Author Archives: sarahthurlbeck

A sight I’ve always wanted to see for myself …goosander chicks hitching a ride on their mum’s back! I’d seen photographs but had never ever seen goosander chicks, let alone them hitching a lift. We were nearing the end of a riverside walk where all we’d seen were some black headed gulls. But then weContinue reading “Hitchhiking Chicks!”

This time of year is so special, the time of new life in Nature. This Spring I was thrilled to get a proper view of a baby hare, called a leveret, for the first time. It has become a regular visitor to my brother’s garden first thing in the morning, so when visiting I hadContinue reading “New Life”

Yesterday evening we went to see how the coot chicks were doing and were treated to the sight of a couple of them snuggling in under their parent’s wings for warmth. The one in this photo was spotted on its own in the water heading back to the nest whilst being given toots of encouragementContinue reading “Tender Moments”

It’s May and chicks are beginning to appear. I’ve been keeping an eye out for not only nests but hungry sounding cheeps coming from bushes and undergrowth. Here are some sightings so far. These cute coot chicks look quite different from their parents. Here is the parent for comparison. I’ve seen my first Mallard ducklingsContinue reading “Chick this out”

Today I was out looking for chicks around a local loch, having long given up hope of seeing any boxing hares this Spring. More about chicks later, but today’s big excitement was finding myself accidentally in the midst of some frenetic hare action! It started when I saw one at the side of the roadContinue reading “Bank Holiday Boxing”

It has taken four days of walks around the River Tyne in East Lothian to get good shots of a kingfisher. I met this lady kingfisher first yesterday evening and then returned to the same area in the early morning to catch sight of her again. I had several sightings of kingfishers but it couldContinue reading “Tales from the Riverbank”

On my first morning visiting Seattle in the Northwest Pacific area of USA I went a walk with my big lens around the city’s Green Lake Park. I would say it is the same size of park as Strathclyde Country Park back home. I was very curious to see which birds and wildlife would beContinue reading “A Walk in the Park – Seattle”

We’ve not had much snow this winter so when I saw a covering outside this morning I ventured out to try and capture some wildlife in the snow. First I took photos of some birds in and around the garden. One of my favourite birds is the blackbird, waiting for spring before it begins toContinue reading “Snow Day”

Early in the New Year I saw striking images of mandarin ducks posted on wildlife photography sites. Photographers had been going to the River Leven beside Balloch to see this relatively rare duck. So today I went in hunt of them too. At first I walked alongside the river South of Balloch but only sawContinue reading “Exotic Mandarins”

I was up at the crack of dawn this morning to go down to the river to try and see a kingfisher. At just past 8am the sun was not quite over the horizon and the light was poor along the riverbank. Nevertheless I followed a flash of electric blue as it zipped along justContinue reading “Bedazzled !”