Grouse moors across Scotland will be required to hold licences and could face shooting bans as part of radical measures to combat bird of prey persecution passed by MSPs on Thursday. The Scottish parliament voted for the controls amid intense pressure from conservation scientists and campaigners after decades of illegal attacks on birds of prey […]
Tag: Grouse
5 of the Most Spectacular (& Elaborate) Mating Rituals of Birds
Mating rituals in the animal kingdom vary across species, and birds are no exception. Typically, dances for courtship between birds involve the makes working hard to attract the females’ attention. They use movement, sounds, skills, and good looks to woo their potential partner! 1. Black-Footed Albatross Source: Eric Dale/Youtube The black-footed albatross mating ritual is […]
Thousands of wild animals ‘slaughtered’ every year to protect shooting for sport on grouse moors
An Oxford-led academic study has claimed a staggering 260,000 animals are killed in Scotland every year to protect the grouse population for shooting on country estates. They said the practice of using traps to cull predators on Scottish moors causes “tremendous, unjustifiable suffering” to creatures and must be fully banned. Animals targeted include foxes, weasels, […]
Little Green Yanky Heron
After a few days of not going to see the Green Heron, today I finally joined a few desolate souls who needed it (James, Joe and Will who didn’t need it but joined anyway); we set off from Norwich early, though probably not early enough. The drive there was long (6.5 hours) and we got […]
Return to Bowland
At long last the weather had warmed up and Spring was well and truly on the way in fact for a few days it was more like Summer with temperatures soaring into the seventies!! Nature responded and migrants started arriving and spring flowers were blooming. I decided therefore to visit Bowland where I hadn’t been […]
Speyside
Mrs D and I have just returned home from a week in the Scottish highlands joining up with son Dan and his good wife Mary and their two young children Martha and Theo. We were based in Nethybridge which is in easy reach of all the wildlife hotspots. Although more of a family holiday I […]
Serengeti birdlife in spring
It was mid-September in the western Corridor of the Serengeti. A bit early for most of the migrants, but there were a few early arrivals. The resident avian population in the Serengeti at this time of the year is diverse and would gladden any bird lover’s heart. There was also a wide variety of habitats […]
Snipe and Others
I am posting some images from recent trips to Leighton Moss and into Bowland. My main objective was to photograph purple heron and red grouse. My efforts were shown in earlier postings. At Leighton Moss whilst waiting for the heron to show a trip down to the Eric Morecambe hide was good for snipe. Four […]