I could film the resident Grey seal population.The steep cliff means there's no chance of getting eye level shots of the seals but it's still a great place to see them, set against the fantastic cornish coastline. The best time to spot the seals is mid to late Autumn when their pupping. The footage was OK generally but I got a great clip of a young pair mating in the surf (that's nature for you). As well as the Seals Godrevy ( a national trust reserve) offers some fantastic heathland which I'll be heading back to in the spring.

Starling murmuration

If you look closely at this photo you should just be able to see a rather blurred and distant example of one of our greatest wildlife spectacle, a Starling murmuration!

    Starlings come together in to huge flocks from November through to February, many reasons have been suggested for this communal roosting, protection against predators e.g peregrine falcons (harder to pick out an individual bird), warmth, and to exchange information about where best to feed in these leaner times.
    The best time to witness this spectacle is at dusk,  smaller flocks start to arrive near the roost site, more and more arrive and the murmuration grows into a huge, boiling, swirling cloud of hundreds of thousands of individual birds. I took this photo at a site suggested to me by a friend, An old air field near Davidstow in North Cornwall. unfortuanately this time I arrived a bit late, the flock was settling down and the light was fading fast. However I'll definetly be heading back soon better prepared.

Donna Nook Seals 2010 (David Attenborough Style :)

Have just got a Mac, so decided to experiment with imovie.

Edited together a short film about my 2010 trip to film Seals

at Donna Nook nature reserve in Lincolnshire. I hope you find

it interesting,

Oli.