Fauna Findings 3 in Scotland – Feeding Frenzy

Posted on 24/08/201818/08/2018 by Alastair

A feeding frenzy of young swallows was one of the most impressive dramas of our stay on the South West coast of Scotland last month. The young birds were fledging and the aerobatics the parents performed to catch insects in flight for their offspring was utterly amazing. Time and time again they would wheel and dive and change direction so abruptly you would think they would leave their brains behind, let alone their stomachs.

These aerobatics went on for a day or two and then the young ones took to the sky and there was even more drama as their parents fed them on the wing andContinue reading→

Carrick Shore – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 18/06/201725/05/2017 by Alastair

Reviewing my fifth of six walks from the past looks back to 2009 and photographs I took on my old Fuji compact camera and the sounds I recorded at the time. The sunset above is a classic of the place and is the view from the place we stay at different times each year. It is the most peaceful, quiet, environmentally friendly place you could want, but also one that, due to nature and the elements, can provide spectacular drama as well – it is “High Tide”.Continue reading→

Monochrome Murray’s Isles

Posted on 14/06/201725/05/2017 by Alastair

This fifth of my walks from the past (2009) features today on the view across the bay from where we stay for a couple of weeks at different times each year. Continue reading→

Season to Season – On the Cusp

Posted on 08/06/201308/06/2013 by Alastair

The birds are still fledging so I am still calling it Spring even though we are now in June.

As a final set for the season before I start calling it Summer, here are some of the selected images from the StillWalk “Coastal Walk” from Springtime in Scotland. More to come over the weekend.

Looking at other blogs this morning, I have just discovered it is World Oceans Day today – so perhaps this post is appropriate, at least in the video if not in these specific images. Click the link above to watch.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Coastal Walk Spring – Goldfinch

Coastal Walk Spring – Chaffinch

Coastal Walk Spring

A Welcome Visitor

Posted on 03/06/201203/06/2012 by Alastair

This little fellow joined us in the marquee at the National Botanic Garden of Wales today.

Chaffinch in the marquee

This was the second day of the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend when StillWalks joined others helping to alleviate visitors’ disappointment with the weather. People have been enjoying many of the StillWalks available on DVD Collections One and Two – even the Quarry Walk – Autumn Rain walk and the Forest Walk in Winter – not, perhaps, what might be expected in the miserable weather today, but clearly enjoyed all the same.

Rain, rain, go away!

We’ll be back again in the Great Glass House in the Botanic Gardens on Jubilee day, Tuesday – here’s hoping the weather men are wrong with their forecast for further rain.

Great Glass House

Early Start for Dawn Chorus Day

Posted on 11/05/201211/05/2012 by Alastair

It was fun to get up at 5.30 AM last Sunday for Dawn Chorus Day to go and join the Friends of Coedbach Park and Helen Grey from Swansea Nature Conservation Team. Helen organised the event and arranged for Martin Humphries to lead us on a walk and help with birdsong identification. A great time was had by all and I was able to record much of what was going on with the birds in the ancient oak woods.

Sound Clips and Spectral Images – A set of these sound clips can be found below (remember to click through to the blog if you are reading this in an email) along with a couple of the spectral displays from the clips.