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MOVIES |
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With a few exceptions, all movies were shot with a Canon XM1 or a Canon XL1s fitted with a Sennheiser external microphone (K6/ME66). Some of the Canon XL1s footage involved the use of a Canon EF 100-400mm IS lens which gives a maximum magnification of 57x. This greatly increases the chances of filming breeding birds without causing disturbance and with regard to Schedule I species, precludes the need to obtain a licence. |
| Black-throated Diver Gavia arctica
Click on picture for more vidcaps.
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| Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata When I visited this site in August 2002, I spotted this young diver swimming at the other end of the loch about 1/3 of a kilometer away. Within the next hour its curiosity got the better of it as it gradually drew nearer to my location, cautiously at first, and then quite fearlessly.
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| Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus Central Scotland. May 2003.
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| Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus
Click on picture for more vidcaps. |
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| Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis Central Scotland. May 2003.
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| Little Egret Egretta garzetta Skinflats, Central Scotland. 24 April 2002.
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| Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata Small Pond near Castlecary, Falkirk District, Central Scotland.
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| Eurasian Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus
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| Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus Central Scotland.
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| Common Buzzard Buteo buteo Central Scotland. Compare with Golden Eagle below. |
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| Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos Glen Artney, Scottish Highlands, January 2003. 1 The white underwing panels identify this eagle as a subadult 1.2 Mb. Scottish Highlands, early March 2004. 2 Female Eagle leaving nest 1.8 Mb. It's usually a rewarding experience to see an eagle on your day out but I was puzzled to see this immature eagle in a glen close to an eyrie. My puzzlement turned to dismay when I later saw the same eagle visit and inspect the eyrie then fly off in the company of a second eagle. The presence of immature eagles in the breeding population is usually regarded as evidence that the adult population is being culled illegally. |
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| Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
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| Osprey Pandion haliaetus
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Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
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| Willow Ptarmigan (Red Grouse) Lagopus lagopus Central Scotland.
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| Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands. I first became interested in birds around the age of eight and it was about this time, while in the company of my mother, that I noticed what I thought was a young House Sparrow on the roof of a house begging to be fed from a cock sparrow standing nearby. With great enthusiasm I drew my mother's attention to the scene and just as she looked up the cock sparrow hopped onto the back of the other individual which, with embarrassing clarity, I then realised was the female and proceeded to demonstrate that food was the last thing on its mind. This was my first introduction to that phenomenon in animal behaviour where one and the same behaviour pattern can elicit more than one response in a conspecific depending on its behavioural state. |
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I filmed this Ptarmigan's nest (6.6 Mb) in the Cairngorms and it shows, if my interpretation is correct, that it is not only we humans who misread the signals. The cock Ptarmigan was obviously distracted. It was filmed with an old 8mm camcorder so the quality is not too good. This was one of several memorable events witnessed that day. I later filmed a cock Lapland Bunting (Lapland Longspur) Calcarius lapponicus feeding at the edge of a snow field and then around 20:00 hours as I was heading for home I spotted a uniformly grey bird crouching on a boulder with its back to me. I had no idea what it was and anyway I was more interested in a party of female dotterel closer at hand. That was until it burst into song. It was the same song you hear on some of the old cowboy films where the scene is set on the North American Prairies and I knew immediately that it was a Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris. As soon as I focused on it with the binoculars it stopped singing and started running towards me mouse-like. When it was still about 150 meters from me it veered to the right and, noticing from the terrain that I was about to lose sight of it, I moved my position in a failed attempt to maintain contact, for I never did see it again. More Ptarmigan vidcaps here |
| Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix Central Scotland. Female Black Grouse feeding on Alder catkins. |
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| Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Central Scotland 2003. Unusual nest site. This Oystercatcher chose to lay its eggs in the middle of a path running through a graveyard. It was nowhere to be seen on my next visit so I do not know how things turned out. 2004 I guess things turned out o.k. because they were back again this year. |
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| Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta Skinflats, Central Scotland. 15 April 2003. Avocet preening. |
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Little Plover Charadrius dubius Skinflats, Central Scotland. July 2004 Adult foraging.
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| Eurasian Dotterel Charadrius morinellus Scottish Highlands. This incubating Dotterel is adopting the "head up" posture which indicates that it is in a relaxed state. When an incubating Dotterel feels threatened by an intruder to the nest site it will instinctively draw its head in to its body in an attempt to avoid detection.
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| European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria Campsie Fells. Golden Plover returning to nest. |
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Dunlin Calidris alpina Dunlin foraging. |
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| Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa Skinflats, Central Scotland. Large flock of Black-tailed Godwit 24 April 2002. |
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Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata Central Scotland. Curlew returning to nest
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| Common Redshank Tringa totanus Central Scotland. Redshank returning to nest. Photo of nest and eggs 97 Kb. |
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| Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 1 Greenshank brooding chicks & responding to Sparrowhawk flying overhead 2.7 Mb. In the British Isles breeding Greenshanks are found only in the Scottish Highlands and Islands and tend to inhabit some of the most remote and wildest terrain to be found in this part of the world. It is also reported that they rarely site their nests beside water. Imagine my surprise then to find this Greenshank brooding recently hatched chicks on a tiny island at one end of a small man-made trout pond a few hundred yards from a main road and cottage. Possibly the only recorded instance of a Greenshank nesting on a garden pond. More vidcaps and photos here |
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Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands, May 2004. Wood Sandpiper foraging.
Wood Sandpiper song MP3 80 Kb. |
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| Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
Click on picture for more vidcaps. |
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Mew Gull (Common Gull) Larus canus
Common Gull on nest. |
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| Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus Glen Lyon, Scottish Highlands. Cuckoo singing from overhead wire. |
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| Long-eared Owl Asio otus Skinflats, Central Scotland. Long-eared Owl foraging. Photo of nest and young |
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| Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus Central Scotland. 2003 and 2004.
These owls were filmed at the nest site between the early courtship phase and the point where the young leave the nest. Click on picture for more vidcaps.
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| Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis River Carron, Falkirk District, Central Scotland. Kingfisher on perch. |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
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| Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis Campsie Fells, Central Scotland. Female on nest |
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| Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava Skinflats, Central Scotland. April 2002. Blue-headed race. Click here to listen to the wagtail calling. 139 Kb. |
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Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea Carron Reservoir, Central Scotland. Female Grey Wagtail returning to nest. Photo of female on nest 112Kb. Photo of nest and eggs 91Kb. |
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| White-throated Dipper
Dipper about to fly to nest. |
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| Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus Central Scotland and Scottish Highlands. Redstart singing. |
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Whinchat Saxicola rubetra
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| Stonechat Saxicola torquata
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| Common Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia Campsie Fells, Central Scotland. Grasshopper Warbler singing. |
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| Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
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Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis
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Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla
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| Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix Callendar Woods, Falkirk, Central Scotland. Male singing. This is a an irregular nesting species to Callendar Woods. I've only known three attempts, two by the same pair, and all of them unsuccessful. |
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Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita
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Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus
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| Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca R.S.P.B Reserve, Inversnaid, Loch Lomond. Male inspecting Pine Martin proof nest box |
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| Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata Callendar Woods, Falkirk, Central Scotland. Spotted Flycatcher nest building. |
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| Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus Tay Reedbeds, Central Scotland. July 2003 Juvenile Bearded Tit. |
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| Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus
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Eurasian Treecreeper Certhia familiaris Callendar Woods, Falkirk, Central Scotland.
Treecreeper at nest Photos:- 2 Treecreeper's nest 45Kb |
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Common Raven Corvus corax
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Common Linnet Carduelis cannabina
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| Common Crossbill Loxia curvirostra Carron Reservoir, Central Scotland. Pair of Common Crossbills |
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Common Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula
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| Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis Scottish Highlands. Snow Bunting foraging |
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Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella
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Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
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