Author Archives: sarahthurlbeck

Yesterday evening I went down to the river and almost immediately saw not just one but two kingfishers zipping along the river in tandem. They would then disappear into the thick leafy trees on the riverbanks. They were almost impossible to see once they hid themselves amongst the foliage. Here is a glimpse of one,Continue reading “Rocking It”

I’ve been trying a new technique with my camera called “back button focusing” and so today I went a walk up through fields to try and practise it on the hares I normally see there. But typically wildlife doesn’t appear to order -no hares were seen at all. So I put my heavy camera intoContinue reading “Stoatin’ Aboot”

Today I had fun trying to distinguish molehills and boulders from actual hares lying low in the grass. Hares are nocturnal but spend the day lying out in scrapes, often in plain sight but blending in perfectly with the landscape. Here is what I saw when I first spotted the hare above. Subsequent images showContinue reading “Let Sleeping Hares Lie”

When I was a child I didn’t like butterflies or moths. I somehow was scared of their fragility if they fluttered around inside the house. Now I’m fascinated by them and happy to observe them out in the open. Here are a selection which were photographed on a morning walk at Aberlady Bay in EastContinue reading “Winged Wonders”

The other afternoon I received a call from one of our friends with whom we had helped make and erect a barn owl box. Last year two barn owls fledged from it. This year we had heard sounds from the box but were not sure if there were chicks within or not. Our friend toldContinue reading “Barn Owl Rescue!”

Remember the fluffy long eared owl chicks? Well, they are not so fluffy now. They are bigger and bolder, still mewing plaintively for food at dusk but now flying out onto posts near their woodland roost. When one flew out, the other followed. What a treat to see them out in the open, as theyContinue reading “Older and Bolder”

Over a week ago we were surprised to hear the plaintive mews of long eared owl chicks. The sound was in a different place from last year and much earlier than expected. Here is a youtube video of its call. We tried to locate the cries and eventually spotted this fluffy pair in tree branches.Continue reading “A Pair of Fluffy Owlets”

I’m just back from a visit to the North Uist in the Outer Hebrides where I was lucky enough to see and photograph short eared owls. Here they are a common sight as they hunt in broad daylight over rough moorland and machair. This was one of the reasons for visiting this island. They haveContinue reading “Short Eared Owls”

There is a hive of activity going on in my local wood. A woodpecker pair are busy feeding squealing youngsters, not yet peeping out their hole. Here is a busy parent going in with a beak full of grubs and insects. This one is the dad, I can tell by the red patch at theContinue reading “If you go into the woods today ….”

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!”