Filming trip countdown a few days to go

Just a quick post to say I am off on my filming trip to North Wales next week to get more footage for my short wildlife film as well as footage for a show reel to show case my skills with filming, editing, narration and script writing. As its been a few years since making any video over a few minutes I decided on building up abit more footage of wildlife that I have never really filmed before and this year it has mainly been the Great crested grebes which is a bird that is now a fave of mine and filming them on the nest has been a privilege to get so close to these shy water birds down on my local canal.

Here's my previous trailers and show reel which I hope to update sometime soon.


Here's a few photographs taken on a quick relaxing walk in the sun on Friday afternoon by a local pond that I only recently found.

 More on my filming trip tomorrow as I have alot planned for the 2 weeks I am there.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Sad end to the Canal Great tits chicks or not

I walked by the Great tit nest by the canal today as it was raining and was forecast to for the whole day so I wanted to avoid any where there is to much vegetation and long grass as its too easy to get wet through even when wearing wet gear. 

I checked the nest and one chick was in the nest slowly growing but the other was gone so had it fledged been predated I was unsure but a walk further down the canal to check on the Grebe nest revealed a sad end for the missing Chick which was in the canal and had drowned probably a few hours before due to how close to the nest the chicks body was floating.

But on a more positive note the Grebes are happily sitting together on the nest with 3 chicks on there back but until tomorrow when the weather improves and I can kayak over to them to get a few photos and record some footage of them on the nest from the CCTV camera.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Great crested grebe update

Today we braved the weather in our kayaks to check on the Grebes nest and 1 egg had hatched and one had been damaged not sure how but there was no sign of the chick that hatched. The adults still seem to be sitting on the eggs still so hopefully the last 2 will hatch very soon.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Hatching eggs every where!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a wonderful afternoon kayaking on the flashes this afternoon as the Swallows were out in force, Dragonfly's zipping about, Carp splashing around on the still sunlit water but the exciting thing was that the Coot eggs seemed to be cheeping. After I arrived I saw a Coot adult with 2 young feeding nearby so I went to the nest and as the family was undisturbed I was privileged to be watching a Coot egg hatch in a cute little bundle of black feathers with a bright coloured face and as they look nothing like the adults at this stage it was amazing to watch the little youngster see the world for the first time so once hatched I left and allowed the parents to return and as there are still 3 eggs left that did not seem to be cheeping yet I am guessing there either unfertilised or a few days behind.

A tiny crack

First light

A little help from the adults after a went to check the Grebe nest and returned

Free from the egg and out in the big wide area of the flashes.

A little close-up of the baby Coot resting after hatching

I will check on them tomorrow to see if the others have hatched but as its given heavy rain I don't hold out much hope to get on the water but I will do my best as another nest seemed to be cheeping as well which is another exciting nest that is a first for me and a few for the flashes to get young Grebes hatching there.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Hungry caterpillar in a buttercup meadow

Today I only managed to get out for an hour as I had a few jobs to do after work but I did find this lovely caterpillar in a meadow near to one of my Badger setts film sites.  As the meadow was covered in the yellow glow of buttercups it seemed to perfect to miss an opportunity of photographing this wonderful little creature in beautiful surroundings.

 Last but not least a close up of the Caterpillar I think it looks like a mini Walrus

After returning the caterpillar to where we found it I posted the photos on Twitter for identification and I was quickly informed that it was a Drinker moth caterpillar and a first for me which is great.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Grebe update - Hatching time is close

As it takes up to a month for Grebes to incubate there eggs I think its sometime this week and that's only if the eggs are fertile. There are 4 eggs in the nest now and it would be great to see them hatching so I will be going every afternoon to see if they have hatched. This morning I got some beautiful footage from my 2 CCTV cameras on the nest one on the front of the nest and one to the side.

Below is shot from each camera and the side view camera moved but caught a lovely piece of footage of the female calling to the male with a grunting sound.

While in my kayak I duck taped my Sony Handy cam to my kayaks fishing rod holder for a point of view of what kayaking on the flashes is like and what I get to see.

A little clip from this morning of the camera that moved but caught the Grebe grunting to the male bird.

Thanks for reading


Mike

Great tit Nest by the canal

Over the last few weeks I have been observing a Great tit nest that's very close to the ground where people walk including dog walkers, joggers and canal boats pass by and the adult birds have hatched the eggs successfully and now there are chicks in there but as long as they are unnoticed they should be fine.

Female sitting on the eggs before hatching

The young birds waiting for food in Ir filmed on a Sony handy camera

As it was late afternoon the sun was in the wrong position so I could not get a better lit shot but hopefully I plan to film them at the weekend in the morning when the light is better and shining right inside. Below is a bird box i got free when i joined the RSPB and I placed in a woodland where I film Badgers and now a pair of Blue tits have moved in I just wish I had a camera in there so for next year I will make a natural looking nest box and put cameras inside to capture all the action.

Thanks for reading

Mike