Cairngorms Nationalpark

Scottish wild cat

I could spend a very cold and windy, but anyway fantastic time photographing wildlife in the Cairngorms Nationalpark end of February begiining of March 2020. I was looking for new locations with beautiful landscapes and was mostly walking all day long around the Cairn Gorm Mountain and often into different parts in and around the Monadhliath Mountain range. It was at times very exhausting, especially when there was fresh snow but well worth the effort at the end...
This one speciall place and all the memories linked with it will always be something very special for me. After finding this place I have decided to go back again to take more pictures in this beautiful snow drift formed landscapes in the first light of the day and I had a fantastic time and one of my most exciting encounter with a very special animal! 

I was sitting there in this beautiful snowy landscape far away from everything just looking at this Mountain Hare far away on the opposite slope sitting in it's snow-burrow. Suddenly a grey hare was running in to the scene, till this moment I had no idea it was there! Then the white hare was jumping out of his burrow, running away, looking back and was very nervous about something. I couldn’t see anything and was scanning the sky, but there was no golden eagle around. A couple of days ago I could watch a golden eagle hunting hares and was chasing them directly in my direction, but there was no bird around. Then the two hares were running away, steep uphill and without stopping once and don't looking back again, something they would usually do. I was wondering what could be the reason for this strange behavior, but I couldn’t see any predator at this time. Then a couple of minutes later I could see something black crossing the snow field. My first impression was that must be a fox searching for prey, but it was not red like a fox it was too dark. It took me a while till I realised it was not a fox, but a cat. My impression was this must be wild cat, it was much biger than a domestic cat, far away from civilisation and when I saw the marking in the croped picture I was almost sure this was one of this few wild cats out there. As suddenly as it showed up, as fast it disappeared again. Only because there was snow I was able to see the cat, otherwise I would never ever have seen it. After showing this images to wildcat experts, they could confirm this was definitely a wild cat, but if it was genetic pure one is a diffrent question...anyway how exciting to still have this magnificent animal out there! 

Ptarmigan on ice for hogmanay

There was almost no more snow left on top of the munros, but the weather forcast was brilliant for hogmanay 2019. I was heading up a munro and didn`t expect to do a lot of photography up there anyway. I had just a small lens with me and a converter, so more prepaired for walking than for taking time to do some serious wildlife-photography. When I was finally up on top, there was a huge ice fild made from a snow drift, it looked fantastic. I was sitting down and was thinking how wunderful it would be to have a couple of Ptarmigans or a Mountain hare sitting there. I could find about four holes in the ice, still there from when the snow was fresh and the Mountain Hares could dig their holes, but no Hare inside. While I was enjoing the sunn and was eating my sandwich, suddenly something was moving slowly towards me. After a closer look and a couple seconds later I finally reralissed there was a pair of Ptarmigans on the ice field. What a nice background for a picture. I could sit there and watch them for a good hour and a half and then unfortunately a dog was chasing them away. Later I saw the same dog chasing a Mountain Hare. I think people should care more about our wildlife, when they go and visit such beautiful wild places, otherwise they should go to the park with their dogs. I was pleased with the result and more than happy to have found a couple of Ptarmigans in the middle of the only snow field left in the whole area. Most probably they feel save there, because they blend in so well. Later on a Mountain Hare was running down the hill, directly in front of me, chased away by a group of hillwalker. I wish I had my biger lens with me that day, but then maybe I wouldn`t have seen them at all...?

Scottish Beavers in the River Lochay and Loch Tay

I could spend some magical days out with my floating hide on the water in and around Loch Tay. The floating hide gives me the chance to move without making any noise and well hiden for the animals. I was very close to a fishing Osprey and the other day an Otter was swimming directly in front of my hide. The angle is just a little above the water surface, which gives a great low-level picture. The local Beaver population is doing very well and it looks like they move up the rivers. Spending time with the Beaver family without disturbing them is just fantastic. The only thing is to check the wind direction, they have a very good sense of smell! I could find inhabited burrows along the river Lochay, as well as along the river Dochart. After observing them for a couple of weeks, I could tell exactly what time they will leave their lodge next day and in which direction they will swim afterwards. Most of the time I could see them (and more often just hear them) feeding on willow bushes in and close to the water. Usually they just cut out some branches and eat them or sometimes bring them to the lodge, they don`t cut down the whole tree. At least this is what happens at the moment, I will see if this behavior will change over the time of the year when they maybe can`t finde enough food from willow anymore? Most of the big trees along the rivers were fallen by Beavers during wintere time. 

On 24 November 2016, the Scottish Government made the landmark announcement that beavers are to remain in Scotland. This is the first time that a mammal has been formally reintroduced in UK history. Over-hunting of the beaver, particularly for its valuable pelt, appears to have been the main cause of its extinction. The Eurasian or European beaver (Castor fiber) inhabit riparian broadleaved woodland next to standing freshwaters or slow moving streams. Totally herbivorous, beavers will feed on herbaceous and woody broadleaved species, especially wilow, cottonwood,birch maple and alder, sometimes they feed on water lilies, sedges and pondweeds as well. These monogamous animals live in family groups and favour burrows in banks as nesting places. Beavers do not hibernate, but store sticks and logs in a pile in their ponds, eating the underbark. Sometimes they dam streams to maintain water levels when their habitat does not provide all the conditions suitable for a beaver's needs. While beavers present challenges for some aspects of land use, restoration of this ‘ecosystem engineer’ will benefit a wide range of species and habitats. In woodland environments, beavers help to stimulate new growth by gnawing on tree stems and coppicing. This helps to breathe new life into tired forests and creates a diverse age range of trees which greatly benefits woodland management.

Spring on the moorlands of Perthshire

Spring on the moorlands of Perthshire. 

Shore Lark

The elusive Shore Lark or Horned Lark (because the males have small "horns" on their head), it is a really speciall and beautiful bird and a rare winter guest here in the UK. Usually they live in the mountains of Scandinavian. At Holkham Beach in Norfolk you have a good chance to see them during winter time. But you need to be patient especially when your plan is to take pictures of this beautiful bird. They are not only shy, they are very well hidden und you need to scan the salt marshes very well and very carefully. From time to time you can see them flying away, but usually they will come back to the same place later on. They feed on smal seeds and hide very well between the sparse vegetation. 

Norfolk Barn Owl

On our way from Switzerland back to Scotland, we had a couple of days at the coast of Norfolk. It was a great experience, I have seen many birds I have never ever seen before in the UK (like Shore Lark and Avocet floks, Bittern and different kind of Goos). My wish was to see the beautiful Barn Owls, because this is one of the top locations for them in the UK and it is true there are plenty around! I found them just the day after the day we arrived! It is not easy to photograph them during daylight, but when you get up early, before dawn, you will have a good chance to see them. Especially after a windy and wet night you have a good chance to see plenty of them hunting during daylight. Usually they are nocturnal, but in windy conditions they do not hunt. The chance to see Barn Owls is much better at the Norfolk Coast than in the Scottish Highlands, the climate is much milder down there, just perfect for Barn Owls and there is plenty of  rough grasslands and fields around. One morning I could watch four Owls hunting together in a field at Holkham nature reserve. If possible stay in your car or sit down along the road behind bushes, otherwise they can see you and they will maybe fly away. They are usually not very shy, but don`t go to close to the Owls, let them come to you! Often they fly in to the same corridors again and again, so be patient and wait for them to come to you. They definitely will soon or later..

The Weasel

What a smart and elusive animal, I have seen them quite often, but mostly not more than a glimpse of one. They are much smaller than a Stoat but unbelievable strong. The differences between stoats and weasels aren’t huge, but when you know what to look out for, it’s not too hard to know whether you’re watching a stoat or a weasel. Stoats have a longer tail with a black tip all year round, this is the key distinguishing feature. If it’s got any white on its back, it’s a stoat, as weasels don’t turn white in winter in the UK. I found this Weasel on top of a Munro in the snow! I was sitting there and was ready with my camera (not because of the Weasel, I was photographing Mountain Hares!) and then it suddenly showed up with a captured Short-tailed vole. The Weasel was climbing effortless and very skilled over big stones and was finally disappeared in a hole. There was not much time to take a picture, but at least I could take one frame of this smallest carnivore in the UK. 

Autumn is gone...

Autumn is a beautiful time, maybe one of my favorite. I love to go out in to the forest and have a look at the busy squirrels and watch the birds picking up berry. The only thing I don`t like is the beautiful colors don`t last long enough..... already looking forward... 

Barn owl close encounter

I was very lucky with owls when out in the field again. I was looking for the Short-eared owls this evening and finally could see them hunting, but also found a Barn owl. It was possible to take pictures from very close without disturbing this beautiful bird, he was then hunting for over an hour just a few meters in front of me and was absolutelly not shy. What a fantastic encounter with this bird!

Heather in full bloom

The heather in Scotland is now almost in full bloom and the upland moors start to change their colour dramatically. A beautiful place to be, specially in the evening when the light is soft and warm. I have seen lots of birds and beautiful places, rough landscapes in beautiful light.  That evening I was thinking to start again with landscape photography, well maybe one day.... 

Jung Short-eared owls

This spring and summer I could spend an extensive time with my absolutely favorit animals, the Short-eared owls. It was the first time ever I could observe the owls during their breeding season, from starting building their nest till the time the jung owls fledged, learning to fly and finally started hunting themselfes. And all this happend not far from my home. Sometimes I could see them hunting in the middle of the day, what a great spectacle. I enjoyed every minute I could  spend with this beautiful animals and I hope the chicks will survive and maybe come back one day for breeding up here again in the moorlands of Breadalbane. I feel so privileged to live in such a beautiful part of scotland and so close to this stunning countryside and its inhabitant.

Puffin on Lunga

On thing I really like to do in summer on the island of Mull is to see and photograph the amazing Puffins! On our photography-trip we where able to see them on Lunga, a small island not far from Staffa island. It is always great to enjoy their company and try to make a couple of pictures when they come in with fish. Love this animals and will definitely go back next summer!

Curlew

The curlew is the largest European wading bird, his length is up to 60cm and his wingspan can reach up to 100cm and he can weigh up to 1 kg! Curlews are not easy to find and usually they are very shy and elusive. So far it was always very hard to come close by. I was very lucky to spend an extended period of time to find, observe and photograph this amazing bird on an upland moor in Perthshire. 
The problem for curlews is that it is more and more difficult to find nesting sites because of the increasing number of fields and agriculture taking over the wetlands. The UK`s breeding population is of international importance, being estimated to represent more than 30% of the west European population. their IUCN status is near threatened. The species is a UK BAP priority, and is Amber listed due to the international importance of both breeding and wintering populations in the UK.

Spring in Perthshire

Finally spring in Perthshire! A couple of days ago on a tour with a client, we have seen plenty of Black Grouse, Lapwings, Curlews, Snipes and a Short-eared owl. Great to see the Black Grouse do well in Perthshire.

Black Grouse in Perthshire

Black Grouse feeding on larch buds, Perthshire. I found a very good new location to see this beautiful birds very close to the road. I could use my car as a hide

Roe deer are back!

Today I saw two young roe deer close to Loch Tay, most probably the twins I have seen here last summer! Great to see they have both survived the hard wintertime.

Frühlings Foto Tour, letzte Tage

Being a bit behind with my updates of the photography tours I provided and finished last week Saturday. Every photographer, amateur or professional, will face the same time-consuming efforts after a fun time out with the camera: going through the many pictures you just shot. Which one to keep and which one to delete... Hard decisions being followed by even harder times when it comes to picture editing. How much you want to edit is a very personal preference (I, for example, do try to keep it as little as possible). After a long week of being outside it can be much more joyful and helpful to take some time as a group and go through the pics of every participant, getting different views and opinions. We had a fun time doing so with part of the group (as another part sadly fell ill) and I think the clients went home happy and proud with some very nice shots (and tired legs)

These are some of my shots from the last two days, one being very rainy and therefore, after some birdwatching at Loch Tay we sought for shelter in the afternoon at the Loch of the Lowes wildlife reserve to watch the osprey (nesting & mating).

We were unlucky with the short-eared owls but found some red grouse and mountain hares. 

Saturday, the last day, was the most challenging day, fitness- and wildlife wise. After watching blackgrouse display themselves at a lek-site we climbed up a munro to (successfully) find the elusive ptarmigan.

Frühlings Foto Tour, dritter Tag

Am dritten Tag der Frühlings Foto Tour haben wir uns am Morgen nochmals mit den Eichhörnchen beschäftigt und etwas aufgewärmt um später dann eine Bootstour auf dem Loch zu unternehmen. Die Fischadler sind dieses Jahr etwas spät dran und scheinbar sind noch nicht alle vom letzten Jahr hier angekommen. Mit dem Nestbau haben sie bis noch jetzt nicht angefangen. Einen Fischadler (Osprey) konnten wir jedoch von weitem beobachten. Viele Spuren der örtlichen Biber haben wir bei unserer Bootstour entlang dem Ufer gefunden, hoffentlich gibt es diesen Sommer wieder Nachwuchs bei Familie Biber! Otter werden regelmässig gesichtet, auch am Tag! Vom Boot aus konnten wir uns sehr nahe an eine Vielzahl verschiedener Vögel "anschleichen" ohne diese zu stören. An diesem Tag waren besonders viele hungrige Uferschwalben unterwegs, wir versuchten die Vögel im Flug zu erwischen. Mit viel Ausdauer und Nerven haben wir es dann doch geschafft einige gute Bilder zu bekommen. Nicht einfach, aber es macht viel Spass! 

Day three: looking for red sqirrels once again, to warm up the shutter-finger for a chilly but promising boat tour on Loch Tay afterwards. Ospreys are starting to return but they have not decided on nesting places yet. Plenty of signs of a healthy beaver population.  Otters spotted regulary in this area. And it is a paradies for bird watchers as a huge variety of bird species can be found along the loch. 
Here my best shots of a red squirrel, a wagtail and a sandmartin from today. Now I'm looking forward to seeing the pics my clients took. They surely did great again!

Frühlings Foto Tour, erster Tag

Wie aufregend, der erste Tag meiner ersten Foto Tour hier in Killin! Es war ein "roter" Tag mir roten Eichhörnchen und roten Milanen. Wir konnten Eichhörnchen aus nächster Nähe von meinem Eichhörnchen-Versteck aus fotografieren und für die Rotmilane sind wir am Nachmittag nach Doune gegangen. So konnten wir uns unter idealen Bedingungen erst einmal etwas aufwärmen und unser Reaktionsvermögen und unsere Kameraeinstellungen testen. Alle Kursteilnehmer haben sich hervorragend geschlagen und sind mit vielen tollen Bildern nach Hause gekommen. Ich freue mich schon auf den nächsten Tag und weitere Abenteuer. 

How exciting, first day of my first photography tour here in Killin. It was a "red" day with red squirrels and red kites. We could observe squirrels from my squirrel hide and for the kites we went to an afternoon feeding in Doune. 
Creating controled situations in which you can estimate the animal's location and behaviour is a great way to get used to your camera settings. Chris & Alison did a fantastic job on their first day and came home with some stunning pictures. Looking forward to the days to come and more adventures.