DAN FORDER WILDLIFE

On a day spent exploring new areas & scoping out unpublicised but potential birding spots closer to the coast, I had some amazing luck... Just 10 minutes or so from our hotel I found a small fairly secluded river valley, rich with vegetation, alive with birdsong, buzzing with insects, & full of reptiles & amphibians. Higher up the adjacent slopes the thick vegetation gave way to steeper rugged mountainside, where crooked trees gripped the crevices precariously, the terrain gradually becoming more craggy nearing the main peak, which held inaccessible cliff faces & edges. Over the peak & away the landscape was more rolling, but still unpassable to those without poise on their feet. This beautiful oasis & dramatic scenery a stark contrast to the neat & ordered little town we'd just driven through, & the holiday apartments & hotels just down the road. Adult Bonelli's Eagle, Costa del Sol - one of a pair (or third bird - see foot note). 15...

Male Honey Buzzard flying in off the Mediterranean sea on spring migration, at Atalaya Isdabe, Estepona, Spain. 15/05/22 On the 15th of May, the wind was blowing through the western Mediterranean quite strongly from the west - this can cause migrant raptors heading north, attempting to cross the sea at the Strait of Gibratar, to drift eastwards, missing their targets of Gibraltar or Tarifa, & instead making 'landfall' further east along the Costa del Sol. Positioned about 70km north-east, at Atalaya Isdabe, Estepona, I was able to watch good numbers of European Honey Buzzards come in off the sea, pass over the coastal urban areas, & continue on their way north into Andalucia, with this one passing low & close enough to me for a decent photo. They continued to come in to the bay here on a few days throughout the week depending on the wind, usually in small groups, but numbers stated to fizzle-out by the end of the week - in past years it has usually the week prior th...

WILDLIFE IN THE WORKING WEEK - Autumn Dragonflies inc. Southern & Migrant Hawker, Where to Find Whinchats.   Break time sub-urban birding & wildlife watching in the working week. Spending time in nature, finding & photographing wildlife, & just enjoying the outdoors, wherever you are, even with the limited time of a 9 til 5… SUBSCRIBE to the channel for new episodes. At 1K subs, 3 lucky subscribers will win a nature related prize - wildlife winners will be announced in a future video. Share to inspire others to care for the environment & appreciate our natural neighbours. Wherever you go, the wonders of nature are there to behold - just get out there & you will find it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

WILDLIFE IN THE WORKING WEEK - Surprise Little Ringed Plovers, Late Common Swifts, Eurasian Teal Arrival.   Break time sub-urban birding & wildlife watching in the working week. Spending time in nature, finding & photographing wildlife, & just enjoying the outdoors, wherever you are, even with the limited time of a 9 til 5… SUBSCRIBE to the channel for new episodes. At 1K subs, 3 lucky subscribers will win a nature related prize - wildlife winners will be announced in a future video. Share to inspire others to care for the environment & appreciate our natural neighbours. Wherever you go, the wonders of nature are there to behold - just get out there & you will find it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

WILDLIFE IN THE WORKING WEEK - Green Sandpiper, New Urban Common Blue Butterfly Colony, Yellow Wildflowers.   Break time sub-urban birding & wildlife watching in the working week. Spending time in nature, finding & photographing wildlife, & just enjoying the outdoors, wherever you are, even with the limited time of a 9 til 5… SUBSCRIBE to the channel for new episodes. At 1K subs, 3 lucky subscribers will win a nature related prize - wildlife winners will be announced in a future video. Share to inspire others to care for the environment & appreciate our natural neighbours. Wherever you go, the wonders of nature are there to behold - just get out there & you will find it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

WILDLIFE IN THE WORKING WEEK - Gift from a Red Kite, Red Underwing, Chinese Water Deer, Wildlife Acoustics EMT2 Bat Detector.   Break time sub-urban birding & wildlife watching in the working week. Spending time in nature, finding & photographing wildlife, & just enjoying the outdoors, wherever you are, even with the limited time of a 9 til 5… SUBSCRIBE to the channel for new episodes. At 1K subs, 3 lucky subscribers will win a nature related prize - wildlife winners will be announced in a future video. Share to inspire others to care for the environment & appreciate our natural neighbours. Wherever you go, the wonders of nature are there to behold - just get out there & you will find it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

WILDLIFE IN THE WORKING WEEK - Reptiles, Hobby, Emerald Damselfly Species, Roesel's Bush Cricket & Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillars.   Break time sub-urban birding & wildlife watching in the working week. Spending time in nature, finding & photographing wildlife, & just enjoying the outdoors, wherever you are, even with the limited time of a 9 til 5… SUBSCRIBE to the channel for new episodes. At 1K subs, 3 lucky subscribers will win a nature related prize - wildlife winners will be announced in a future video. Share to inspire others to care for the environment & appreciate our natural neighbours. Wherever you go, the wonders of nature are there to behold - just get out there & you will find it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

WILDLIFE IN THE WORKING WEEK - Spotted Flycatchers & Jersey Tiger Moths.   Break time sub-urban birding & wildlife watching in the working week. Spending time in nature, finding & photographing wildlife, & just enjoying the outdoors, wherever you are, even with the limited time of a 9 til 5… SUBSCRIBE to the channel for new episodes. At 1K subs, 3 lucky subscribers will win a nature related prize - wildlife winners will be announced in a future video. Share to inspire others to care for the environment & appreciate our natural neighbours. Wherever you go, the wonders of nature are there to behold - just get out there & you will find it. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

Here's my attempt at photographing today's partial solar eclipse with a budget DIY solar filter, taken through a brief gap in the cloud at 11.35... Partial Solar Eclipse, 10/06/2021, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK. To take the photo I just used my Nikon D500 with Sigma 150-600 DG OS HSM Sport handheld with 2 layers of mylar survival space blanket from Wilkos tied over the front of the lens. These were the settings for this best result I could get with the above equipment: f/9 (where my copy sharpest) 1/160 sec ISO-50 Focal length C.570mm

I was a bit surprised to see this 1st Summer (?!) ARCTIC TERN feeding a couple of hundred yards from my flat at Watermead last night, especially in June - this is very unseasonal as the Artic Terns that do wander inland should be moving through north between end of April & beginning of May, but making it even more unusual is the fact that 1st year birds usually don't migrate north from their wintering grounds, & are rarely seen in Europe. 1st Summer ARCTIC TERN, Watermead, Bucks, 07/06/21 1st Summer ARCTIC TERN, Watermead, Bucks, 07/06/21 It was feeding far out on the large lake from 19.55 at least, until 21.25, when it circled-up very high, until only just visible as a dot to the naked eye, then headed off slowly S/SSE. 1st Summer ARCTIC TERN, Watermead, Bucks, 07/06/21 Although the light was very nice, it was tricky to photograph, especially at distance - the light was actually not that bright with the sun just dipping behind the tree-tops, so with such an active bird I n...

I took part in the #BigGardenSit from 8.30 til 9.30 this gloomy, drizzly morning at Watermead, & managed to record a surprising 43 bird species. Wintering male BLACKCAP with BLUE TIT The Big Garden Sit is organised by Bucks Bird Alert & runs during Lockdown periods - the aim being to record as many bird species as you can from your home in one hour on a Saturday morning. The records are then entered into a database & used by Bucks Bird Club, or shared with your county recorder if not based in Buckinghamshire My highlights of the hour were... Juv. PEREGRINE 7 WIGEON over. 360 LAPWING in 3 flocks to the north. Wintering male BLACKCAP just outside my balcony. RAVEN GREY WAGTAIL Plenty of FIELDFARE movement. Earlier in the morning I had seen the same 7 WIGEON over on Large Lake, as well as a wintering CHIFFCHAFF ( collybita ) & a GOLDCREST during a my stroll. Juvenile PEREGRINE WIGEON in flight Some of the 360+ LAPWINGS

This interesting Juvenile RED KITE was at Watermead today, with a superficial resemblance to Black Kite, mostly due to the tail shape & wing shape - though this is most likely due to an odd moult. Juvenile RED KITE resembling Black Kite These are the features that made the bird stand out from the other Red Kites about... dark, slightly convex tail (rather than concavely forked) with lighter upper-tail coverts broad, square wings 6 ‘fingers’/P5 quite long (though missing P5 on right wing) P9 longer than P7 not much orange tone, even less obvious with bright sky behind from above even the head appears darker than expected for Red Kite On closer inspection the tail is a bit too red & white 'windows' on the underwing too defined, the head is typical of Red Kite, but most obvious of all is how pale the bird's underside is - diagnostic to juvenile Red Kite. I could definitely see this bird being reported as a Black Kite if care isn't taken in identification. Juvenile ...

As I walked along beside Large Lake on my late lunch a sizeable GRASS SNAKE crossed the path infront of me heading for the water. I didn't expect to see one out in the open in mid-October, especially as there had been a sudden drop in temperature recently. I took this short video clip to share this beauty...   Watermead is the best place I know of for seeing Grass Snakes, with its two lakes bordered by the River Thame, mini marsh, & small floodplain meadows & wet woodland, despite it essentially being a housing estate. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the latest videos...

Whist 'Vis-migging' (observing the visible migration of) autumn migrant birds on my lunch break at Watermead, I spotted a CLOUDED YELLOW Butterfly quite high over the water at Large Lake - it was battling the strong winds of an incoming storm & I was impressed with the control & determination of such a delicate & lightweight creature in such adverse conditions. Nature will always continue to amaze us. CLOUDED YELLOW Butterfly battling strong winds of an incoming storm whilst migrating - seen over Watermead Lake whilst 'Vis-migging' for passerines, 06/10/2020. Despite being such a small subject at a fair distance, & in windy conditions, I was able to get a few shots as it passed through, though not leaving many pixels when cropped. I liked the punch of sun-bathed yellow against the darkening background of threatening sky, so I put together a composite image this small part of its journey. The Clouded Yellow is a migratory species, originating from north A...

On an excellent guided day tour in Andalucia, with Bob Bucker of Wingspan Bird Tours, I noticed a darker, more stocky than usual Griffon Vulture drifting over the cafetería near Casares, where we'd stopped for a coffee. I was dazzled by the sun as we left the shade of the veranda so I took some record shots for scrutiny - on inspecting the photos out of the bright sunshine, my suspicions were confirmed - it was a RÜPPELL'S (GRIFFON) VULTURE . Rüppell's Vulture near Casares, Andalucia, Spain. I later found out that just one  Rüppell's Vulture had recorded in Spain that spring, & this was likely the same individual. Here are the notable identifying features... dark & not at all rusty below no rustiness in underwing coverts no contrast between flight feathers & coverts well defined & distinctively shaped double light bars on underwing coverts thin double pale lines on coverts bulge to secondary edge starts right up to primaries orange/red translucency...