MOUNTAIN HARE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSOP

 

My recent mountain hare who I've been photographing last couple of weeks

Monday 3rd July

Wife & hubby team, Alison & Brian have flown all the way from Seattle in the USA TO photograph the beautiful Mountain Hares. That's how good these gorgeous animals are!

We had a top day out and the afternoon in particular was brilliant. 2 hours with one fabulous wee hare who did some wonderful posing including a good stretch and yawn then moved over to an area of heather to pose for some seasonal background colour.

Great day and a nice couple of folk.

Another top day with my local Mountain Hares. This latest wee character I have been seeing and photographing over the last couple of weeks is just wonderful. He sits at his regular form but also very active nearby, munching away on the abundance of greenery at this time of year. He is easily identified by the obvious markings on his right ear.

July & August are my least favourite months of the year. Often dull, poor and flat light (like today), midgy, poor air quality and far too may folk about. Having said that the flowers are beautiful just now. We are just getting the first of the heather showing through. The Ling will be at its best around the mid to late August period. I always enjoy framing the hares with the purple heather in foreground and background. One of the many reasons I love spending so much time with the hares is there ever changing pelage as we go through the seasons and their beautiful surrounds in their environment. Of course winter is by far my favourite season. It won't be far away.

In the heather

Hi distinctive markings on the right ear

I've updated my Gary Hodgson Photography website recently. There are a couple of new, multi day wildlife photography holidays, including a fab 5 day holiday on the beautiful Isle of Mull. I have already taken a few bookings for my Winter Mountain Hare Photography Workshops. Hugely popular last winter, they made up about 20% of my winter work..

The changeable weather has brought some welcome rain. We've had some lovely evenings here in Strathspey after a wet day or two. Last week I was up on the high Cairngorms. A pleasant day up in the high Cairngorms today. Some nice spells of sun and just a short shower. Much cooler than of late which is my kind of weather.

Top day guiding on a wildlife photography workshop. We got a fine hour with an high altitude mountain hare ( I class the high altitude hares when they live above 1100m). We spotted a few juvenile chicks, Snow Bunting, Wheatear and Meadow Pipit. 4 male Snow Buntings also on the list.

High altitude mountain hare, Cairngorm plateau

Juvenile Snow Bunting

Adult, male Snow Bunting

Thursday 28th June.

The magnificent OSPREY.

GARY HOLDS A SCHEDULE 1 BIRD PHOTOGRAPHTY LICENCE issued by NatureScot

Part of the licence agreement is to record all my sightings and some of my images back to #naturescot at the end of the season. This is invaluable data for them, for monitoring and recording of schedule 1, Red Listed birds. Are they declining even further or are numbers of birds doing well and increasing?

The magnificent Osprey is one of the biggest success stories of breeding bird species in the UK after almost becoming extinct.

Ospreys are the second-most widespread bird of prey in the world, after the Peregrine Falcon, residing on every continent apart from Antarctica. Previously widespread throughout Europe, Ospreys were historically persecuted until their numbers were extremely low, resulting in their extinction as a breeding bird in England in 1847. Like many other birds of prey, they were targeted to protect livestock, but their population was also impacted through egg and specimen collecting. Despite remaining in Scotland for a while longer, their population reached such low levels that they were no longer recognised as a breeding bird, with the last known pair breeding at Loch Loyne in 1916.

Fortunately, Ospreys made a natural comeback in Scotland, with the first known pair setting up a territory and nest at Loch Garten in 1954. From there, the population slowly increased, with help from nest protection and public engagement initiatives, including “Operation Osprey” led by George Waterson, the then Director of RSPB Scotland, at Loch Garten. Despite these positive steps, populations remained low as egg-collection was still prevalent, especially as the Osprey eggs now had increased rarity. The population growth was further slowed through pesticide use, including DDT, which affected the quality of the eggs laid by the Ospreys. Only after harsher consequences for egg-collection and the ban on DDT in 1972, did the Osprey population in Scotland properly make a comeback, and by the 1990s there were over 60 pairs.

There are now Ospreys nesting in England and Wales too. Things can change, with big efforts and the general public's awareness onboard.

This particular pair of Ospreys that I have been observing for some years haven't (unfortunately) produced any young, to my knowledge. But every season they return and rebuild their nest, always in the exact same location. Wonderful. Maybe one day they will have youngsters.

Evening is my favourite time to go down and have a look at them, the sunlight being in the right direction. Wednesday was a lovely evening after some rain.

All images taken from a safe distance and cropped heavily.

My local Osprey