Author Archives: sarahthurlbeck

We were very fortunate to have a week’s winter sun in Madeira at the end of November and one day I joined a “Madeira Wind Birds” tour run by naturalists Hugo Romano & Catarina Correia-Fagundes. The aim of the tour was primarily to try and spot birds endemic to Madeira, that is, birds unique toContinue reading “Birdwatching in Madeira”

Aberlady Bay nature reserve in East Lothian is one of my favourite places to go either early in the morning or at dusk. In autumn there is the spectacle and incredible sound of thousands of geese taking off at dawn or coming in to land at dusk. However there are other great sights all yearContinue reading “Aberlady Bay Highlights”

Fast forward two months after seeing the long eared owls at dusk and I finally managed to photograph “our” barn owls at dusk. This was after a few attempts. Barn owls have specially adapted feathers with a comb like edge which make them softer and silent in flight. So there is no sound to warnContinue reading “Owls at Dusk 2”

In June we parked our campervan next to the barn where we’d put up the barn owl box in January and I watched for an hour at dusk, hoping to glimpse a barn owl. Alas not a thing to be seen so we went a lovely sunset walk. We were lured to some hedges whereContinue reading “Owls at Dusk 1”

In January some friends who have large derelict barns on their property invited us over to help construct a Barn Owl box. We got the instructions from “The Barn Owl Trust” website. The box was made and positioned high up on the edge of one of the barns. This spring my friends thought that atContinue reading “Barn Owl Chicks”

A few weeks ago I spotted the first cygnet for our local swan pair. The pair had been sitting on the nest for about six weeks and it was on a rainy afternoon that I saw one peeking out, whilst its siblings either hadn’t yet hatched or they were keeping tucked in, sheltered from theContinue reading “Cygnet Season”

We’ve been lucky enough to spot quite a few red squirrels lately in the Highlands. The best place to photograph them is where there are squirrel feeders, for example at the wildlife hide at Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, Aberfoyle. There you can get quite close to them as they gorge themselves on nuts or scamperContinue reading “Go Reds!”

Well, today was cold, windy and rainy so I thought it might be worth seeing if the barn owl was sheltering in its tree hollow. It wasn’t, and I had a very wet, soggy tramp around the loch and back to the car. But just as I was about to turn my back on theContinue reading “Catch of the Day”

Last week I was up by the Moray Firth and took the chance to go dolphin spotting at Chanonry Point near Fortrose. The best chance of seeing them is when the tide is rising, about an hour after low tide. My brother kindly checked out the tide times for me and we arrived just inContinue reading “Dolphin Spotting”

I have been doubly blessed this week by seeing two different kinds of owl and getting photos of them in the one week – and when I was not even looking for owls. That’s what I love about wandering in nature, you just never can tell what surprises you’ll see. I have dreamt of lookingContinue reading “Two Kinds of Owl”