Wildlife Films with Ecology Magic!

Something I didn’t expect to see or capture (I was actually trying to get some good shots of woodpeckers)! This cool behaviour is something young birds do to signal they want food. One of the parents, although not shown in this clip, was looking pretty ragged from the work of constantly feeding its young. It’s a really hard job – I think there were about three, or maybe four, baby mouths to feed in this clutch, and apparently they need about 100 pieces of food a day, per chick.

The Eurasian Red Squirrel is a fantastic native animal. Even though this is from a hide these are rare to see. Watch the film for some more info about this priority species!

After years taking care of this badger sett, observing it, I chanced upon some surprise visitors!  An absolutely amazing encounter with one of Britain's most ubiquitous species - yet on the decline in rural areas. Enjoy!

This is a charming animal who visits us around this time every year. I think this is the dad of a family of foxes. Right now Mum will be feeding their cubs in their den and soon they’ll probably start bringing the members of the family out into the big wide world too. This guy’s had a bit of a rough life (watch the video to see what I mean!) You’ll find out in the video why foxes are important and why they deserve better protection. We’re so lucky to have small mammals living side-by-side with us here in the UK. I’m always in total awe when I get a chance encounter with them.

The tiny things that live amongst us... discover hoverflies, sawflies, bumblebees, spiders, parasitic wasps up close!

Bumblebee ID is the best! Recently, I attended an I.D and surveying course on bumblebees with @bumblebeeconservationtrust - and I realised the Common Carder Bee can be tricky to identify, because it’s really similar to the Moss Carder Bee - even with these macro shots I had to get confirmation from my new bee contacts!

​The woodpeckers have been mesmerising to watch and listen to recently. Mum, Dad, and I’m pretty sure just one fledgling all visiting my garden. They’re such a striking bird to look at. Next year I’ll be hunting out their nests. I found an occupied one a couple of years ago, whilst doing a mindful walking exercise as part of a silent retreat. Amazing what you find when you slow down.

Been tracking this tiny wee spider (only a few millimetres long) in my garden for the last couple of weeks. One thing I've observed is that it eats LOADS - it catches multiple insects a day and when I visit the web the next day the insects are GONE. Fortunately alot of these insects are pesky biting midges - hurrah! This spider was confirmed by the Facebook group 'British Spider Identification Group'. 680 spiders have been identified in Britain thanks to the volunteer British Arachnological Recording Scheme  but distribution can be patchy, so spider I.D is a brilliant and helpful activity to get involved in if it takes your fancy!

This week's film is a wee behind the scenes clip involving my search for badgers to film - by following badger 'signs' in the environment. (I’ve done training in the last couple of years to survey badgers). I will caveat this week’s film by sharing that many filming trips are fails in terms of getting something useful on film! In terms of ecological surveying, well, I seem to survey night time creatures, (badgers, woodcocks, bats), so I find myself out on my own standing in the woods ALOT! Weirdly I kind of enjoy it, even if I don't see anything. No sighting is also data in terms of scientific research. Anyway, hopefully there are some useful tips in this short film about badgers regardless.